15 ft finish mower. Anyone own one of these?

[Steppenwolfe]

Hey, Guys... Looking for something to mow 30 acres of pasture at my farm. Does anyone have any experience with something like this? BEFCO Cyclone Super-Flex 415-SFL gang grooming mower - YouTube

 

[mrmikey]

We've got a couple of Woods BW240 mowers here at work we tow behind a New Holland TV140. A bigger version of what you're looking at but the same thing pretty much. We use them for mowing the median which is very rough and lots of rocks and debris.
The first couple we bought only lasted a couple of years thru no fault of the mower, they just weren't made for mowing over that kind of a rough debris covered surface. The top of the deck ended up getting cut in numerous spots as well as the perimeter of the deck was battle scarred and cut quite bad..
Next one we bought we got the ring underneath which made a world of difference as it stopped the blades being driven up into the underside of the deck. Other than that we've had no major problems with them.
We ended up going with the foam filled tires as the pneumatic ones were constantly going flat.
The decks on ours were gravity down, on any kind of a sloped surface, the deck on the uphill side wouldn't drop as it was past center. We ended up modifying the hydraulics to pressure it down and then a float position when being used so it would follow the terrain
If you're mowing a field I can't see you having any problem........Mike

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I watched a few video's of the mower you are referencing; they are more of a bush hog blade than a finish mower. Lot's more money as well.

 

[m7040]

I had a 15 ft Woods batwing mower. Used the Kubota M7040 to pull it and maintained 3 to 4 miles per hour when mowing. It can cut a lot of grass in a short period of time. I think a smaller tractor maybe 30 to 40 hp will pull it as well. No problems with it. Had it hooked up to raise one deck at a time with 3 remotes although the PTO has to be off to do that. Sold it when we planted 6000 trees and our needs changed to Zero turn mower Kubota ZD331

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I had a 15 ft Woods batwing mower. Used the Kubota M7040 to pull it and maintained 3 to 4 miles per hour when mowing. It can cut a lot of grass in a short period of time. I think a smaller tractor maybe 30 to 40 hp will pull it as well. No problems with it. Had it hooked up to raise one deck at a time with 3 remotes although the PTO has to be off to do that. Sold it when we planted 6000 trees and our needs changed to Zero turn mower Kubota ZD331

Interesting... I do have a ZD 331 myself, and that is hard times mowing 30 acres... hence the bat wing option. I'm looking for that option where I don't spend all of my golden years mowing grass.... BTW, looks like you are a fellow Kubota man. :thumbsup:

 

[m7040]

Yes a Kubota owner for sure. Latest additions were the minix and new RTVX1100. The batwing 15 ft is what you need for 30 acres and if you have a cab tractor with air suspension seat you are golden

 

[mcfarmall]

A buddy of mine has the Land Pride equivalent of that mower. He uses it on 60 acres of CRP land.

 

[Molalla1]

I watched a few video's of the mower you are referencing; they are more of a bush hog blade than a finish mower. Lot's more money as well.

Are ya going for a golf course Wolf?

 

[lman]

I use a Woods 12 ft. batwing finish mower. I bought it used from the neighbor when they moved. They stored it outside and some of the moving parts were seized with rust. I got everything moving freely and replaced some of the gearbox seals and it works good now. i mow about 4 acres of lawn and 6 acres of horse pasture. I mow the pasture once a year at the highest position and it works my NH 3040. If you get one, I would store it inside as there are a lot of moving parts.

 

[workinonit]

Step, I have that same mower in a 20 foot version. Mine is a Befco branded Frontier. I bought it used several years ago and have had zero issues with it once I got the couple of things that were wrong with it squared away. When I bought it I was pulling it with my old JD 5310 but have since upgraded to a 5090. Mine had the manual deck release and now with a cab I need to add the hydraulic deck release but I'm not able to find it anywhere as an add on. I often times say that this is in the top 5 of best things I ever bought. Had I been relegated to buying it new I probably wouldn't own one because of the price but knowing what I know now I would. I couldn't function without mine.

 

[workinonit]

BTW, not sure what kind of deck wheels come on those things now but I had mine foam filled after I got it. Best thing in the world to do. Or get solid wheels.

 

[RjCorazza]

Not a Batwing, but I have mowed with a 7' Befco finish mower for the past 15 years or so. Very well made mower.
I bought it with solid tires and bought air tires shortly thereafter... Big mistake imho, as I had constant flats.

 

[dieselscout80]

I use a Woods 12 ft. batwing finish mower. I bought it used from the neighbor when they moved. They stored it outside and some of the moving parts were seized with rust. I got everything moving freely and replaced some of the gearbox seals and it works good now. i mow about 4 acres of lawn and 6 acres of horse pasture. I mow the pasture once a year at the highest position and it works my NH 3040. If you get one, I would store it inside as there are a lot of moving parts.
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I wish there was a way to setup one of these 12 foot finish mowers so the cut height range was like say 2 and half inches to 8 inches. I like to cut our pastures higher to leave grass for grazing.

 

[joecdeere]

When I was still working, we sold many of the BushHog TDM series multiple deck finish mowers, lots of golf courses and city parts used them. You cover tons of ground in a hurry with one, just remember that痴 it痴 3 times the belts, idlers, tires, and blades, can get expensive, however they do mow well and other than finding a place to keep it out of the sun and weather I can稚 think of a negative if you have that much grass, (remember, this is not a pasture mower)

 

[lman]

I wish there was a way to setup one of these 12 foot finish mowers so the cut height range was like say 2 and half inches to 8 inches. I like to cut our pastures higher to leave grass for grazing.

I believe the highest mine will go is about 6". Spacers are used for adjustments at the caster wheels.

 

[dieselscout80]

I believe the highest mine will go is about 6". Spacers are used for adjustments at the caster wheels.

Yes 5 or 6 inches is the max I have seen.

The other issue is once all those spacers are added to cut high, it looks like the spindles would be easy to bend/damage.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Step, I have that same mower in a 20 foot version. Mine is a Befco branded Frontier. I bought it used several years ago and have had zero issues with it once I got the couple of things that were wrong with it squared away. When I bought it I was pulling it with my old JD 5310 but have since upgraded to a 5090. Mine had the manual deck release and now with a cab I need to add the hydraulic deck release but I'm not able to find it anywhere as an add on. I often times say that this is in the top 5 of best things I ever bought. Had I been relegated to buying it new I probably wouldn't own one because of the price but knowing what I know now I would. I couldn't function without mine.

Good job... That is what I wanted to hear. The one I found is 15ft, probably would mow my 30 acres in 4 to 6 hours.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

When I was still working, we sold many of the BushHog TDM series multiple deck finish mowers, lots of golf courses and city parts used them. You cover tons of ground in a hurry with one, just remember that痴 it痴 3 times the belts, idlers, tires, and blades, can get expensive, however they do mow well and other than finding a place to keep it out of the sun and weather I can稚 think of a negative if you have that much grass, (remember, this is not a pasture mower)

Well, my pastures are very clean, rolling orchard grasses. No rocks or soil mounds. I figure it will be more like 30 acres of lawn, as we don't graze animals or hay. Don't ask... wifey likes it mowed...

 

[TractorGuy]

I've seen the Frontier version.

This one has a neat work around for no rear hydraulics. They just put a 12V pump assembly on it and ran some wires.

 

[Popgadget]

I’ve got a Progressive TD-65, I pull it with a Kubota L6060. I bought two of them and a skid load of parts from a local sod farm that closed. I kept one and the parts. It works great and has been very reliable, but I like the fact that there isn’t anything on it that couldn’t be sourced locally or homemade.
I grease it regularly and replaced a valve stem in a pneumatic caster. Haven’t changed a belt yet, but I’ve got spares.

Cut quality is excellent. I’m sure that the woods, LP or Befco are all similar quality.