Acreage per hour cutting rate

[Holzster]

Froggy

I can not tell you exact time but here is my story wiht a 7 Ft mower. I used to use my neighbors 5 FT mower on my L4330 HST to mow my land. If I mowed straight it would take me about 23-24 hours. After I bought my 7 FT (Rhino) It takes me 12 hours.
I noticed that besided the obvious 2 extra feet every pass, I found I saved more time when I turned 90 Deg corners on the 7 FT one would swing out more where it would not leave a little swab that would have to go back & cut (make sence)
If I was confusing please let me know & I will reword it.
I love my 7 FT I would not go back to a 5 or 6 FT to me it was worth EVERY PENNY!!!

 

[froggy]

Holzster,

Thanks for your reply. Do you think it would be worth the additional cost to go to a 10 foot mower over a 7 foot one?

froggy

 

[Soundguy]

I mow about 10 ac in about 2.5 hours on my NH 7610s and 10' mower.

If I had 60 acers to mow.. I think I'd try to hop to 12' 15' or 20' mower!!! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

For your setup.. I'd get a 10' mower and go at it with a 50-60 ish hp tractor.. Before I got my 7610s, I was about to get a for 5000 anbd 10' mower. The 5000 was 63 hp and according to the loacl mechanic, was a good fit. He had at least 3 customers with that setup, and even a guy with a 5610 and a 10' mower.. though he said that was on the shy side.. and was only good for low pasture..

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Thanks for your reply. Do you think it would be worth the additional cost to go to a 10 foot mower over a 7 foot one?
)</font>

How much is the 7'?

When I was pricing mowers.. 7' and 8' were very close.. and then 10' was just a tad more... seemed like the $$ jump really came in at 12' +due to 'batwing'.

Howse makes a HD line that is head and shoulders above it's economy line. The have the 10' in 3pt and pull type. Unless you have a large tractor.. I'd pay a few more hundred and get the pull type. Even with a bigger tractor.. front weight would be nice. If I remember right.. my 10' 3pt was 2500$ tax included.. the pull type was a few hundred more. I couldn't believe the price.. After I had seen so many sky high mower prices.. when I hear the quote for 2500$ tax included, I ripped the check out of my checkbook so fast that it almost caught on fire... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

A brand called kodiak was also right there.. but a couple hundred more.. etc..

hope that helps some..

Soundguy

 

[RickO]

Using Gator's formula and an Excell spreadsheet here are some figures for you to Gander at.

The first number is Cut width in inches, second # is Speed(mph), Multiplier:, then Acres per hour, Time it would take to mow 66 Acres (in hrs)
84 6 100 5.04 13.10 hrs.
84 7 100 5.88 11.22 hrs.
84 8 100 6.72 9.82 hrs.
96 6 100 5.76 11.46 hrs.
96 7 100 6.72 9.82 hrs.
96 8 100 7.68 8.59 hrs.
120 6 100 7.2 9.17 hrs.
120 7 100 8.4 7.86 hrs.
120 8 100 9.6 6.88 hrs.
120 9 100 10.8 6.11 hrs.

 

[froggy]

Soundguy,

The prices are running $3,500 to $4,500 (without any discounting) depending on manufacturer (Bushhog, Rhino & Woods). Add $2,000 to $3,000 more for a 10 footer.
Will look at Howse.

froggy

 

[froggy]

Thanks for the numbers. They help.

 

[JJT]

You better have some really smooth fields if you are going to mow at 9mph. No way in my fields.

I switched to a ZTR last spring and can easily do 3 acres in a hour with a 60" Kubota ZD21. And it's more fun to mow with that than my L3710, better ride, better stability, 1 - 2 inches of overlap vs a ft and can turn on a dime. My wife and kids love the ZTR, but the L3710 it too big.

 

[froggy]

There is no way I would mow any faster than 5-6mph.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

Actually, 5 or 6 MPH is BLAZING FAST when talking bush hogging anything but a finished lawn. It's well with-in "do-able" limits to mow that fast wwith a finish mower while cutting grass, but forget those speeds while in heavy weeds, brush and/or on rough ground. A bush hog type mower needs lower speeds to do a decent job. I mow literally thousands of acres a year. (I have a full-time mowing business) There are but a few regular jobs I do where 5 MPH is safe or sane. Most properties I do require speed at or below 4 MPH. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Also, my 60 HP tractor(s) will easily pull a 10' mower at 4 MPH, but can struggle in heavy weeds with a 7' mower at or above 5 MPH. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif