First Experience to Pull-Type Mower

[N80]

A while back I posted about pull-type vs 3pt rotary cutters. It got a bit out of hand so I don't want to revist the issue. But I did want to post my recent experience.

First, my tractor is a brand new Kubota L4400 4wd. It is a geared model and has 45 hp. The mower is an ancient,rusty, very heavy duty single spindle, 7' JD rotary mower with a hydraulic ram to control lift. (If you're wondering why I'd use something like that, well, its FREE!) But this thing in BIG.

Second, my biggest worry was whether the tractor could handle it at all. The answer is yes. I didn't mow any trees but in waist high dog fennel, briars and plum saplings it did not tax the tractor at all.

As far as handling, in some ways it was great, in other ways it was a hand full. The ram made it easy to adjust ride height on the go and it would go high enough to go over stumps and large rocks. I had no problems with scalping. It follows the irregular woods line very nicely since it basically follows the tractor's track. I had no problem backing it, in large part due to the tractor's excellent power steering and 4 reverse gears.

The big problem is the turning radius. The PTO shaft didn't ever bind, but it would start to vibrate in a tight turn. So the turning radius was far larger than the tractor by itself. It will be fine in larger fields but for my small fields, dotted with trees, it was too cumbersome and required a lot of backing and repetative coming and going.

So, I'm going to continue to use it on the more open areas (and when I need to knock down big stuff) but I'm going to look into a 3pt cutter. After mowing with that big mower in tight places, I'm actually thinking about getting a 5 footer rather than 6 just for the jeep trails, small fields etc.

 

[have_blue]

N80,

A 6 footer isn't much heavier or hard to handle, but mows way faster than a 5 footer.

When you go from 6' to 7' is when the cutters really start to get massive.

 

[N80]

Thanks, that's good to know.

 

[BB_TX]

Don't know what your rear wheel width is, but it is nice to have the cutter slightly wider than your rear wheels. Makes it much easier to mow up close to trees, fences, buildings, etc.

 

[N80]

Excellent point. The stock width is a little over 5' so a 6' would give just a little bit of cut outside the tread width but not so much as to be a hazard. I really had to watch the outside edge of that 7 footer when doing the roads and woods lines.

I did notice something that surprised me a bit. Where the trailer hitched to the draw bar, the draw bar hole got wallowed out and distorted after just 2 or 3 hours of mowing. My brother-in-law says that happens with all of his, but he is using really large implements on big tractors. Should I be concerned?

 

[Soundguy]

Weld it up and go.. you can also reinforce it with some plate, etc. Also you can try to match up a pin that fits it more snugly in the hole.. so there is less play.

Soundguy

 

[N80]

Thanks. I suspect that is the problem. The mower hitch has a wallowed out hole too and the pin doesn't fit snuggly. Fortunately it didn't ruin the draw bar, I just noticed that the nice pefrect hole was a bit funnel shaped and a tad bit oblong.

However, I'm guessing I'll only be using this particular mower once or twice a year and the rest of the time I'll use a 3pt mower. And I don't currently pull anything else with the drawbar........but a little trailer would sure be handy! My wife will love that idea /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[RonR]

In my farmer days, we used old tractors that had pulled all the time with their drawbars. Every few years, we welded up the rear of the hole. ours were getting thin enough, we feared, they might give way. We also checked the front mounting hole of the drawbar as it could wear too.

A little bit of welding rod and we were good to go for a few years.

Ron

 

[JerryG]

Some companys are now putting a swivel ball, like the ones on the end of your lift arms on the tongue of balers and other draw type equipment. Then you can put a bolt through the swivel and the draw bar to have a tight connection that still has plenty of movement for the implement. I have been thinking about doing that with a roller that I have.

 

[N80]

I wondered about that while going over some rough terrain. As it is, if the tractor is on a different side-to-side plane from the mower all that torgue is applied to the drawbar and trailer tong. I've seen pictures of dump trailers that the whole end of the tong swivels. That just isn't an option for this big old piece of junk.