Finish Mower.... How large can I go?

[LindaK]

We just bought a used Kubota M6840 (approx. 70 horse) and would like to add a finish mower for a cleaner look in our pastures. The tractor is strong and runs like new, so no problem there, and the pastures are like lawns, very little weeds, but thick, short grass. How large of a finish mower can I look to buy? I have been looking at 14-15 ft batwings, however, I just saw a 21ft batwing for sale. The pasture is open and without trees, but is this size still going to be frustrating? And would this tractor even handle it? I do have a 7 ft rotary cutter to use if it would ever get to tall for a finish mower to handle. What is the rule of thumb on finish mower/ hp size?

Thank You...
Linda

 

[Midniteoyl]

How bigs the pasture? Rule of thumb, I believe, is 5hp per foot. so 70hp = 14'. Not to say you cant go bigger, and there are those that do, but you start to get into things like how flat, how tall the grass, how much room to turn, etc.. I would say that 21' mower just might work if you have the room to maneuver and the grass is kept short.. but you are pushing it.

 

[LindaK]

Thank you for the reply... does the rule of thumb of 5 hp per foot hold true for rotary mowers AND finish mowers alike? Does one take more hp per ft than another? This has been an ongoing discussion at our house. Although the pasture is fairly flat, smooth and mowed short I would prefer to stay well within the tractors limits. ( and it is a 6800 not 6840). If given a choice would you go with a 15 ft rotory or finish? pro's and con's? About 25 acres in pastures. No problem with tight areas.
Linda

 

[RickB]

I have customers easily running 15 foot finish mowers with 45 PTO HP and up. HP requirements for finish mowers are less than for rotary cutters.

 

[JimRB]

We fenced out smaller pastures up so we can rotate horses. We only have 9 acres and we have 4 turn out areas. This gives the areas a chance to rest during low rain or cold weather. I do not have much mowing usually. Even after I sprayed for weeds and tossed out fertilizer for the first time in years and even with lots of rain I do not have much mowing to do.

How many acres do you have? How much livestock is eating those acres. How big are the sectioned off pastures?

http://www.woodsequipment.com/uploadedFiles/Products/Literature/TBW Full Line.pdf

 

[LindaK]

That's good to know that the finish mower will generally take less horse power to run (given all things equal). Thank You...

Our pastures aren't cross fenced, we just have two ( one 20 acres and another across the drive way of 5 acres ). We only have 3 horses, are on a 12 in/12 out schedule and when two are out they wear grazing muzzles (yes, they are easy keepers!) We haven't used the smaller pasture in several years. So, basically, I'm wanting a lawn mower on steroids, since this is in our front yard.

Linda

 

[jenkinsph]

Linda,
I think I would look more towards the 15 to 18 ft sizes, your tractor is about 60 pto hp. Look at the 17 ft Woods tri deck as that would be a good match for your tractor. Mowing time should be about three hours with a 17' finish mower approximately.

Here is a link,
http://www.woodsequipment.com/productDetails.aspx?id=332

 

[Midniteoyl]

3hp per foot is pushing it for a finish mower in a pasture, IMHO. Its not a lawn getting an inch off the top every week...

 

[jenkinsph]

3hp per foot is pushing it for a finish mower in a pasture, IMHO. Its not a lawn getting an inch off the top every week...

According to the OP (LindaK) she is treating it as a lawn and would be mowing it regularly.

 

[leonz]

We just bought a used Kubota M6840 (approx. 70 horse) and would like to add a finish mower for a cleaner look in our pastures. The tractor is strong and runs like new, so no problem there, and the pastures are like lawns, very little weeds, but thick, short grass. How large of a finish mower can I look to buy? I have been looking at 14-15 ft batwings, however, I just saw a 21ft batwing for sale. The pasture is open and without trees, but is this size still going to be frustrating? And would this tractor even handle it? I do have a 7 ft rotary cutter to use if it would ever get to tall for a finish mower to handle. What is the rule of thumb on finish mower/ hp size?

Thank You...
Linda

It all depends on the time you to put in every time you mow.


An 8 foot finish flail mower will work well with you tractor and
will mow it well if it becomes over grown.


Mowing in a spiral pattern from the center of the paddock
eliminates braking and turning and reversing saving you
much time while mowing.

The only time consuming part is mowing the edges either before hand or afterwards.
Doing the trimming mowing beforehand saves you time where you know how much
of the edge has been mowed leaving only the radius mowing at each of the the corners.


It will also be easier to manuever as it is smaller in length than
a rotary cutter and it is not towed like a batwing rotary cutter
as it is an integrally mounted implement.

"Its your decision and your money" an eight foot finish flail mower
will last avery long time and will also have an excellent resale value.


The automatic tranmission if it has one also requires a lot of
horsepower when using the power take off.

 

[LindaK]

I hadn't considered a flail mower, that would allow us to sell the rotary cutter and go to one piece of equipment for shorter or longer grasses. Does the flail give as nice of a cut as the finish? I would think that you could go a little faster with an 8 ft flail vs. a 15ft or so batwing finish. I have never seen or worked with one. We would be mowing approx every 2 week and grass gets up about 6-8", but with several days of rain can get ahead of us ocassionally. I don't see many flail mowers for re-sale, so those that have them must like them? What would be the downside of this option?

Linda

 

[bucktaker]

I would go for the 21 footer as you will have options of not a full swath if you have a extra tall grass, slowing down for the thick areas, or the possibility of just mowing it higher. There will always be times you get behind on mowing....wet weather or possibly vacations but you have plenty of tractor for finish mowing with 21 footer. I would do it with my L5740 if I could afford a 21 ft finish mower instead of the 4 grazers i use now

I see you are in TN so the grass is not as thick as it is where I am so I have no doubt it would work well.

 

[dieselscout80]

I wish I could find a 12' finish mower that would cut up to 6" - 7" tall on the high end for clipping pastures does anyone know of one?

 

[leonz]

I hadn't considered a flail mower, that would allow us to sell the rotary cutter and go to one piece of equipment for shorter or longer grasses. Does the flail give as nice of a cut as the finish? I would think that you could go a little faster with an 8 ft flail vs. a 15ft or so batwing finish. I have never seen or worked with one. We would be mowing approx every 2 week and grass gets up about 6-8", but with several days of rain can get ahead of us ocassionally. I don't see many flail mowers for re-sale, so those that have them must like them? What would be the downside of this option?

Linda

Hello Linda,


Please let me say welcome to the forum.

Now to the business of mowing,
a flail mower will give you the
quality of cut you want.

If desired you can mow down to 2
inches of cut with them.

I do not imaging you are worried
about scalping etc., and the flail mower
with the rear roller reduces scalping
unless you have a lot of "grass humps"
that invade pastures some years and
only unless the mower drops forward
into a ditch if the top link is not connected
to the mowers three point hitch.

I have always felt that there are more
advantages than disadvantages simply
because a flailmower will permit you
to mow when the grass is wet and it
also will leave very small clippings
with the side slicer flail mower knives
in either a fine cut flailmower with
4 rows of side slicer knives or a rough
cut flail mower with 2 rows of side slicers.

I would like to suggest to you that you
read through the 100 plus pages of
posts and threads here in the
attachment forum. All you need to do
is type "flailmower" in the search box and
the responses will be listed by date and
you can read them at your own pace with
no issues because you can always go back
to the search box and type in flailmower
and go back to where you left off the last time.

You have been thinking about this for a bit obviously and
you still need to do more examining the issue.

As I tell everyone I want you to be an
informed consumer of information in order
to make the decision that is right for you
simply because you are the person who
has to live with your purchase decision.

Regarding your purchase decision:

You can also purchase a used flail chopper
in good condition through a local dealer if they have them or
visit www.tractorhouse.com and they will have several hundred
used flail shredder choppers that have been traded in on new ones.

There is very little maintenance on them other than changing the side slicers and
a flail shredder choppers side slicers are easier to change than the side slicers on a finish mower.


The finish flailmower or flail chopper also operates at a higher RPM (revolutions per minute)
and it creates small clippings the first time you mow and as I daid if the grass is long you can
shred the same clippings again to avoid dead spots in the sod.




A used 10-12 foot flail shredder chopper will also be very good in your case as it will be less costly per foot
than a new 8 foot cut finish flail mower and you can lower the height of cut to two inches on most
models as well.


Lastly a finish flail mower with four rows of side slicer knives will permit you to
go over an area a second time to shred the clippings asecond time if needed
because of the flail mowers ability to create a pressure gradient(suction)
to lift the clippings and cut them a again.
.

A rotary cutter will not do this for you unless the brush/grass is powder dry.

There are many good used flailmowers available for sale and I can personally
say the John deere 25A models are worth every penny new or used and have
a good resale value. The box frame construction of the
JD25A, The Mott flailmowers, the imported Woods Brand flailmowers,
the Caroni flailmowers and the Diamond flail mowers that Ken Sweet sells are excellent mowers.

Ken Sweet is a forum sponsor in good standing and as of yesterday he has a
seven foot Mott flailmower for sale from his shop and warehouse in Kentucky
and he ships everywhere on the east coast economically also.

Please check with Ken first when you are able to make decision as he is a
forum sponsor as he will be able to help you also.

I would like you to make the right decision the first time and that is why I want
you to be an informed consumer of information.

Parts are available, side slicer knives, paddle type shredder knives, scoop knives are always available through dealer networks, The V belts that drive the mower and bearings are metric and easily purchased locally or from
NAPA, KAMAN, Farm and Fleet, clean cutter or Flail Master and many other farm equipment dealers.

if you decide to purchase a new flail mower you can be assured that you would be able to use
the same mower to mow your lawn(ifit is large enough) if you you have fine turf grass
if you purchase a finish flail mower. Please keep us informed of your progress and give
ken sweet a call or a PM to see if he still has that Mott Flail mower for sale as well.

I hope I have not bored you to tears with the information I have provided you.

 

[leonz]

Check the Used Tractors For Sale at TractorHouse.com: John Deere Tractors, used farm tractors and farm equipment, tractors for sale, Case IH, New Holland, Agco, Kubota web site for new or used 10-12 foor flail shredders that has side slicer knives