Rear Finish Mower 16 foot grooming mower

[Popgadget]

I am presently mowing with a Toro 580D, a 16 foot mower with folding decks. I am considering selling it and replacing it with a pull behind grooming mower. I would be running it with a Kubota L6060.
My reasoning is that I will have one less engine to maintain and will be in a cab with AC. Does this seem like a reasonable thing to do?

 

[old and tired]

It's nice to have the mowers out front, where you can see them but you had me at AC... So is most of your mowing wide open spaces?

 

[Popgadget]

Yes. And I can trim with a zero turn. I’ll admit that the Toro is nice because I can run it with either or both of the side decks folded up, which doesn’t leave much for the ZT.
However, I’d probably leave the pull behind outside, so I would gain indoor space as well as saving maintenance.

 

[AndyMA]

A 16 foot pull behind mower is not the most maneuverable thing!

Are you mowing open fields?

Andy

 

[Popgadget]

Yes, pretty much all open. I’m using a 16 mower now, but it’s not a tow behind.

 

[dodge man]

I think it would be tough to beat the cut of the Toro.

 

[lman]

I pull a Woods tbw144 finishing mower. I got a deal from the neighbor when he moved. I had to do some work on it since he left it sit outside. Haven't had any problems since I keep it inside. You can't turn very sharp or the pto will start banging. Sometimes it seems like it takes as long to grease it as it takes to mow my yard. I also have zero turn.

 

[Popgadget]

The Toro has 11 blade spindles plus at least another 20 fittings to grease, plus an engine to maintain. I’d say the the hydraulic motors on each deck are probably a wash with the gearboxes on a pull behind, an it has no driveshafts. The other consideration is that myToro is no spring chicken, it’s 20 years old.

 

[Industrial Toys]

YOUR NUTS!

YES, having another machine to look after is a factor. BUT, you are not a municipality. The mahine won't see that many hours. My CUSHMAN 10 foot mower could mow 100 acres in an 8 hour shift! That's a HUGE saving in time if you value yours and have a lot of grass to cut like me.

I got rid of my 14 or 16 (don't remember) pull behind wing mower. You can't even compare the two. You need a lot of space to run that tow behind. First time I used it, I tore the baton off the garage! You can do precision work with the self propelled wing mower and they can practicaly turn in their own footprint. Great for going around trees. Not even a close possibility with a pull wing mower.

 

[Big Barn]

I was the BC dealer for these in the 1990’s. Most went to municipalities, park boards and school districts.



TD65B Overview - 15.5' Tri-Deck Finishing Mower - Producer Series - Progressive Turf Equipment Inc.

 

[Big Barn]

YOUR NUTS!

YES, having another machine to look after is a factor. BUT, you are not a municipality. The mahine won't see that many hours. My CUSHMAN 10 foot mower could mow 100 acres in an 8 hour shift! That's a HUGE saving in time if you value yours and have a lot of grass to cut like me.

I got rid of my 14 or 16 (don't remember) pull behind wing mower. You can't even compare the two. You need a lot of space to run that tow behind. First time I used it, I tore the baton off the garage! You can do precision work with the self propelled wing mower and they can practicaly turn in their own footprint. Great for going around trees. Not even a close possibility with a pull wing mower.

The 15.5 foot pull type Progressive mowers we had were zero turn. You could mow around a goal post.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I am presently mowing with a Toro 580D, a 16 foot mower with folding decks. I am considering selling it and replacing it with a pull behind grooming mower. I would be running it with a Kubota L6060.
My reasoning is that I will have one less engine to maintain and will be in a cab with AC. Does this seem like a reasonable thing to do?

I highly suggest you look at a Trimax Pegasus or the Snake. It will be the best cutting and lowest maintenance mower you will ever own. The Pegasus may be a bit too big for the L6060. I ran a 16' Pegasus with my L6060 and it was all it could handle. Mowing conditions will be a big factor. The Snake will give an even better cut than the Pegasus, but comes in a 10.5' or 13' size. Check them out here. Commercial Rotary and Flail Mowers | Trimax Mowing Systems USA

 

[9973720wb19]

I have a Toro 5900 and a JD 5100R with a pull behind Woods 16 ft FM. the 5900 is best for mowing, it moves like it's nimble and small. the tractor moves like it's big and clunky - depending on your tractor tires it will tear up your lawn. i used the woods for rough cut fields...the toro is for lawn tractor is much slower...

 

[Industrial Toys]

How can a pull type mower be "zero turn"? I had a very hard time cutting fields with my Alamo Bat wing finish (14-16'?) mower because it could not make sharp turns and I was wasting a lot of unproductive travel time at the corners getting back on course.

To me, production in mowing is more about not mowing and going over uncut/missed areas. Or that overlap lost portion of your deck. A foot is a lot on a six foot deck! Not so important as the width gets greater.

 

[Big Barn]

How can a pull type mower be "zero turn"? I had a very hard time cutting fields with my Alamo Bat wing finish (14-16'?) mower because it could not make sharp turns and I was wasting a lot of unproductive travel time at the corners getting back on course.

To me, production in mowing is more about not mowing and going over uncut/missed areas. Or that overlap lost portion of your deck. A foot is a lot on a six foot deck! Not so important as the width gets greater.

Zero turn? Progressive designed the geometry so that at the end or a row you cut the throttle back a bit (ideally), crank the steering wheel until you’ve done a one eighty and reset the throttle. No skips no misses. Zero turn.

I’ve mowed thousands of acres with these. Literally.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Short of something like the way a haybine works, I can't invision it.

The 16' swath of a finish mowr in tall grass (dried and in the fall) brought a smile to my face, but the corners with the loss of time and producton, were always a royal pain.

 

[aczlan]

How can a pull type mower be "zero turn"? I had a very hard time cutting fields with my Alamo Bat wing finish (14-16'?) mower because it could not make sharp turns and I was wasting a lot of unproductive travel time at the corners getting back on course.

To me, production in mowing is more about not mowing and going over uncut/missed areas. Or that overlap lost portion of your deck. A foot is a lot on a six foot deck! Not so important as the width gets greater.

IMO, it depends on where the "cart" wheels are.
Something like this (the Progressive one) which has the wheels in front of the rear center deck:


Versus something like this Bush Hog one that has the "cart" wheels next to the rear center deck:


It looks like its only a foot or so different, but the Progressive mower will turn sharper and looks a lot like the ones that I used to see mowing at the local community college and turning around in their own length (no trimmer mower needed)

Aaron Z

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't have anything mentioned in this thread and doubt that I will ever face such a decision. I do have a couple of tractors and I think that it's important to have a back up machine, or different machines that do similar things. Every machine will break down, and it's really nice when you have another that can step in and keep things moving forward while waiting for parts, or just finding the time to fix what's broken.

How many hours are on the Toro?

How many acres are you mowing with it?

Golf courses use those Toro mowers for a reason, they are much better at mowing then a pull behind finish mower.

 

[Industrial Toys]

YES, having numerous options is a life saver. My wing mower is currently sitting in a GIANT puddle of $100.00/pail JD oil!



That was my pull rig. Being shaft driven, it would not replace the hydraulic wing mower as you can't run it in a narrow configuration.

 

[Popgadget]

The 15.5 foot pull type Progressive mowers we had were zero turn. You could mow around a goal post.

Turns out that a local sod farm shut down, and has two Progressive TD65’s and a pile of spare parts that I can get for a very reasonable price, so I’m going to give the pull behind a shot if It works out.

To answer the questions, I’m only mowing about 10 acres, but I don’t want to spend all day at it. I don’t mow commercially, and I do have other tractors and mowers, 60” ZT Lazer, and 6 and 8’ 3PT mowers. A tractor and 8’ 3PT has been the back up for the Toro, and would also be the backup for the pull behind.
Thank you for all the comments and suggestions, I wasn’t familiar with Progressive before this post.