home made batwing mower?

[Soundguy]

Do you think a tractor batwing is easy to manuever around obstacles?.

I don't find it particularly hard.. and I can back my 15' batwing up on a 7'x16' car hauler trailer.. will that lawnmower parade do that? I can fold and run down the highway and stay in my lane of traffic... somehow I'm guessing the lawnmower parade won't be up for that either...

It literally 20 seconds and i can unhitch any of them..

never timed it.. but I guess in 20 seconds I could snatch my 2 hydro quick connect lines, drop my folding tounge jack and pull my hitch pin and be rid of the mower if needed..

I challenge any tractor batwing to go where I can,and to mow what I mow spending triple the money..

A challange? I can drop down to 3rd gear and mow weedy stemmy stuff up over my canopy.. ( have personally measured 7' material before ).. them lawnmowers cut 2" woody material?? how about green 3" ?? what heppens when you hang a 3" tree around a corner? does your mower knock it over and keep on going? or does the extreme mechanical advantage created by that long lever bend and break something...as for price... my batwing mower only cost 2000$ used...

I can easily mow 50 acres with a perfect cut in one day, taking breaks,and not rushing.

50 ac.. no biggie... I got an air ride seat and a nice canopy, cup holder and and radio getting between 1hr45m to 2hr per 10ac depending on the obstacles.. if 50ac open.. probably par that time down with less headland work.. would need to refuel after about 40ac though...


soundguy

 

[Raw Dodge]

You still dont get it,I dont drive my mowers on the road,and I do not mow roads or right of ways,and i have less in everything than a 1/4 of your mower's cost alone,not to mention your tractor,which i do not need that big a tractor for anything else,in fact a tractor that size is a negative for me as it has too much compaction due to how heavy it is.Golf course turf or any plush lawn is not something you want to use heavy equipment on.I am able to mow turf that is soft or low lying,something you cannot do with a heavy tractor batwing without leaving ruts,or buying those 10000 a set turf tires that the sod farms use.With the Steiner being a full time 4x4 it easily climbs hills and mows wet turf without spinning.I have over 150 acres i maintain most of it,theres ton of room to meanuever around.For me it works and is cheap,Ive also used it at my home and it works just as good there on 22 acres.
I am just offering another option to the posters question.I know what I have works great and is a huge asset to me,and i wouldnt trade it even for a batwing mower,that i would need close to 100hp tractor to run,and is too heavy.I wasnt looking to have my post picked apart and compared to a tractors assets in your work environment,as I use mine here on my turf.I put up the pictures of what I built,you can clearly see it leaves a nice cut and stripe,my golfers raved all year about how well we kept up with the record breaking rain when other courses couldnt mow there rough because they didnt have 4x4 steiners.
Soundguy your think setup is the best,mine doesnt work and is junk,Thats fine by me,I am done debating this with you.

 

[CWL]

I had a Co-worker once that built a tube style frame and mounted 19,,, 21 inch murry 3.5hp mower decks to it the first row I think was about 10 decks wide and the row behind it had 9 decks that were stagered. He cut a width 18 feet wide and pulled it only with a 12hp craftsman riding lawn tractor, he made some gauge wheels that attaced to the frame. It worked nice, He could mow 5 acers in about 30 minutes. the only bad thing it took him 30 minutes to get all 19 mowers started and running. I wish I had a pic to show yall.

Wow! I would think that by the time he got them all started the first one would almost be out of gas.

 

[OrangeJbird]

I get some ungodly huge pastures that I have to turn down because I don't have an implement that can handle it. I don't want to take a hit cutting 60 acres with a 6ft cutter. Turned that one down 2 weeks ago and decided that a purpose built cutter was in my future. No reason to let the competition pick a golden egg like that!

I still think you can rent what you need a couple times and save time and money in the long run. We all like to have what we need to do a job . . but business is business and the bottom line is time/money.

 

[Soundguy]

You still dont get it,I dont drive my mowers on the road,.

No.. I do get it.. I was making a comparison. You are the one that said "I challange".

I merely made a few comparisons about what could or might not be accomplished with either setup. If you weren't comfortable with the comparison.. you may not want to 'call' for a challange next time ???

and I do not mow roads or right of ways.

neither do i.. save for the small strip of land actually bordering the front of my house... not sure where you picked that 'detail' out of.. I never claimed to be in the road / row mowing business. I believe you may have me confused with another member that does have a mowing business.

which i do not need that big a tractor for anything else,in fact a tractor that size is a negative for me as it has too much compaction due to how heavy it is..

I think if you ran the numbers.. you might find compaction on some larger tractors isn't much more than some smaller tractors, when you look at tire print cross section for all tires on the ground, plus the weight.. then you can figure out your load bearing ratio. I have yet to rut my pasture.. wet or dry. I run large flotation fronts and the rears are quite large due to the tractor size.. mower has aircraft tires with smooth flat profiles. That same rig was mowing horse farms down my road.. good stripes.. no ruts to hurt 1+ million dollar horses in training... that would be a no-no!

Golf course turf or any plush lawn is not something you want to use heavy equipment on.I am able to mow turf that is soft or low lying,something you cannot do with a heavy tractor batwing without leaving ruts,or buying those 10000 a set turf tires that the sod farms use..

Unless you've tried it'.. probably not good to say "can't".. because.... I can / do.

I know what I have works great and is a huge asset to me.

No disagreement there.

I wasnt looking to have my post picked apart.

With respect.. yes you did. you even called for it and offered a challange???

and compared to a tractors assets in your work environment.

Work? uh sorry.. again.. you have me confused with another member.. the tractor/mower I'm speaking of is used to maintain my farm property.. I don't run any mowing business.. and have no comercial machines.. nor do I do any road contract mowing. You are thinking of another member who DOES have a mowing business and DOES do road contract mowing.

Soundguy your think setup is the best,mine doesnt work and is junk,.

Never said that.. just making a comparison.. at -Your- request.. ie.. the challange you issued????

Thats fine by me,I am done debating this with you.

???? Don't go away with hurt feelings.. this is a decent polite conversation.. you issued a challange and made a statement of what possibly could/could not be done with a particular setup..... I answered it with a comparison of what I thought was reasonable could/could not's.

???? I think you are getting a little bit too personally involved in this discussion.. it'smeant to be light banter back and forth over the virtual bar / coffee table??? No problem though.. we can roll the mat up and you can take yer checkers....

have a good one!

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Wow! I would think that by the time he got them all started the first one would almost be out of gas.

I thouhgt about that issue too... what happens if one machine stalls, dies.. or whatever..then you all of a sudden notice an unmowed stripe.

I also wouldn't want to care for that many machines.. even high quality machines.. that's aloyt of engines to clean carbs.. check fuel systems.. etc. and in general.. you will likely get more total lifespan hours out of larger engines.. it's just one of those things. My luck.. after every winter I'de be setting there rebuilding 3 -4 carbs before I could mow.. my luck anyway.... I much prefer turing one key, pushing one remote to float, and then sliding one lever to be ready to mow

don't get me wrong.. Ilike to work on tractors as much as working with them.. it's just that I like to work 'on' antiques.. and my 'workers'..I like to work with.. IE.. I like them to be more hands free.. just get on and go.

I used to have a trail mower with a 10hp gas engine that you pulled behind a rider lawnmower.. etc. had to rebuild the carb each of the 3 years i had it.. wasn't a cheap unit.. was craftsman/sears. and honestly.. it was useless in anything other than light to medium grass. anything over 8" tall or so and you had to drive painfully slow.. anything over 1' and it would bog and die.

it also wasn't any good for brush.. or those prickly brush-like plants that grow up in horse pastures.. hitting a patch of them would stall it.. or it would leave a nasty mess of the twisted stems.. needed pto hp back there.. not whizzbang power.. unfortunately.

I guess if i was mowing a well manicured golf course it would be a much different story.. but since I have to be able to deal with everything from sapplings to grass.. the heavier mower is what i chose. Probably why RD's setup works so well for him.. no brush.. no sapplings.. no stumps.. no rocks.. no ant mounds, no gopher holes, single grass type.. no weeds.. etc. a mowers dream scape for sure.

soundguy

 

[Donsyl]

RJ Barn,Are you sure that a 34 hp kubota is gonna turn an 11 foot mower? Thats a little much isnt it?

 

[kennyd]

Your machine is rated at 29 PTO HP correct? Sorry, but I don't see that running a 11' rotary cutter. The "average" HP needed to run a cutter is about 5 HP per foot.

Are you sure that a 34 hp kubota is gonna turn an 11 foot mower? Thats a little much isnt it?

I brought this up in post #15 but it was just glossed over...I agree with you 110%

 

[Donsyl]

Kenny, i had a L2800 Kubota, and it had like 24 or 25 at the PTO. There is no way that he will turn that contraption he is gonna build. He's gonna bust up the Kubota i think. Kubota makes a nice machine, but you cant overdo it.....it aint gonna be pretty.....

 

[Donsyl]

Hey soundguy, i agree with you on the comparison. What works for some might not work for other, but they shouldnt get their panties in a bunch over it. ha ha ha......And i hope that when RJ'sBarn builds that contraption that he wants to make, that he has enough money leftover to buy something that will spin the homemade batwing.....L3400 Kubota is gonna struggle, if it can spin it at all.......