Mid mount mowers

[buckeyefarmer]

When you dont mow, and let it grow up, weeds take over and it looks like crap.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

When you dont mow, and let it grow up, weeds take over and it looks like crap.

In fields that are close-cropped by stock, that of course allows large weeds to thrive. Agree that is ugly. Mowing is bad for native grasses. You cut off the heads so it can't seed, and it's the flowers and seed heads that look pretty. Unmowed native grasses will grow tall and outcompete most weeds. Like this:

 

[Creamer]

In fields that are close-cropped by stock, that of course allows large weeds to thrive. Agree that is ugly. Mowing is bad for native grasses. You cut off the heads so it can't seed, and it's the flowers and seed heads that look pretty. Unmowed native grasses will grow tall and outcompete most weeds. Like this:
View attachment 561018
View attachment 561019

Around here unmowed grass areas usually grow trees. If you are not mowing at least every other year you will have a lot of trees.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Around here unmowed grass areas usually grow trees. If you are not mowing at least every other year you will have a lot of trees.

Of course you can mow once a year, during the dormant season.

 

[majorwager]

Subscribe to the Buckeye Farmer premise, unmowed fields look ragity. Please define native grasses? My fields are hayed, (mostly timothy, some clover and alfalfa) so they are mowed twice for collection and if necessary, a third for appearance.(cut and chopped for silage). If mowing damages the plant, why do my hayfields rebound so well? Argument is illogical.

We all have opinions, See no one in this area letting fields of substantial acreage lay dorment. Occasionly a farmer will skip a season as part of crop rotation management, then plant winter wheat in early September.

Deere Do lay in thie tall grass, but that grass also is generally infested w/ horse and deere flies. Biologists have determined wildlife prefer the sborter grass for grazing, closer to the sugar core of the plant. Can count 30-40 deere in my cut hay fields on any given evening, haven't received a single complaint.

Again, we all have an opinion, yet speculation is NOT synonymous w/ fact.

EDIT: Shorter grass exposes field mice population, supports birds of prey and fox and other carnivores.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I had lots of weeds in my field until i started regular mowing. Now its much more grass, clover.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Subscribe to the Buckeye Farmer premise, unmowed fields look ragity. Please define native grasses? My fields are hayed, (mostly timothy, some clover and alfalfa) so they are mowed twice for collection and if necessary, a third for appearance.(cut and chopped for silage). If mowing damages the plant, why do my hayfields rebound so well? Argument is illogical.

We all have opinions, See no one in this area letting fields of substantial acreage lay dorment. Occasionly a farmer will skip a season as part of crop rotation management, then plant winter wheat in early September.

Deere Do lay in thie tall grass, but that grass also is generally infested w/ horse and deere flies. Biologists have determined wildlife prefer the sborter grass for grazing, closer to the sugar core of the plant. Can count 30-40 deere in my cut hay fields on any given evening, haven't received a single complaint.

Again, we all have an opinion, yet speculation is NOT synonymous w/ fact.

EDIT: Shorter grass exposes field mice population, supports birds of prey and fox and other carnivores.

I wasn't talking about hayfields, or about fields that are grazed by stock, or about allowing land that could be earning $$ to lay fallow, but about allowing lawn or other unproductive land to turn into *meadow* to reduce mowing and increase wildlife habitat. Not deer--we have plenty of those--but less common or endangered species, like for example the bobwhite or Virginia quail.

Native grasses will differ in each area. Virginia has a very good website encouraging landowners to plant native plants, why it's a good idea, and lists of native plants, grasses, trees, and shrubs for each region of the state. Native Plants for Conservation, Restoration and Landscaping

That is where I got my information, plus a long visit from a state biologist who gave me a lot of information on how to do this, including how to care for it. Virginia will even pay you money to do it. Your state may have similar information.

 

[majorwager]

In essence you describe an expanded garden. This " meadow" will not manage itself. Invasive species will infiltrate and flourish. Weeds will compete with grass vegetation for nourishment. My experience has NOT produced the result you imagine, but rather a thorny entanglement of red thistle and junk trees/bushes.

Perhaps there is some wildlife value but the unsightly blight on the landscape is a price too high and not willing to pay.

To subscribe to the
Required result you describe, would necessitate intensive weeding and management. Tried it, results were dismal .

If results differ in your state, you must then possess a secret formula that seems unworkable in this corner of the planet.

I have witnessed these flowing perfect meadows you describe but they only existed for two hours, till the movie concluded.

I do believe in conservation, however it is a program where mowing and appearance coincides harmoniously w/ nature.

EDIT: NYS ownes 4 million acres of land/forests, all wild except for trails, manages an additional million acres of conservation easements. 2 sizeable lakes near me are municipality owned, no housing, residents whatsoever. When is enough just that.

Thread is MMM. To maintain the theme, Recently converted a gear box mmm to hydraulically driven FEL mount, front mower.

 

[Ortimber]

I guess you need a real ZTR with the right tires. I take my ZTR on slopes there is no way I would have my tractor on and it doesn't slide down. I hear this comment all the time and I get tired of the ignorance. A ZTR has a wider stance, lower CG, and is much more maneuverable - all characteristics that help you hold a slope - of course there are differences between ZTRs in these characteristics.

Yes, I agree with this. I have steep areas to mow and my ZTR is fantastic as well.

I recently sold my BX with MMM. While they are a nice little machine, dealing with the low ground clearance that is present while the mower deck was on just didn’t work for me.

Also, I leave my loader on when brush hogging. At times it might get in the way, but it’s also very handy in fixing rough areas as you find them while mowing.

After a few years of getting a stable of equipment, I think I have the perfect combination to mow everything on my place.

1- large tractor with 8 ft flail
1- small tractor with 5 ft brush hog
1- commercial ZTR

Yes, like mowing. I usually mow 2-10 acres per week in the spring/early summer.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Majorwager, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation website I linked earlier would address many of your concerns.