Mowing Do you have enough tractor?

[MutzFarm]

This is off one of my older threads, but the question comes up how much tractor do I need? People sending messages and emails. So I thought I would bring it up again.
Again every application is different. This unit works surprisingly well on our small farm, but now that we have customers a little more under the hood would be nice.

Well I aint saying Im the smartest, but how much tractor do you need? Took my 2012 Mahindra 4wd 4025 with a 6ft shredder thru some brush that at times was 8ft tall.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I hear that all the time... "I cut brush X feet tall"...... with my small tractor...

Truth is, thick/heavy grass takes more power than brush...especially if the brush is green.

SR

 

[RPW]

Amen to that Sawyer. Last year during the spring growing season after I cut my hay I took the tractor around the fence line to clean up. Tractor had enough horsepower but the grass was so thick that I kept breaking shear bolts and I was running at full PTO speed.

 

[Thomas]

"but now that we have customers"
If time mowing can be issue I wouldn't consider less than 5 or 6 hp per foot of mower...if you HST you will also lose hp.

 

[MutzFarm]

I agree. Tall weeds usually dont bog you down because there is no under growth and they are spread a pinch between each other and the tractor doesnt get hot as quick. Now a thick coastal grass field will bog me down a lot faster. The thick grass seems to accumulate more in the screen and radiator then the weeds and brush. When in thick grass and summer temperatures I have stopped as often as every 30 minutes to blow out the radiator.

I also agree with a minimum of 5hp per foot. We are looking for a bit more under the hood soon.

 

[big bubba]

well said. to me it's not just about the ratio of tractor HP to the size brush hog, it's also about the ability of the smaller cut's to handle the weight of the hog itself. it then becomes a safety and maneuverability issue. yes, each circumstance is different and the 5-6 pto hp to foot of hog doesn't always apply. personally, using a medium to heavy duty 6' hog on anything less than say 35 hp pto tractor is pushing the limit.
but i've been wrong many times before

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I run my 6' Woods Rotary cutter "mostly" with my "rated" 42pto hp farm tractor, truth is I'd be willing to bet it has a little bit more than it's rated.

It's air cooled diesel NEVER even get's close to over heating, no matter how thick the grass is, although it does get a good work out!

Same thing with my 30hp Deutz "farm" tractor, although it is a full load on it... BUT, I can't say the same for when I put the same Woods cutter, on my tinker toy 30hp CUT, in the same field/grass! It started to get too hot in no time at all...just plain too much load on the pto... (yes I checked the cooling system good)

Anyway, I now have a deal going to buy another tractor just like pictured above, except it's rated 50pto hp instead of 42.

We'll see if he accepts my trade/offer.

SR

 

[Citydude]

I run a 6' Howes behind my 2501. No, I don't have enough tractor. I mow the sides of our road and a small clearing in the trees. Nothing over 12" and sparse. The mower was a left over from my old mowing business.

 

[MossRoad]

For our needs, we had too much tractor in our late 70's IH2500b. It was too big to take through the woods and too wide to take between the tree rows once they started growing, and too large to trailer home for the winter. So once the large tasks on our tree farm/rural playground were done, we downsized to our current PowerTrac PT425. It's perfect for cutting and maintaining walking trails in woods and fields, fits nicely between the plantation tree rows, and we could back it up into the bed of our full sized pickup until we switched to a Suburban and car hauler trailer.

I gotta find my video of my little PT425 with a 25hp gas Kohler engine pushing my 48" brush cutter through 14' tall soaking wet thistles... I couldn't push my body through them. I love the brush cutter out front.

Here's a very old grainy video from the early 2000's of it clearing 5' dry weeds from a field in the fall.

 

[dieselcrawler]

I get by with my 27hp/24pto JD 3005, running a 5' brush hog. As stated earlier, brush is easier than grass, which bogs it down, more so with the typical dull blades. Cuts grass better with sharper blades... I touch them up once in a while.

I need a bigger tractor, for the weight, power, and lift ability. Don't get me wrong, the 3005 does well for what it is, but I ask alot of it.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I'm currently running a 472 Brown 6' cutter behind a 52 HP Ford 4610SU. For the area that I cut twice a year it is adequate but not overkill. I can get a little smoke out of the old girl at times but in those open areas I am in 5th gear running around 4.5 MPH. I am looking at going to an 8' cutter to cover a little more ground. I may go with a 10' cutter but understand that I may need to get a bigger tractor if I want to cover the same area at the same speed. Good excuse for getting another tractor.

 

[MutzFarm]

I'm currently running a 472 Brown 6' cutter behind a 52 HP Ford 4610SU. For the area that I cut twice a year it is adequate but not overkill. I can get a little smoke out of the old girl at times but in those open areas I am in 5th gear running around 4.5 MPH. I am looking at going to an 8' cutter to cover a little more ground. I may go with a 10' cutter but understand that I may need to get a bigger tractor if I want to cover the same area at the same speed. Good excuse for getting another tractor.

I dont think I ever was on a smooth enough piece of property to go that fast.

 

[bspeedy]

I dont think I ever was on a smooth enough piece of property to go that fast.

Same here. That would be fun. I'd be concerned about a groundhog hole or washout and doing some damage to my machinery. Or hitting an exposed rock with the cutter. Maybe I'm just a coward...

 

[Turbys_1700]

The area that I am mowing is former pasture my grandfather and dad had cows in. I cut it twice a year. Once in May and after first frost. I would guesstimate cutting about 80% of it in 4th or 5th gear on the SU. There are other areas that I have to run slower. I know the lay of the land well. I was raised up on this farm.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I had a 14 or 16 (can't remember) foot Alamo bat wing (finishing) mower, all PTO/gearbox driven. Bought it really cheap at a municipal auction. I too cut around 40 acres when there was no market for our fields a few years ago. Cut them once in the fall when stuff had dried out. Our 68 HP JD was a bit much. That 50 something hp would have run it nicely.

Life is too short to be cutting grass.

You can't pay such close attention so you need to overlap. One or two feet lost cutting on a six foot mower is a significant loss, not so much at 16 feet.

 

[kthompson]

Same here. That would be fun. I'd be concerned about a groundhog hole or washout and doing some damage to my machinery. Or hitting an exposed rock with the cutter. Maybe I'm just a coward...

bspeedy, there are groundhogs in the upstate? I did not know that. Not all I don't know. lol

 

[coss]

The OP's terrain makes for easy bush hogging, given the open space between clumps of tall weeds, and the thin stems of 1.5" or less. The cutter has time to mulch the tall stuff and spit out the dregs before it has to ingest the next bite.

By contrast, tall grass never lets the deck get a break to clear out the accumulated junk. Thicker woody brush requires multiple turns of the blade before it gets chopped up into small pieces.

Here in the northeast, where we get plenty of rain, overgrown fields with 5 or more years of growth need at least 6 HP per foot of diameter on the bush hog, and slower speeds to make sure you don't overwork a tractor.

 

[pinetree10]

This is off one of my older threads, but the question comes up how much tractor do I need? People sending messages and emails. So I thought I would bring it up again.
Again every application is different. This unit works surprisingly well on our small farm, but now that we have customers a little more under the hood would be nice.

Well I aint saying Im the smartest, but how much tractor do you need? Took my 2012 Mahindra 4wd 4025 with a 6ft shredder thru some brush that at times was 8ft tall.

There's something strangely satisfying about watching these kinds of videos. Part of me wants to see the whole field once the job was done.

 

[TractorGuy]

I don't have enough tractors. The ones I have are great for most of what I do with them. I would love to add a 40-50 hp cab tractor set up eith a grapple.

 

[MutzFarm]

I don't have enough tractors. The ones I have are great for most of what I do with them. I would love to add a 40-50 hp cab tractor set up eith a grapple.

I have considered a cab a few times, but some of the customers I have I would knock the glass out every other month.