Advice on tractor for 7.5 acres - Mowing pasture and general use - L3902? What flail mower?

[redman135]

Some food for thought,
Stability, rear wheels: are at the narrowest setting by default. For hills you a wide track for safty.
1) get 2 peice rims and adjust to the widest setting, you will find a big improvment in "feel" and stability. note you can also get non adjustable rims so ASK if unsure.
2) add spacers to widen the wheels( see manufacturers recommendations)
3) dual rear wheels. very stabile but also the greatest cost. note get a quick relaese type as the old style permanant bolted on as obselete.

Front end loader: travel with it LOW. DON'T drive around with it up high on slopes are sooner or later you will roll the tractor.
associated point, get the wide FRONT tyre option ,this will reduce ruttting in soft conditions, and also provide a slightly better ride.
Definatlty get 3rd service.ie grapple. Hydraulis at time of purchase are cheaper than retro fitting.

If you have a choice get the larger hydraulic pump option as more and more attatchments are being made hydraulic.

Rear hydraulic outlets: are in PAIRS. 2 outlets = 2 pairs.

How high is your shed, and how high is the ROPS/Cab? If you don't have a shed measure the height of a tractor 3 sizes up to future proof.

Ergonomics. don't stop with Kubota, look at others. The ergonomis are slightly different between manufacturerers and a small difference can have big efffects.

As your skill increases you always get "mission creep", the only question is how far.

Lastly don't be afraid to ask questions, EVERYONE was a rookie at some stage. When you do find an answer to a question be sure to post it, partly to satisfy our curiosity and partly if somebobdy in the future has the same problem they can use your experiance to solve thier problem.

Good Luck

 

[Yander]

For mowing that much I would want something with at least 25 PTO horsepower which gives you the ability to run a 6 ft rear finish mower.

I think you're l3901 will more than do that. Check your local FB marketplace and Craigslist for used rear finish mowers around here they are cheap and plentiful.

Don't let the dealer talk you into a mid Mount mower. I don't think a flail mower is a terrible option if you decide you don't want to mow it as often. With a rear finish mower you will need to mow it probably once a month.

 

[big bubba]

agree w/Jeff to put bulk of budget into tractor & go w/MX series. pick up implements as you can. in the long run, you'll thank yourself

 

[Hughman]

With a rear finish mower you will need to mow it probably once a month.

He said he was in nor cal. I mow with my rfm about 3-4 times a year. By May the mower comes off the tractor. Too much fire hazard.

 

[masseyrider]

Hilly? Definitely get 4 wheel drive.
Hilly? Get more Hp. Not to overkill but an extra 10-15 can be a huge bonus at some point.
Hilly? Set it up wide. Don't bother with narrow design models.
I have 6 acres and I run 2 55 PTO Hp tractors. Gives me the option of running larger equipment if it becomes available.
My 8 foot Bush Hog when the grass gets tall, say past knee high, is already heavy work.

 

[Egon]

Mowing on hills: make sure you’ve got enough HP for the mower and hill climbing.

Otherwise Go looking for a tractor that fits the budget!

 

[jeff9366]

 

[Yander]

He said he was in nor cal. I mow with my rfm about 3-4 times a year. By May the mower comes off the tractor. Too much fire hazard.

Oh, yeah, you apparently don't get the growth we get here where you can sit and watch it grow this time of year until the end of July where it slows down but we mow sometimes into Nov.

 

[2manyrocks]

It’s a budget killer but, here’s a ZTR for hills;

View attachment 793355

It’s a Cub Cadet Pro Z 560 s KW and runs around $12K. It’s built like a tank and mows hills quickly and safely.

Mike

Your post got me looking into slope mowers. By no means exhaustive or definitive, but it looks to me like the options are Steiners, Powertracs, Ventracs, Kut-Kwicks, Harper Turf, and maybe a few others, Price wise, the Cub Cadet offerings look to me to be about 1/2 of the cost of the other options if all someone is doing is cutting lawn height grass on a slope up to 20 degrees.

I wish I could figure out a way to convert one of the Cub Cadet steering zero turn models into a rough cut mower to cut some hillside briar patches.

edit: local dealer had a demo pro 900 in stock for under $13k. He said it wouldn't be good for briar patches, and given the ground clearance for the mowing deck, I agree. I didn't see an easy, effective way of modifying it, either.
He said the larger model that handles up to 40 degree slopes sells as fast as they can get them in, but they can't get enough of them to meet demand.

 

[onobed]

Ventrac does a great job on hills. Pending the slope of the property you may want to include that in your consideration.

No PTO but a series of other attachments that are extremely useful.

I found a Kubota without the wider axles was not stable enough for me.