How fast do you mow with a rear finish mower?

[tow653]

I know there are a lot of variables,but generally how fast do you mow with rear finish mower. Extremly dry here,where isn't it?,so went from 3.4 to4.9 mph this afternoon. Had plenty of power,but slowed it back down due to roughness. Using NH TC29 w/ woods FM660. Like I said,plenty of power,but don't want to tear tractor and mower up. Just looking for comparisons on how fast others mow. Thanks,Tim

 

[mguitas]

I mow in 5th gear most of the time with a allis chalmer 170, woods rear mower RRM 990 i think that what it is. You can cut wet or dry.

 

[Code54]

I mostly go as fast I can without having the mower bouncing or banging around (for the mowers sake)- On my Hydro I run Med range and just a little bit of pedal.

 

[namesray]

i never ran a rear finish mower, but have run just about every other type. my answer would be as fast as you want/can without bouncing the you, the tractor, or the mower all over rough ground and still get the quality of cut you want. if the ground is rough, you risk more wear/tear on equipment and you and quality of cut will be poorer if you go too fast. if the ground is smooth, but the grass is high/thick, your quality of cut will suffer. it is more of a feel thing you develope then a exact m.p.h. someone can give you. one of the hardest things on equipment/rfm with going too fast on rough ground is the castor wheel bearings. at the golf course i use to work at, all of the rough mowers we had would go through those castor wheels a bit. if you got going too fast over rough ground and looked back, you could see those castors just bouncing and jarring all over the place on the bumps. that's hard on them. next thing to go would be stress cracks usually near weld/supports. with all this in mind you should develope your own feel for proper speed on the ground you are mowing. good luck.

 

[skipmarcy]

My tractor has 12 gears and I usually run the finish mower in either 6th or 7th gear. In 7th the mower bounces all I want it to with it's solid tires plus it's about as bouncy as I want to be on my tractor in my yard (about 6 acres I keep cut as a yard).

 

[Bigfoot62]

As already said, there are variables. But, generally speaking, 3rd or 4th gear. (my 2600 is an 8 speed)

 

[Turbys_1700]

I run my NH 1720 usually in 2nd range 3rd gear @ 2400 rpm...
According to my owners manual that computes to around 3.5 mph...
I can run in 2nd range 4th gear but it can get a little uncomfortable @ 4.5 mph...
My ground in the back is even rougher and I have to go back to 2nd gear @ 2.8 mph...
The tractor has 23.5 pto hp and pulls my 6' woods prd fine...
It is a very good rfm...

 

[tow653]

2nd range, 2nd gear is where I came up with the 3.4 mph

 

[Mark Page]

High range 1st gear about 4 mph at 2,000 RPM. It's hard to figure as Massey doesn't provide figures based on 24" tires only 28". I can go up a gear but I like my spine the way it is. My best guess is that I can mow about 2 acres an hour with a 7 foot Woods Finish mower.

 

[chim]

As others have said, not fast enough to be hard on the equipment. That varies on different parts of our place. If the grass isn't too tall there are places that I can roll along pretty fast. There are flat places where I use high range because the mid range isn't fast enough at PTO speed. The HST and varying terrain make it difficult to accurately give a mile per hour speed.

A good piece of the yard has been torn up for the last couple of months due to a regrading project. I haven't mowed the usual area since getting the 6' RFM. When I was using the 5' RFM it took me between 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 hours to do a little over 2 acres. It goes faster with the larger tractor and deck.

 

[LD1]

Before my ZTR, I had a JD261 RFM behind my L3400 kubota.

With a finish mower, it really isnt about power, rather how fast you can go and still get a good clean cut. In my yard, the dandelions, and the things we call buckhorn. Those dont like getting cut off if going too fast.

And as you mention...variables. For me, there were mainly only two variables. How long I let if go between mowing, and how sharp my blades are. But I mowed in either 4L or 1H, which is 3.5mph and 4.1mph if I remember right.

But then I got the ZTR and run 7-9mph and have an even better looking cut than the 3.5mph behind my tractor.