Mowing Finish mower use?

[tacticalturnip]

Roughly 5 horsepower per foot; however a finish mower at least seems to offer a little more flexibility. I'd attribute this to it's regular use as lawn or field maintenance, as opposed to clearing overgrown areas.

 

[lman]

My neighbor sold me his 12' finish mower when he moved. I already had a tractor big enough to handle it. I could use about 10 more hp, but I go slow in the heavy spots. I only mow about 4 acres and my wife uses a 60" zero turn, so it doesn't take long to mow it.

 

[Williy]

I would think that if the grass is too high you could cut
half down then go over and finish cutting the rest

willy

 

[FPGT72]

I mow about 11 of the 13ac that I have with a finish mower. In the past it was a woods mower pulled behind the tractor, now it is a big zero turn that does the job MUCH faster.

I don't think there is a limit.

Now if you are wanting to do all that with a big box store riding mower, that little machine will not last long, they are just not made to be run that long even if the ground is glass smooth.

When I first moved out there I mowed around the house with a 42" mower, about 4ac, the rest was done with a brush hog. That little mower made it one season before things started to go on it, first was the electric PTO, then the transmission, I dropped a gear, then I lost a second gear. At that time I bought a finish mower and larger lawn mower with a 54" deck.

 

[chim]

So how much grass is too much for a finish mower? I recently purchased about 5 acres with home. Approx. 2 acres around house has manicured lawn with remaining 3 acres taller grass with cherry trees. Obviously been mowed before, (no saplings or heavy brush) but not on regular basis. This is in northern MI and grass seems fairly fine. So my question is at what point does a rotary cutter/bush hog become necessary over a finish mower? I would eventually like to keep the whole 5 acres mowed on a regular basis.

"Too much" - If you're talking the height of the grass being mowed, is a matter of trial and error plus your expectations. I've used (abused?) rear finish mowers to knock down some tall grass and weeds. It was a little more of a success story when not trying to cut it all at one time. A few passes cutting a bit more each time helped. Regardless of what you cut it with, there's so many cubic feet of grass cut off. It may be chopped finer or coarser but it's left behind unless you bag or rake. RFM's aren't as robust as rotary cutters. I had a 5' rotary cutter years ago that chewed up a hidden concrete block with no apparent damage. I'm sure it would have really messed up my finish mower.

"Too much" - with regard to the area is a choice of how much time you want to spend mowing. In my case I do 3-1/2 acres with trees, creek and buildings on it with a 7-1/2' RFM. At a comfortable pace and making cute diagonal stripes it takes 25 minutes per acre. One time when I was in a rush it took 18 minutes per acre (but I was going like a moron and just started at the outside and kept cutting smaller with no neat patterns). Mower width is king. When I use my 5' RFM it takes about 33 minutes per acre.

I started keeping track of real mowing times because it is much more useful in discussing the topic than the frequently seen comment of "I can cut the grass in half the time with my (insert equipment name here)". I can accurately state that with my 7-1/2' deck the mowing can be done in 55% of the time it takes with my 5 footer if I'm going for broke or 72% doing it sensibly. There's no way I can truthfully compare my results with those using other equipment.

 

[BackRoad]

I mow about 11 of the 13ac that I have with a finish mower. In the past it was a woods mower pulled behind the tractor, now it is a big zero turn that does the job MUCH faster.

Mr. FPGT72, I currently use an 8' finish mower for a similar sized mowing area as you.

Interested in details on your big z-turn. What do you have?

What size deck and mower HP?

How smooth is the area you're cutting?

How often are you mowing?

 

[FPGT72]

Mr. FPGT72, I currently use an 8' finish mower for a similar sized mowing area as you.

Interested in details on your big z-turn. What do you have?

What size deck and mower HP?

How smooth is the area you're cutting?

How often are you mowing?

The mower is an Ferris IS3300 with a 72" deck and a 40hp Briggs engine.

Smooth is a word you can't use when talking about my area, the "yard" is really a field I think this is pretty common for most of us. I have terraces in my "yard" as well as a very bad mole/vole/groundhog issue. In short it is bumpy as all hell. That is why I went with the ferris.

How often, about once every two weeks. I really don't want to mow more often then that as it is a very gas hungry machine.

The cut is VERY nice.

To give you a little idea on how things went before and after the zero turn.

One of us would mow the "wide open" areas on the ford with the finish mower, mine was 5' pulled behind an old Ford tractor. One of us would do around the house with a 54" craftsman, and the last one of us would do the "tight" areas on a 42" zero turn. It would take the three of us most of Saturday, and sometimes into Sunday to just mow.

Today the zero turn can get much closer to the house then the tractor can, so now we just use the small 42" in the tight spaces. If we start at 7am we are finished by noon. That will take the better part of 10gal to mow between the two machines.

 

[BackRoad]

Interesting...

Thanks for that detail!

 

[TractorNoob85]

I've never used a finish mower behind a tractor but I've been mowing 8 acres of orchard grass fields with a 31hp 61" zero turn. It does a great job if I'm not letting the grass get tall. Once the orchard grass stalks start to develop, it becomes difficult to get a clean cut. Pretty much have to cut the field every 2 weeks right now which equates to a lot of hrs spent mowing and gas. Maybe a finish mower behind a tractor can process more grass so as not to have to mow as often. I've never used one so I don't know. I still venture to think that if the grass is heavy or stemmy such as field or pasture grasses, a rotary or flail mower would be better.

 

[dadohead]

Finish mowers are designed to cut no more than 1/3 of the plant off.... 6" grass cut to 4" for example.