B/BX Finish Mower Question And Which One (B/BX) Is For Me?

[EddieWalker]

9 acres is a lot of land to mow. I probably mow close to that, but I don't keep up on it, so there are times when it's a foot tall, when it's 6 inches tall and even over 2 feet tall. Life gets in the way of mowing so I have areas that I maintain religiously with my zero turn. That gives me the best finish and it's the fastest, easiest mower to use. It also beats me up and it's not very much fun to mow a lot of land with it. I probably maintain about 3 acres with it, and it's 60 inches wide.

I have a 37 hp 4x4 tractor for maintaining the rest of my land. I have 68 acres, but a lot of it is woods and stuff that I'm lucky to bush hog once a year. Eventually I will have to buy something big enough to run a 15 foot batwing, but that's off in the future. For the rest of what I maintain and keep up, I usually use my 72 inch rotary cutter. The finish is a fairly decent looking 4 inch tall field that looks nice from a distance, but not so much if you look close. It is by far the easiest, most comfortable way to cut what's growing regardless of how tall it is. At 37 hp, I'm borderline being too small. I should have bought 45 hp, but if I use that logic, I should have bought 100 hp. You never have enough power!!! There is no way in the world that I would ever want to have less hp, and after a year of mowing your 9 acres, you will understand this all too well.

I also have a 84 inch finish mower. While it's a foot wider then my bush hog, it cuts better and leaves a very nice finish compared to the bush hog. The only draw back to it is that it doesn't do well in those areas where I might not mow for a month or two. It's ideal if you can get out there and mow twice a month, maybe just once a month, but that really depends on how quickly everything grows there. Another really nice thing about the rear finish mower is that it has four wheels, so it floats over the contour of the land a lot better then the bush hog. If you keep the blades sharp, it really is a nice cut for large areas. If I ever get my big tractor, I'll probably retire my 72 inch bush hog and put the finish mower on the 37 hp tractor permanently. That would give me the best options of every situation.

9 acres is too much land to maintain with a smaller tractor. What will start out as fun will quickly turn into work, and then become a pain that you have to force yourself to do. Eventually you will either trade it in for a bigger tractor, or maintain less land.

 

[skipperbrown]

I have a bx and a b and I can tell you there is a world of difference in the comfort on uneven ground. The bigger tires on the b make a huge difference in comfort. HUGE. If you are mowing 9 acres of field grass, I would say the b is a minimum and you should be looking at an L or maybe even a MX. I pulled a 60" brush cutter on 10 ac of 2' thick grass with my B and it was a chore. The next time I mowed it, I used a 85 hp New Holland with an 8' cutter. The New Holland was much faster and much more comfortable but the turning radius requires about a football field sized area. Point is, mowing big areas quickly and comfortably requires a bigger machine and substantial HP if it is farm field rough.

 

[ksmeyer20]

Diggin it, yeah I don't doubt this will be an issue. It's currently raw ag zoned land, there is no chance in **** it'll be smooth riding not easily convertible to such a thing.. SCUT is seemingly not the mowing option at any reasonable speed.

Chim, thank you for your insight and sharing your mow times and deck combination/tractor sizing. A much more realistic view on this depicts a chore not to be taken lightly. 3 hours with the equipment I've been eyeing will be a far stretch.

RickB, I totally agree, it defies standard logic.. but when I see publications where companies normally don't want to shoot themselves in the foot on the upsell.. It raised a flag for myself, and wanted to get a bunch of opinions! Thanks!

SDT, yeah I wasn't giving mmm a whole lot of thought, the idea of having a ground contact rear discharge setup seems to click for me logically when it comes to a field. Not having to run over what's already been side discharged may help me in the case when life or weather gets in the way and the grass ends up being a bit taller than one had hoped.. and with a lot of grass to cut, sharpening will be a more frequent task, having it on the 3pt may be easier and quicker to service..

JohnThomas, I would be curious to know what my ZT can do in a field setting, it does okay in a residential setting with mulch blades, I can good enough cut at 5-6mph for the most part (26hp Kawasaki 50"). I would surmise I need to ditch the plug and go side discharge for taller grass / field setting.. I think I'll start bog if I have to run over and leftovers with any good speed.. When I move to multi acreage, I'm more in it for uniform decking of grasses.. doesn't need to be perfectly manicured, I'm okay with it looking good from afar as some put it... I'll take a look at rera, can't say it's a name I've heard of before (new to tractor side of things). Putting green smooth I guarantee it will not be!

Nrosario, thank you much! I'm very much excited. Location is more Central Wisconsin. Will be subject to Lake effect snow, and the cooler climate Wisconsin can bring. Can't say I've thought of getting a cab, probably would come in handy in the winter months, but for the most part my initial thoughts were the rops variants.. with all of these comments, I will certainly take my time in the decision! I'll do my best to make it a fun and less stressful process!

Dalola, I'm starting think this way.. Way too many comments on don't undersize and learn from my mistakes sort of mentalities.. I'll expand my research a little higher in the series ranks...

 

[ksmeyer20]

EddieWalker, I think you really hit on a note just about everyone knows too well.. The best intentions to get out and do something can easily fall through the cracks and get put off for a number of reasons.. I'm certainly not confident that over time, **** possibly after the first time doing so, I may regret my purchase decision, or want to mow and maintain all 9 acres... I thank you very much for the share on your equipment sizing and experiences.. that's amazing being borderline small at 37hp. It's hard to pin what I want or need as I stopped into a local dealer and spoke with the owner who namely deals with more ag sized applications first and for most, like you, pointed to a 35hp starting range.. my jaw still drops thinking of it.. the interesting part I find is people will also swear by 20's hp, and or being able to haul down their properties 6,7,8mph... It's such a variable task and what is satisfactory to one may not be for another... I wonder if it's a normal thing to ask can I go mow a field (maybe with used/rental equipment is more understandable) to get an idea and not take a sales guy word.. like all say, it's a bigger investment..

But dually noted. Starting out on too small a tractor will start out as fun, then work and ultimately become a pain... It's not hard for me to see such a thing from being a real possibility...

 

[ksmeyer20]

Skipperbrown, yeah I have no doubt it'll be farm field rough. It's currently zoned and had been used for agricultural purposes. I think for my sake the consensus is, if the tractor will be spending most of it's time traversing my field, the BX will contribute to chiropractic bills! I totally get the extra tire will add to the isolation in the bumps and undulations that come with a rougher field.. It's perhaps something I can work on with a lot of work to help level out. A great task to put me to work and get some real use out of the tractor. But even so, I won't likely get it to a fantastic grade to the point I can roll full out on a SCUT without losing my teeth.. I'm fairly certain the b is the lowest I can go with out insanely week one regretting my decision. It's only money... When you run out you just go to the bank and get more right?
I'll take a look at the L and Mx, something I have not done yet. I'm trying to avoid the football field turning radius, but I know there is a compromise out there to suit my needs.. I know inside brake turning can help me out, but largely I'm thinking of a un-wooded property, so I can afford to be not as nimble as a B/BX... Much appreciated

 

[PaulL2]

You could consider a larger machine, and a larger RFM. Two reasons:
1. Larger machine = larger wheels, = faster comfortable ground speed
2. Larger machine = wider mow width. = more ground mowed at the same speed.

One option if you know you won't be able to comfortably mow at full speed is to get a wider mower and mow slower. You're covering the same effective ground area but at a slower tractor speed. It means your mower will officially be "oversized", but when they size a mower for a machine/HP they tend to assume you're going to try to mow fast - i.e. it's enough HP to spin that mower in heavy grass at mowing speed. If your grass is less heavy and you're running slower than normal mowing speed, you'll have enough power to spin a bigger mower.

It's not that much more money for a larger machine, the MX in particular I think is priced well but may be changing model this week (if you're buying new).

If it's rough land, you might want to consider a flail rather than an RFM. I think you can spin a larger flail than a bush hog but they a bit more tolerant of rough ground than an RFM. If the ground is very rough, you could also consider modifying it to be more smooth - particularly if you've got an MX class machine. What do you intend to use the land for - will you feed animals, build a bike track, grow wild flowers, just look at it? That may influence what kind of shaping of the land you want to do.