How much horsepower for different mowing situations

[leonz]

If you want it you better pick it up soon as it will not be on the market for very long.

Parts are available for it so that is not an issue. The mule you buy has to be able to lift it so keep that in mind too.

If you can buy a geared mule with a shuttle shift like a JD 3020 it will be a good fit for your mower.

 

[thoner7]

A 3020 would be too big for my property I think. I'm looking more at like a MF 135 which is 45 HP but more like the size of an 8n. The rear lift is rated for 2800#

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Bear in mind, the tractor also has to have enough bare tractor weight to be stable with that mower picked up in the air, and turning and/or going up and down a slope. A FEL hanging off the front end will help with stability, or get a weight bracket and hang weights off the front end. My bare chassis weight is 4100 lbs, and with FEL, filled rear tires and the mower on the back, I'm over 7100 lbs.

I run a 6' medium duty brush hog off a tractor with 32 pto hp. When the grass is thick, hood high or higher, I do have to slow down, as the tractor will start to bog down. But if it's less than hood high, or not super thick, I can go at whatever speed is comfortable. Most of the areas I mow with it have pretty uneven ground, so I'm not flying around anyway.

I've not run a flail or finish mower on mine, so can't comment on that. I think finish mowers take more hp per foot of mower though.

I use a plain old riding mower to mow around my house "yard", and use the tractor and brush hog to mow pastures and road ditches. I would not want to have to run my tractor around my house. Too big, and too heavy.

 

[aczlan]

I'm in the market again for a new [used] tractor. I have about 12 hilly acres of grass to maintain as lawn and pasture. I'd like to run an 8 foot finish mower and 6 foot or larger brush hog. The bush hog would be knee deep grasses, little to no Woody stuff. The finish mower would be lawn, but I may let it get long at times, like 9" high.

I'm looking at 4x4 tractors and most of the ones have 28-32 PTO horsepower. That doesn't seem like enough, as I'm always in a hurry. The 5 hp/foot rule....I'm not so sure that's accurate in my conditions, but idk.

I guess I'm wondering what my minimum should be while I shop around.

We just sold a 7.5' finish mower. We ran it behind our L3830 and that mower could bring the tractor to its knees in heavy grass if you didn't slow down.
We also ran it behind our B7500 for mowing the lawn (other mowers were down and the B7500 60" MMM was buried). It ran it ok, but it wasn't able to lift it up, had to let it roll on its wheels.
It was bad at scalping as it was so long (~64 inches long).

Aaron Z

 

[thoner7]

So this thing is 32 PTO horsepower. It could run a 6 foot bush hog in knee high grass. What about that 88" flail? Or a 72" flail??
Tractor Loader Cab 4HP 4WD - farm & garden - by owner - sale

 

[STERLING351]

Found this one, looks heavy duty.

Flail, Alamo industrial, SHD88 - farm & garden - by owner - sale

I do think flail mower is the way to go now.

They build some great stuff, they are made right here in my town. I mostly see their large boom cutters and batwings, I don't know anyone with their smaller 3pt cutters.

 

[goeduck]

A 3020 would be too big for my property I think. I'm looking more at like a MF 135 which is 45 HP but more like the size of an 8n. The rear lift is rated for 2800#

I have a MF 245 (or or less the same tractor) as a dedicated mower. It puts nearly all of its 45 HP to the PTO and is low profile. I have 24” wheels on the rear and orchard wheels on the front so it is about as low as possible. No ROP but the land I have it on is pancake flat. I can mow under any tree the cows keep limbed up.

 

[Fallon]

So this thing is 32 PTO horsepower. It could run a 6 foot bush hog in knee high grass. What about that 88" flail? Or a 72" flail??
Tractor Loader Cab 4HP 4WD - farm & garden - by owner - sale

32hp L3200, maybe 25pto. Ran a 7' old junker Ford 917 ok. Thick grass cut WAY harder than brush. I had a 5' rotary cutter at one point. Sold it as the flail did a better job. Better cut, safer, etc. The flail was slower & put a burn on avalible power. But covered acres as fast as the rotary due top the extra width. HST means you press on the go pedal until RPMs fall, then back off a bit. You get max output across varying mowing conditions.

 

[thoner7]

32hp L3200, maybe 25pto. Ran a 7' old junker Ford 917 ok. Thick grass cut WAY harder than brush. I had a 5' rotary cutter at one point. Sold it as the flail did a better job. Better cut, safer, etc. The flail was slower & put a burn on avalible power. But covered acres as fast as the rotary due top the extra width. HST means you press on the go pedal until RPMs fall, then back off a bit. You get max output across varying mowing conditions.View attachment 610094View attachment 610095

Your grass looks like mine but I have some hills too.

How many HP would you ideally have to run that flail mower?

 

[Fallon]

Your grass looks like mine but I have some hills too.

How many HP would you ideally have to run that flail mower?

That thick grass was by far the biggest hit on HP & is probably the thickest grass on my property. I was down pretty slow there, maybe 1mph or a bit less. Generally I could do 3, maybe even up to 4mph in light grass with 32hp. I was power limited about half the time, maybe a bit more. The rest of the time I was limited by field smoothness & a not so great back. 40hp would have been pretty good.

Amusingly I now have a 40hp L4060HSTC & have ran that flail on it once, maybe twice. I cant say it was actually memorably different. I now have an 8' Peruzzo flail & it performs about the same. I often cut some pretty rough fields & heavy 1-2" woody brush with it now though. Ideally I'd like 55-60hp, but I'm not disappointed in the tractor or flail. I'm probably going 4mph in the 2 mowing photos at almost full passes down to under 2 for the yucca & heavy brush bits.

Generally it's going to come down to how fast do you need to mow. Slowing down a bit gives a smoother ride anyway.