Mowing Do you have enough tractor?

[Turbys_1700]

I'm currently running a 472 Brown 6' cutter behind a 52 HP Ford 4610SU. For the area that I cut twice a year it is adequate but not overkill. I can get a little smoke out of the old girl at times but in those open areas I am in 5th gear running around 4.5 MPH. I am looking at going to an 8' cutter to cover a little more ground. I may go with a 10' cutter but understand that I may need to get a bigger tractor if I want to cover the same area at the same speed. Good excuse for getting another tractor.

 

[MutzFarm]

I'm currently running a 472 Brown 6' cutter behind a 52 HP Ford 4610SU. For the area that I cut twice a year it is adequate but not overkill. I can get a little smoke out of the old girl at times but in those open areas I am in 5th gear running around 4.5 MPH. I am looking at going to an 8' cutter to cover a little more ground. I may go with a 10' cutter but understand that I may need to get a bigger tractor if I want to cover the same area at the same speed. Good excuse for getting another tractor.

I dont think I ever was on a smooth enough piece of property to go that fast.

 

[bspeedy]

I dont think I ever was on a smooth enough piece of property to go that fast.

Same here. That would be fun. I'd be concerned about a groundhog hole or washout and doing some damage to my machinery. Or hitting an exposed rock with the cutter. Maybe I'm just a coward...

 

[Turbys_1700]

The area that I am mowing is former pasture my grandfather and dad had cows in. I cut it twice a year. Once in May and after first frost. I would guesstimate cutting about 80% of it in 4th or 5th gear on the SU. There are other areas that I have to run slower. I know the lay of the land well. I was raised up on this farm.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I had a 14 or 16 (can't remember) foot Alamo bat wing (finishing) mower, all PTO/gearbox driven. Bought it really cheap at a municipal auction. I too cut around 40 acres when there was no market for our fields a few years ago. Cut them once in the fall when stuff had dried out. Our 68 HP JD was a bit much. That 50 something hp would have run it nicely.

Life is too short to be cutting grass.

You can't pay such close attention so you need to overlap. One or two feet lost cutting on a six foot mower is a significant loss, not so much at 16 feet.

 

[kthompson]

Same here. That would be fun. I'd be concerned about a groundhog hole or washout and doing some damage to my machinery. Or hitting an exposed rock with the cutter. Maybe I'm just a coward...

bspeedy, there are groundhogs in the upstate? I did not know that. Not all I don't know. lol

 

[coss]

The OP's terrain makes for easy bush hogging, given the open space between clumps of tall weeds, and the thin stems of 1.5" or less. The cutter has time to mulch the tall stuff and spit out the dregs before it has to ingest the next bite.

By contrast, tall grass never lets the deck get a break to clear out the accumulated junk. Thicker woody brush requires multiple turns of the blade before it gets chopped up into small pieces.

Here in the northeast, where we get plenty of rain, overgrown fields with 5 or more years of growth need at least 6 HP per foot of diameter on the bush hog, and slower speeds to make sure you don't overwork a tractor.

 

[pinetree10]

This is off one of my older threads, but the question comes up how much tractor do I need? People sending messages and emails. So I thought I would bring it up again.
Again every application is different. This unit works surprisingly well on our small farm, but now that we have customers a little more under the hood would be nice.

Well I aint saying Im the smartest, but how much tractor do you need? Took my 2012 Mahindra 4wd 4025 with a 6ft shredder thru some brush that at times was 8ft tall.

There's something strangely satisfying about watching these kinds of videos. Part of me wants to see the whole field once the job was done.

 

[TractorGuy]

I don't have enough tractors. The ones I have are great for most of what I do with them. I would love to add a 40-50 hp cab tractor set up eith a grapple.

 

[MutzFarm]

I don't have enough tractors. The ones I have are great for most of what I do with them. I would love to add a 40-50 hp cab tractor set up eith a grapple.

I have considered a cab a few times, but some of the customers I have I would knock the glass out every other month.