Finish Mowers

[Johnagain]

I have just been quoted prices for the Land PrideFDR25 84" mower of $2400 and the Frontier GM1084R of $2600. I haven't checked out Rhino or Bushhog yet.

My question is which will be the best mower for cutting very heavy grass? Maybe only cutting once a month. I have a brush cutter but would like the finish cut to do pastures to leave them better looking. Some of these pastures might be 20-30 acres each.

Anybody running the 11or 12 ft flex mowers? How or they? I will have to put these on a trailer to transport from job to job is this something that can be done very easily?

Any other advice you can give me would be great.

JohnAgain

 

[Travis_R]

When it comes to finish mowers, I would go with the Land Pride. Hands down.

Travis R

 

[greg_g]

Obviously it depends upon where you live. But in non-drought conditions around here, once a month mowing is too much for ANY finish mower at ANY price.

You might want to think flail mower.

//greg//

 

[Grrrr]

I have just been quoted prices for the Land PrideFDR25 84" mower of $2400 and the Frontier GM1084R of $2600. I haven't checked out Rhino or Bushhog yet.

My question is which will be the best mower for cutting very heavy grass? Maybe only cutting once a month. I have a brush cutter but would like the finish cut to do pastures to leave them better looking. Some of these pastures might be 20-30 acres each.

Anybody running the 11or 12 ft flex mowers? How or they? I will have to put these on a trailer to transport from job to job is this something that can be done very easily?

Any other advice you can give me would be great.

JohnAgain

Methinks you are going to be getting some good seat time with a 7' mower

Seriously, cutting 30 acres with a finish mower is gonna take hours, especially if it is only onece a month. That is if the mower will even cut the heavy growth that you find in pastures. It is not like lawn.

I had a short summer holiday job once at a golf cours running a little mower. it was a rough cutter with three 5' finish mower decks at the front. It had to be used every couyple of days to keep the grass mowable.

If you want a better finish than a Bush Hog I would look for a flail mower. These will mow anything and do it pretty fast. They also mulch the grass up well and leave a nice finish. And they don't turn stones into missiles

They do cost more but I think mowing the ammount of land you are talking about with a finish mower is gonna get old really quick.

 

[shane]

The three previous posters having given you the best answer. I do like the Land Pride the best, however on monthly mowing schedule if the grass is growing a halfway decent pace it will be too much for a finish mower to handle (reasonably). Therefore, unless you want to bush pig it, consider the flail mower.

 

[rbargeron]

What cutting height are you talking about here? - my Woods RM-990 is happy to do a one-month cut or even two-month, depending on rainfall. But maybe its because it is set about 5" high and being driven by 50 pto hp. It does a nice job - although the grass isn't short enough for golf, the fields look very good. The RM-990 isn't cheap, but cost per-year is very reasonable I think. If the grass is 10"-12" the RM-990 will cut 2 acres of pasture per hour - assuming some amount of driving around obstacles. If the grass is 24" the ground speed needs to drop to get enough hits for a smooth cut & mulch.

 

[JHTFarmer]

If the grass is very thick and growing fast and the cuts are done only
on monthly intervals, why use a finish mower? A finish mower would be
reasonable if the grass was to be cut frequently -->maintaining a nice groomed appearence.
In other words, if the grass has been growing rapidly, the finish after finish mowing will not look
finished (expect piles of clumps everywhere) if you cut the grass once a month. might as well
bush hog it.

Another consideration is that a finish mower (belt drive, rigid blades) is not going to have the
service life a rotary cutter (gear driven, freely swinging blades) if used like this.

 

[zzvyb6]

I have the LandPride FD2584 mower. Paid about same price 2 years ago. I just set the mower up 12" in first pass if the grass is 2 - 3 feet tall. It can stall and the belt wil get hot, but it gets the job done. Sharp blades ar the answer. This machine is a rear discharge so plugging or stalling is not likely. Machines with side discharge are more likely to plug.

 

[rbargeron]

..... if the grass has been growing rapidly, [it] will not look finished (expect piles of clumps everywhere) if you cut the grass once a month.........

My grass is less dense - so the RFM does a nice job - leaves a groomed look even if a one-month cut. The mulch dries out and settles in within a few days. Also, the Woods RM-990 has swinging blades - and has held up well - this is its 10th season. There is a little more maintenance than with a rotary, but the finish is so much better it's well worth it.

 

[Johnagain]

Thanks for the replies everybody. What I have been doing now is cutting with a 5 ft rotary cutter. The fields take about 10-12 hours each to cut at a fairly high cut maybe of 5 inches. I leave very little clumping, basically just topping off about half of the grass. I was hoping to go to a larger cut with a finish mower to save some time. I can't run a bigger rotary cutter with my JD 4310 (27 pto hp.) I figure if I can run the same ground speed with the RFM as with my rotary cutter then I should save about 2-3 hours. I have been leaning towards the Landpride cutter because I like the way the casters are mounted using rectangular tubing rather than flat bar stock, Less likely to bend if you hit something with the caster wheels.