Rear Finish Mower Finally chose a Rear Finish Mower....

[bill6]

...after a nearly exhaustive amount of reading, study, and looking. I compared the exact specs of these brands of 72 inch, rear discharge mowers: Befco, Sitrex, Land Pride, King Kutter, Woods, Bush Hog, Rhino, Farm Pro, First Choice, Rankin, and J-Bar.

But in the end, I chose a Howse C372 -- -- here's why:

I will have 6 acres of perfectly flat lawn, high quality grass such as in a baseball stadium. I plan to mow it often, about twice a week, so it will never be very long.

The latest generation Howse C372 has the basic features I wanted: 7 gauge deck, powder coated paint, large pneumatic tires, rear wheel offset to avoid compacting the grass twice, and it is RED to match my tractor. But the biggest thing, that really makes a difference; it has by far the fastest blade tip speed of any I've seen. 23,150 rpm's. This is due to a gear box ratio of only 1:1.93, which will allow me to mow at LOWER engine rpm's and save fuel. Only through experimentation will I establish the best rpm, but surely this will be like having an "overdrive" gear.

I'm aware that Howse implement quality has not always enjoyed the favor of customers; but from all I can gather, this C372 "Challenger 6" model has evolved to be a decent one.

I came close to choosing First Choice, Befco, and Bush Hog, but a little shopping around has rendered a purchase price of less than $1600 on this Howse C372......

 

[bill6]

Also, this Howse C372 is quite heavy, weighing in at 668 lbs. My tractor w/FEL weighs 3062 lbs (tires are not filled) maybe I will want to carry some weight in the loader bucket for a level, smoother grass cut?

Or, is ALL the weight on the 4 wheels of the mower even though it's a 3-point attached implement?

 

[BobG_in_VA]

Or, is ALL the weight on the 4 wheels of the mower even though it's a 3-point attached implement?

Most all your weight will be on the 4 wheels of the mower. You can let your hydraulics float....Oh, you may want to rethink the tires. If I read correctly you want the air'd up type rather than hard rubber?? I'd get the hard rubber as the pneumatic (air type) tend to loose air over time requiring pump ups. Also you never know when some unseen obstruction gets hit by a blade and thrown out the rear at 23000fps. puncturing your tire. I've got a friend that's had a 7 ft First Choice (Midwest/Sicma) for about 4 years and is thrilled with it. Has only had one belt tightning since new (and really didn't need it then,but did it during his maintenance anyway). He cuts about 6acres a week with his...bobg in VA

 

[Croomrider]

23,150 rpm's ???

23,000 fps ???

Shouldn't we say 23,150 feet per MINUTE?

 

[greg_g]

gear box ratio of only 1:1.93, which will allow me to mow at LOWER engine rpm's and save fuel. Only through experimentation will I establish the best rpm, but surely this will be like having an "overdrive" gear..

That's an interesting sales claim, but I'd personally need that proved to me under actual field conditions. Both my mowers simply say "operate at 540 PTO rpm", and both my tractors have a mark on the engine tach for PTO rpms. No experimentation required.

Just out of curiosity, what does the C372 owner's manual say about engine RPMs ?

//greg//

 

[bill6]

Hi Croom, yes your correct, it's measured in terms of feet per second. Therefore, I should have said 23,150 fps.

Greg; nearly all compact tractors have a pto speed of 540 rpm, which occurs somewhere around 2450 engine rpm's. So 540 pto rpm's is the benchmark.

However, at 540 rpm's at the pto and driveline, the mower blade tip speed will vary, based on 2 things: the diameter of the blade, and the gear ratio of the mower. I was just pointing out that for me, an important criteria was a high blade tip speed, so I can run the tractor's engine at a lower rpm and save fuel. For example, I might be able to run at 1900 engine rpm, resulting in maybe a pto rpm of 455, and still the mower blades will turn fast enough to give an excellent cut.......

 

[Glowplug]

That's an INSANELY fast blade tip speed. Most finishing mowers I've seen are around 16,000 - 17,000 fps. My Kubota ZD28 w/ 72" deck is over 18,000 fps. I am unfamiliar with that mower deck. Is it multi-spindle with several blades or just one 72" blade like a brush cutter? The reason I ask is that a longer blade would have a naturally higher bts and not truthfully be turning faster than several smaller blades. Something to think about.

 

[MrJimi]

Here is a link to Howse site with specs. And its 263 MPH / 23,150 FPM

Finishing Mower

 

[Glowplug]

Just checked out the Howse implement website. It doesn't specify the number of blades or spindles but the photos do look like it probably has 3 blades in the finishing mower deck. And, yes, it does say 23,150 fps. That should give you a very good finish. The only other concern I'd have is that it has only a 45hp gearbox. I don't know how much PTO hp your tractor has but if it's over 45hp you'd likely tear that gearbox up over a short period of time. But I imagine that your Mahindra is somewhere in the 30hp range based on the model number. If that's the case you should do very well with that deck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[bill6]

Hi Chuck; yeah, it has 3 blades, and provides an inch and a half overlap between blades.

My Mahindra has 32 turbocharged HP, rendering 27.5 HP at the PTO. So hopefully the gearbox won't be a problem. I will give a full report after using it, later this spring.....