Advice On Mowing 10 Acres (X 2) to 1.5-2 Inches. Finish Mower?

[wirlybird]

Hi all,
Hope this falls into "attachments"!
A customer has two 10 acre fileds that are used as polo practice fields. Last year I kept one cut with my 756 JD W/60 inch deck cutting to 1.5 inch height. The other was leveled and is regrowing.
I am wondering what might be a better solution for this. Read this as "economical" solution!!
I do have a Muratori 6 foot finish mower but have not tried it yet. Not even sure if I can get a cut as short as 1.5 to 2 inches.
I have considered tow behind reel mowers but not sure how well that would work. As you can imagine these fields are not "fairway" smooth! Even though they quite good and are very flat.

Thanks for any general thoughts or advice on possible attachments.

 

[jeff9366]

As you specify the 20 acres are very flat, consider a Flail Mower with the correct hammers for grass.


I have a Muratori 6 foot finish mower but have not tried it yet. Not even sure if I can get a cut as short as 1.5 to 2 inches.

Any Finish Mower should cut to 1.5" with the correct bushings installed to establish the cutting height.

 

[wirlybird]

As you specify the 20 acres are very flat, consider a Flail Mower with the correct hammers for grass.


I have a Muratori 6 foot finish mower but have not tried it yet. Not even sure if I can get a cut as short as 1.5 to 2 inches.

Any Finish Mower should cut to 1.5" with the correct bushings installed to establish the cutting height.

Thanks. I have a John Deere 25A I rebuilt. It cuts a field nice but haven't tried it down to 1.5 inches.
Definitely worth trying out though.

I am going to dig the finish mower out tomorrow and see how low it will adjust to. The manual is no help on that! It just says, "use shims to adjust height to where you like it"!!

 

[newbury]

Similar thread:

20 acres - Zero Turn - $3000-5000 - ?!?!

So, we just signed papers to buy 20 acres and it needs mowed. We have about $3000-5000 to spend on a Zero Turn, what should I buy? We might only mow 10 of it a week, but might hit the whole 20 some times. What should we buy? I know $3000-5000 for 20 acres is not great, but it's what we have...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Gee Ray]

This idea might make your job a little quicker/easier. I have done this with one tag along and a 42 inch mower on Wheel Horse. The set up worked very nicely.

For the money and the straight lines I would use a tractor instead of a z-turn.

 

[Gee Ray]

You might look into a roller or chain link drag to minimize the divots before you mow. The clumps of dirt will be hard on any mower.

 

[wirlybird]

You might look into a roller or chain link drag to minimize the divots before you mow. The clumps of dirt will be hard on any mower.

Thanks. That is one thing that is being taken care of. The divots are being replaced or put back in the ground!
I guess it's one of the things the "student" riders have to do at the end of a session.
Also make sure all polo balls are collected!

 

[bdhsfz6]

I mow a sloped and irregularly shaped 7 acre field with an 84" Landpride 3 blade 3pt mower. It works well behind my L6060 Kubota but it takes 3.5 hours due to the slope & shape. Lately, I've been looking at 12' batwing mowers to speed up the process. They're expensive and hard to find right now though.

If time is of no concern, IMO, almost any finish mower will cut your field to 1.5" with no problem.

 

[wirlybird]

I mow a sloped and irregularly shaped 7 acre field with an 84" Landpride 3 blade 3pt mower. It works well behind my L6060 Kubota but it takes 3.5 hours due to the slope & shape. Lately, I've been looking at 12' batwing mowers to speed up the process. They're expensive and hard to find right now though.

If time is of no concern, IMO, almost any finish mower will cut your field to 1.5" with no problem.

Thanks. I'll be trying out the finish mower today to see how it goes.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

As you specify the 20 acres are very flat, consider a Flail Mower with the correct hammers for grass.


I have a Muratori 6 foot finish mower but have not tried it yet. Not even sure if I can get a cut as short as 1.5 to 2 inches.

Any Finish Mower should cut to 1.5" with the correct bushings installed to establish the cutting height.

Yep. Flail mower is the way to go.

 

[WranglerX]

You building a golf course?..... 1.5 inches is sort of unrealistic..... Think big rotary and 3-4 inches more realistic ....

 

[wirlybird]

You building a golf course?..... 1.5 inches is sort of unrealistic..... Think big rotary and 3-4 inches more realistic ....

As mentioned, they are practice polo fields and have to be 1.5 inch max. Clippings also have to be very short, as in you can't see them, or they must be removed from the surface so the horses won't slip on them.

 

[wirlybird]

Update:
Finish mower is up and running. I have it set at approximately 1.5 inch cut height.
Issue I am seeing is clumping grass. The grass is not at all tall and it pretty dry.
This mower is rear discharge and has a chain guard on the back. I think the chain guard is kind of blocking the discharge.
I'm going to remove it and see how it does.
I won't be mowing near any people, structures or animals and the areas should be debris free so I think safety factor is ok.

Any thoughts on this?
Anyone have issues with rear discharge clumping some.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Update:
Finish mower is up and running. I have it set at approximately 1.5 inch cut height.
Issue I am seeing is clumping grass. The grass is not at all tall and it pretty dry.
This mower is rear discharge and has a chain guard on the back. I think the chain guard is kind of blocking the discharge.
I'm going to remove it and see how it does.
I won't be mowing near any people, structures or animals and the areas should be debris free so I think safety factor is ok.

Any thoughts on this?
Anyone have issues with rear discharge clumping some.

I removed the chain guard from the rear of my Befco 72" 3pt mower for the same reason. It made a big difference but I did put a few holes in my barn siding from thrown rocks.

 

[Torvy]

My understanding is that flail mowers do a better job of mulching the clippings. Experts, is that true or marketing hooey?

 

[wirlybird]

I removed the chain guard from the rear of my Befco 72" 3pt mower for the same reason. It made a big difference but I did put a few holes in my barn siding from thrown rocks.

Just tried it out and it is a big difference. Does leave the rear wide open to the blades though.

 

[LouNY]

Wide Area Mower;

My old one;

 

[lman]

This is what I use. It's 12 ft. wide. I mow at about 3".

 

[JethroB]

My understanding is that flail mowers do a better job of mulching the clippings. Experts, is that true or marketing hooey?

That is true for me. I tamed some areas first with a bush hog, mostly Bahai grass. Now I maintain those areas with a 6 foot flail with Y knives. No more windrows and looks much better. The grass is mulched a bit and falls straight down with no clumping.

 

[wirlybird]

I think now I need to find some type of rubber strip. Probably 3-6 inches wide and maybe 1.4 inch thick or a little more maybe and use it to bolt around the rear opening where the chain guard chute was.