Does the math work?

bdog · May 13, 2019

Thanks. Lots of good points to think about. My income is such that it definitely makes more sense for me to be working rather than mowing but that is kind of a false argument as I can’t just randomly go work whenever I want to. If I decide to spend the evening mowing it’s not causing me to miss out on any income because I couldn’t be working during that time anyway.

Do I enjoy mowing? Not really but I don’t hate it. I kind of enjoy knowing it is done right and done when I want it. Hiring people to do things comes with its own set of problems getting them to show up on time, do a good a job, etc. I think the “enjoyment “ part of it for me would largely be in being able to mow whenever I want, have it done right, and not have the hassle of dealing with someone else to do it. That being said the reason I am looking at the 72” high dollar diesel mowers is I don’t want to spend all day mowing I want to get the task done quickly. If I truly just enjoyed mowing I would be looking at a 36” mower which would take twice as long or an 18” which would take four times as long so I could spend more time mowing.

Industrial Toys · May 13, 2019

A 72" deck often doesn't do a nice job. Too much uneven ground to span. That's why bigger machines start to use seperate decks to follow the contours of the ground.

Bigger mowers actually take less time than the math might indicate, because you always have overlap. If I have four inches of overlap on my ten foot mower, that is a smaller percentage than four inches on a five foot mower.

ch1ch2 · May 13, 2019

quicksandfarmer said:
I question whether you need a $15k mower to mow 40 acres per year.

Needs?
Anyone whom can afford it needs it.

Industrial Toys · May 13, 2019

You could ask why someone needs a hundred thousand dollar pickup to get groceries? lol

Or a fifty thousand dollar kitchen to heat something in the microwave.

Gary Fowler · May 13, 2019

Motorboatin said:
He who dies with the most toys wins

HE is never the less DEAD.

Gary Fowler · May 13, 2019

bdog said:
I have lots of expensive toys. I can afford a 15k mower but does it make sense?

We don稚 get a lot of rain. I mow every three weeks on average from May-October. Roughly 8 mowings a year. There are about five acres to mow so to hire it done is about $350.

With what a fancy mower would cost I could pay to have it mowed for over five years.

If you dont mind mowing your own lawn, and you need a diesel engine, and can afford it, then buy the mower. If in 5 years, paying someone else to mow will be the same as buying, then to me it is a no-brainer to buy the mower. In 5 years you will own the mower. 5 acres with a 60" mower will take about and 1-2 hours depending on the amount of obstacles to mow around, 16 hours per year x 5 =80 hours on the clock on the mower. You could sell it for what you paid for it after 5 years (maybe more than what you paid for it due to inflationary cost of equipment).

Industrial Toys · May 13, 2019

So, really, taking inflation into account, you are not getting more than you paid. All my old stuff appears to be worth a fortune considering the worthless dollar.

Still in my mind, not a bad thing to spend money on. Beats recreational stuff all to heck for payback.

4570Man · May 13, 2019

Industrial Toys said:
A 72" deck often doesn't do a nice job. Too much uneven ground to span. That's why bigger machines start to use seperate decks to follow the contours of the ground.

Bigger mowers actually take less time than the math might indicate, because you always have overlap. If I have four inches of overlap on my ten foot mower, that is a smaller percentage than four inches on a five foot mower.

My 72” does a good job with hardly any scalping of you get the mowing pattern right. The biggest problem is an obstacle that doesn’t let you drive where you need to such as a fence that’s not 72” from the bottom of a ditch. I think the 72” does a better job on flat ground especially with tall grass. My 72” machine will mow twice as fast as the 50” it replaced.

Industrial Toys · May 13, 2019

I have a 72" for my Steiner, that I just got for the heck of it in a trade and it is for sale.

Generally speaking, the best quality cut is from a narrow push mower and the quality get's worse as you move up in size. If you are mowing something that is billiard table flat, then I guess the 72" would work well. Not around here with the unduating terrain.I am not even talking of scalping, but more bridging small dips and valleys.

Currently I have 4', 5', 6', 6' fine cut flail, 10' (Three Deck) mowers, and got rid of my 16' flex wing finish mower. And had many others, so I have a little experience.