Compact Diesel Engine Tractor vs Gas Engine Riding Lawn Mower For Mowing

[fidowanttobe]

Diesel to gas?
I pull a 60" bush hog with 28HP geared diesel and I make a well cared for 8N ford look ridiculous. No comparison. I also run a 72" RFM with no problem. As stated earlier, you need a rough cut/bush hog mower for that tall of grass to knock it down and then re-mow in a few days with a finish mower.

 

[Spindifferent]

I simply avoid cutting wet grass as it will stick to anything that cuts it.

 

[Tennsawdust]

I think you would find a considerable difference in cutting capability, even though subcompact tractors - on paper - have about the same horsepower as your Husqvarna. That was certainly my experience going from a 24 HP John Deere lawn tractor to a 22 HP Kubota subcompact. The Kohler gas engined JD would bog in heavy grass but the diesel Kubota was for all practical purposes unstoppable. There simply wasn't anything you could remotely call "lawn grass" that would bog it down to any degree, even thick material 18" tall. Now getting all the clippings discharged was another matter, and that was the limiting factor in how fast you could go.

That was with a mid-mounted deck. A rear mounted 3 point deck with rear discharge should be even better, but you sacrifice maneuverabililty with a rear mounted deck. Other posters are correct that a rotary cutter is the better solution if you have rough ground or woody material to cut.

The diesel SCUT is going to have substantially more torque than a gasoline engined lawn tractor. That Kawasaki 22 hp engine is probably around 750 cc with about 34 ft/lbs of torque. The 24 hp Yanmar is a 1.2 L engine with 46 ft/lbs of torque - provided through a heavier chassis with lower gearing and much better traction. It isn't even a close race. Even a 19 hp SCUT could kick sand on any 24 hp lawn tractor.

 

[DieselBound]

I'm somewhat familiar with the OP's conditions (I get over 60" or rain per year). I have a gas-powered riding mower for mowing over my septic field. In my experience a rotary cutter behind a comparable diesel-powered tractor will readily best the gas mower: ran a B7800 with a 5' brush hog for MANY years. Finish might be less refined, but unless one has to have a manicured lawn a good rotary CAN do a good job: my 6' Bush Hog B286 seems to make a better cut than my LandPride 1860 (both with new[er] blades). I run rotary cutters all around my house except for the septic drain field and the finish is acceptable to me. IF I wanted a better finish I'd consider a flail: perhaps the best cut one can get would be from a flail with grass blades. The diesel uses a fraction of the fuel that the gasser will. Diesels cost a fair amount more, of course.

1' tall grass is nothing to me. I have encountered reed canary grass at just under 10'! (when I first moved here; of course, if going to mow stuff like this it ends up getting bent over) More currently I may run into 2' tall grasses for my first cutting of the year: my NX5510 and 6' rotary doesn't flinch- even if it's a bit wet.

If you have the deck higher in the rear of the rotary cutter it's hard to really clump things up.

Anyway, here in the PNW the grass always gets way out in front of you before you can mow. Ground is saturated and the grass taunts you!

 

[js5020]

I currently use a Husqvarna HST drive, side discharge, 24HP gasoline riding lawn mower (garden tractor style, not zero turn) with a 48" deck. The first mowing of the season, wet grass up to a 1+ foot tall REALLY bogs down the mower and requires a very slow speed to mow. How would an HST drive, 26HP Diesel Tractor with a 3pt/PTO driven, 54" rear discharge finish mower compare? Would it still bog down like the gas/side discharge mower? I want to keep the loader bucket size at 54" to maneuver around fruit and ornamental trees on a 2 acre property. Also want to see if I can avoid the HP that requires a DPF, but if I need the HP, then I'll deal with the DPF

No comparison a sub compact or compact is a whole different world. I don't even get concerned with the 60 rfm and the 26hp compact tractor at a foot high, don't think that would even slow the machine down one bit. A foot high would give the jd lawn mower issues for sure.

 

[Texasmark]

For just an initial cut of 2 acres, I'd be tempted to find an old Gravely.

Gravely 526 with Sicklebar Mower. - YouTube

Should be in-production other Manuf options, but I have no idea what's out there now.

Hadn't seen this head before, didn't slow down for corn....

1964 Gravely L8 mowing the Cornfield - YouTube

Rgds, D.

I wouldn't wish a sickle bar mower on anybody. Just ancient history. Better ways to skin the cat today. I had 4, 2 tractor 3 pts and 2 JD 1209 swathers.....never again.

 

[MossRoad]

A Swisher Trail Mower behind an 650cc ATV is what I used for a few years to get rid of all blackberries in the area that is now all grass

Why don't you sharpen up the blades and use it on the grass? :confused3:

 

[welyell]

Why don't you sharpen up the blades and use it on the grass? :confused3:

Because I no longer have that setup. I really do not enjoy maintaining multiple gas engines that only get used once a year for a single purpose....

 

[welyell]

What are the maintenance requirements for a brush hog/rotary cutter? Even though it would usually only be used once a year, sounds like that would be the way to go, then use a finish mower during the rest of the "mowing season"

 

[MossRoad]

Because I no longer have that setup. I really do not enjoy maintaining multiple gas engines that only get used once a year for a single purpose....

That was my goal when I bought our current machine. To get something that would do as many tasks as possible, so I'd have to maintain as few engines as possible. I now have this machine, a small push mower for our tiny back yard, my log splitter, my generator, and a couple chainsaws and a weed eater. So really, just the four larger gas engines. There's nothing to maintain, really. I just shut off the fuel and run them until they stop if they aren't going to be used for a couple months. I put stabil in the generator tank, but that's the only one I treat. If they get run for a couple hours, a couple times a year, that's enough to run the old gas through them, as their gas tanks aren't even 1 gallon, with the exception of the PT425, which is 5 gallons, but gets run once a week mowing the lawn.

I'd think a self powered tow-behind mower that gets used once or twice a year would kinda last forever with very minimal maintenance. I've thought about getting one to tow behind my machine with the 60" mower to double my mowing width back when I maintained a little league park. That would have sat for 8 months at a time and I'd have had no problems with that.

My log splitter sits for months and months, only used spring and fall. No issues with that.