Mowing How heavy is "too heavy" for mowing?

[Pooh_Bear]

Do you ever get any flooding in your house from that river?

My house doesn't. But for my parents house next door it gets a
little worry-some sometimes during the big floods.
We usually get 2 or 3 big floods every year in the Spring.

Pictures from the biggest flood in 100 years.

One year I got out in the backyard in a small flat bottom boat.

My house sits on a high corner of the yard. Well out of the flood plain.

Pooh Bear

 

[JHTFarmer]

I'm shopping for a 25-35 hp tractor right now, where first priority will be mowing. I'm probably going with the R4s, but not sure if I am going to be too heavy for my yard. My yard is a sandy mix with bermudagrass.

1. 
   
   What is the heaviest you would go? This tractor will also be used an all-purpose tractor for our small horse farm.
   
   FYI, the range of weights I have seen in the tractors I have been shopping have been 2500 - 3500 lbs.

1. 
   
   I mow my soft southwest Louisiana lawn with a 5000 lb machine.
   Makes it look like a golf course. I doubt you would have any
   problem with what you are looking at, as long as you mow when
   the ground isn't soggy, and use R4 or turf tires, and do it in 2wd.

 

[schmism]

forgot to add... my property (lawn) is "tillable" IL farmland ...3' topsoil over hardpan

 

[Soundguy]

Seems any tire can scuff up the yard so why forfeit the much superior traction of R1s for little if any gain on minimizing turf disturbance?

I agree.. the only time* I have ever torn up grass was with my NAA and a dirt scoop.. My NAA has 16.9-24 turf's on it.. i backed into a pile and lost traction and burned up about a 1' x 1' piece of grass. I use that dirt scoop with my 8n all the time.. never loose traction.. 8n has 11.2-28's on her.. ag tires..

*( not including sharp turns which can grab some grass.. )

Soundguy

 

[BTDT]

I have a TC33D with fel and never take it off. I have the R4 tires on it and have no troubles on the soil here. One thing is to not mow with the FWD on. It bites in somewhat if your turning short. Another thing is to make longer turns if mowing with a tractor. I would guess the weight close the 3 with mower and loader. The mower itself is 625 lbs. I mow about 10 acres of yard with this.

If your yard is 10 acres, how big is your pasture? Your almost talkin' Texan.

 

[chrisjbell]

Don't worry about the weight of the machine so much as your tire choice. With turf tires you can take a very heavy machine on turf without messing it up. 4WD and turning is to be avoided if you want to keep the turf pristine. You can get away with more aggressive tires on turf if you don't care about having a perfectly smooth surface - you won't be able to tell it isn't smooth just by looking at it but if you walk on it (or, say, hit a golf ball on it like we get at work it will have minor depressions. Also depends on your soil...

 

[TrippleT]

Hello, BTDT no not in TX but, AR. I have about 25 acres here some of which I just let go, and a couple I use the rotary cutter/bush hog on. Its just that most of my land is yard. There are a few acres of wooded area I started to clean up but was beating me and tractor up so I quit. Actually, I went out into the back yard one day and there was a doe and two fawns. So, I decided to leave them a little space.