Mowing acreage.

[bdhsfz6]

FWIW, I mow 5 acres of former pasture, which is a bit rough in spots. It takes around 2.75 hours to cut with an 84" 3pt finish mower behind my 60hp tractor. The R4 tires do not tear up the turf as long as I don't make tight turns using 4WD when the grass is wet.

It doesn't produce a golf course quality cut but I don't play golf and it looks fine to me.

 

[fatjay]

I mow 15 acres a week with a 72” 4cyl Turbo Diesel Zero & Bush Hog another 7 acres every other week all here on the Farm.

How long does 15 take you with 72"? I haven't seen a 4cyl turbo diesel zero turn, care to share some pictures? I have my kubota zd21 with 3cyl diesel and 60" deck and 2 acres takes me a solid half hour.

 

[leonz]

Good point about the cuttings sitting on top.
If I don't get to it soon enough, and it gets too long.......
I hadn't considered a finish flail mower. How big can you get them?
Still worried about my R1's, they leave tracks in my hard packed gravel driveway.

Your mules R-1 tires will not damage the
sod if it is dry.

You can purchase a finish flail mower in an
3-8 foot plus cut if you wish to have a wider one.

You can also purchase a Rammy finish flail
mower for your quad/four wheeler for much
less money than a finish flail mower with side
slicer knives.

If you do not have a winch for your quad bike/
4 wheeler you will need to purchase one.

I have a 48" towed Mathews Company Lawn Genie
with an original Briggs & Stratton 16 horsepower I/C
engine with the cast iron piston sleeve that I wish to sell.

 

[chim]

Based on actual time spent on my 3-1/2 acres of YARD (BIL next door has a real LAWN), Mowing takes me 18 minutes/acre at full boogie or 25 minutes/acre lollygagging* That's with the L4240 / 7-1/2' RFM / loaded rears / R4's / no loader or frame.

*Lollygagging:

Week one pattern////////////////
Week 2 pattern \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Week 3 pattern |||||||||||||||||
Week 4 pattern==========

 

[TractorNoob85]

I'm currently mowing 8 acres of old hay field and horse pasture. For the past 3 years, I've used a 61" Scag Turf Tiger. If I cut it every 2 weeks, it takes me about 5.5 hours. If I cut it every 4 weeks, it takes closer to 7 hours since I will need to slow down a lot to allow the mower to process all the grass. The real question is how often do you want to mow? I love the clean-cut look but it's pretty expensive in fuel to cut large areas weekly to keep it that way just for aesthetics. I'd rather let it grow out, go to seed, and then cut it down. That would be a job for a tractor and flail or rotary mower.

 

[steve tym]

It's really just for maintanance. Keep the trees down. Couple times a year.
Looking like a flail mower will be the way to go. Now to decide who's.

 

[Torvy]

It's really just for maintanance. Keep the trees down. Couple times a year.
Looking like a flail mower will be the way to go. Now to decide who's.

I'd go with the goats. You can have people bring/rent their goats out. This seems to be good for rocky or uneven terrain. I'm looking into having some clear out the understory in our trees.

You gotta be you, but I'm that guy that just doesn't understand having more than an acre or so of 'lawn'. Anything more and I would plant something useful, even if it was just aesthetic. A bunch of bee fodder?

 

[Brown Dog]

How long does 15 take you with 72"? I haven't seen a 4cyl turbo diesel zero turn, care to share some pictures? I have my kubota zd21 with 3cyl diesel and 60" deck and 2 acres takes me a solid half hour.

Your yard must be butter smooth if you can mow 2acres in 30 mins with a 60” ?

It takes me 9hrs a week to mow.
I mow 3-5hrs at a time weather & farm work permitting.

Kubota ZD1511 72 SD deck 1505cc 4cyl Turbo 30.8hp
& it still bogs pulling my steep hills & banks

I’ve currently bought a front deck F3710 36.9hp with same 4cyl Turbo engine & 4wd for traction.

Zero with front weights

Fluid Filled rear tires & 140lbs of brackets & weights up front.
Rides way better, doesn’t rare up & helps with traction on banks

 

[Brown Dog]

…
You gotta be you, but I'm that guy that just doesn't understand having more than an acre or so of 'lawn' …

Here in North Georgia : you’ll be Invaded with Field Rats IF you let grass grow tall & thick.

Keep it mowed weekly or Bush Hogged monthly & you won’t have a rat problem.

 

[Yander]

I had my 5.7 acre lot at my last house planted half in switch grass. It is a great wildlife habitat and it controls noxious weed growth. It will get pretty tall and it is meant to be burned off every 5 years and it burns HOT. You would probably need a permit and would want to do it when it isn't too dry.

I liked having it and the deer, pheasants and other wildlife loved it. You can mow it as an option other than burning it.