What machine, or equipment, can mow an uneven grassy pasture the fastest? Zero Turn?

[deserteagle71]

Depends on what you consider as a "rough" field surface.

I mow 50 acres here in northern Nevada yearly. The acres have never been a field, just desert overgrown with cheatgrass, and there are holes there big enough to swallow anything but a large diameter tractor tire so I doubt any zero-turn would do any good. It is so rough that when I was using my old John Deere to mow I would stand up the whole time and let my knees flex to take the pounding...anyone who has ridden a motocross bike knows what I am talking about. The knees are your suspension. Now I mow in my air-conditioned Kubota - with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand holding tight to a door handle to keep from being tossed out of the seat. According to the speedometer on the Kubota I mow at 3.36 mph - that's about as fast as I dare go. It does help that the Kubota, being a 4x4, has much larger diameter front tires than the John Deere and can cross the big holes easier.

And yes, take off the front end loader completely because all that weight out in front of the front axle just exacerbates the wear and tear on the front end with the rough pounding. Plus, not having the bucket and loader arms in the line of vision helps to spot those bigger holes you may have to drive around.

 

[Mark_G]

I have slightly over 5 1/2 acres, mostly woods that I mow under, but a few more open areas. My ground is rough, lots of roots that are above the ground, uneven areas, springs, humps and hills. I seem to break a blade or two a year. I can't imagine any mower other than my Ferris for my property. It just works. I wish I had a little more shielding to keep debris from occasionally throwing a belt, but I push it well beyond its general intent, not its ability. They are well built, and the suspension is a great help.

 

[BIGTOOLRACK]

I have slightly over 5 1/2 acres, mostly woods that I mow under, but a few more open areas. My ground is rough, lots of roots that are above the ground, uneven areas, springs, humps and hills. I seem to break a blade or two a year. I can't imagine any mower other than my Ferris for my property. It just works. I wish I had a little more shielding to keep debris from occasionally throwing a belt, but I push it well beyond its general intent, not its ability. They are well built, and the suspension is a great help.

Love my Ferris great machine nothing that I have found in the market even compares to it.

 

[veedub]

I just skimmed through this I didn’t see any mention of exactly how much pasture you are mowing but around here (Vermont) if you have more than 5-10 acres of open field you want mowed it’s pretty easy to find a farmer willing to hay it for free in exchange for the hay. Folks take care of their own lawn around the house and then let a farmer do the fields. It’s win, win for everyone. Grass has value id think many of you on this thread mowing extensive acreages might be able to find someone to make a similar arrangement with if you live in an area with any kind of agriculture still around.

 

[Soloz2]

My yard is pretty bumpy and uneven after having heavy equipment on it for the past 5 years and just finishing filling in about 80 holes from where the dead ash stumps were removed and chips hauled away. It was bad enough even my lawn tractor would cause pain and discomfort. I just got a Ferris 500s 52” and this doesn’t even have the better front suspension of the more expensive machines and this is by far the most comfort I’ve mowed. It also cut my mowing time in half. That said, I am not mowing anywhere near as fast as it can go as I’m still learning and I don’t think a truly bumpy pasture is what a ZT is meant or or would excel at. Now, if you smooth out the land and spread some new seed to make a larger lawn then that’s what a ZT would be ideal for!

 

[Notforhire]

I just skimmed through this I didn’t see any mention of exactly how much pasture you are mowing but around here (Vermont) if you have more than 5-10 acres of open field you want mowed it’s pretty easy to find a farmer willing to hay it for free in exchange for the hay. Folks take care of their own lawn around the house and then let a farmer do the fields. It’s win, win for everyone. Grass has value id think many of you on this thread mowing extensive acreages might be able to find someone to make a similar arrangement with if you live in an area with any kind of agriculture still around.

Keep in mind that the grass you remove from the property needs to be replaced with fertilizer. If you don't do this you will deplete the soil. After a while all you will grow is broom sage.
Fertilizer is expensive.

 

[Overtaxed]

For rough/open areas, I use my Kioti NX with a BW12 batwing. Yes, it's rough, but I can go slow and still cover a lot of area very quickly. I also have a Ferris 3100Z that I use to clean up what's too hard to get with the batwing, no way I'd use that constantly to mow the field; as others have said, it beats me/machine up quite a bit even with the suspension setup. A heck of a lot better than hard mounted machine, but still rough, you can't go fast on the Ferris of you'll break yourself/machine eventually.

 

[kneedeep]

Perhaps the field could be plowed and drag smooth.
Plant in hay or natural grass. Do it sections at a time until it is pasture smooth.
I mow and spray only the acres getting planted, pathways between fields and around the cabin.
Rest is growing wildlife cover.

 

[saxtonhill]

I mow 10 or so acres that are very hilly and bumpy with a 72" Caroni flail mower attached to my L4600. I can mow at relatively good speed and don't have to mow too often as the flail allows me to mow 3 to 4 foot tall grass and weeds. Also, the roller flattens bumps over time.

 

[Fields_mj]

I only read the first page so maybe this has already been said. I have an old Ford 1710, a much newer TC40DA, a Kubota F2880, and I used to have a Dixie Chopper XM2500. My F2880 can mow at 15mph on flat open smooth ground (so could the Dixie Chopper), but that speed goes down a LOT if the ground is uneven or if the grass is very tall. Even after only a week, sometimes 8mph on flat ground is as fast as I can go. If I happen to slip a tire on one of the tractors, that hole needs to be filled and flattened with a lawn roller even if its only a couple of inches deep. Otherwise, it wreaks havoc on my back if I hit it on a mower. The tractors handle the bumps a LOT better. A rut that would nearly throw me off a mower is only a bump with either of the tractors. With the wider tires that are on my TC40, I'm not even sure I'd notice the rut.

The problem with most mowers on a pasture is that you're presumably mowing through taller grasses and weeds and the decks just aren't designed to discharge that much material that quickly. If you go that route, I'd recommend using a rear discharge deck. Personally, I'd use the 8' rotary behind a tractor and only mow it every 4 to 6 weeks depending on the weather. Besides, my TC40DA has a cab with AC so its a no brainer If you have a bucket on the tractor, it could be worth the effort of trying to eliminate the bumps over time.