hp needed

[Slowpoke Slim]

OP,

I mow stuff frequently that is taller than my hood. Most jobs in fact. Sometimes I mow stuff taller than my cab. Totally not kidding. I've got the pics...

I'm able to take full passes with my 6' mower at a quick walking speed (don't have a speedometer) and that's working with 32 pto hp. Tractor only starts getting warm once the radiator & coolers start plugging up with chaff.

I'm unwilling to drive it faster than that when I can't see the ground, or what's possibly lurking in the grass/brush in front of me. I use my bucket low in front of me to hopefully "feel" any hazards before I hit them with either the tractor or the mower. Plus most of the fields I cut are rougher than a cob. No way am I interested in going flying across some field, when I can't see the ground in front of me, and there could be who-knows-what lurking ahead. Even if it is shorter than hood height, if it's thick, you can't see down into it anyway. Hazards are real, especially mowing fields I haven't been on before, or that only get mowed every few years.

But mowing at a fast walking speed, I don't have any issues with losing power.

So in what way is your tractor "working too hard"?

 

[EddieWalker]

I went out and mowed a little today. Most was easy going, but a few areas were pretty thick. I got to wondering how short you’re cutting it to the ground ? If the material can’t get out from the deck, it will bog down the tractor.

 

[5030]

The one thing that can really make my M9's work hard is the Lucknow rear mount snowblower I have. In deep wet snow, it can and will use every bit of horsepower my tractor can make and makes it blow smoke too, but then I do run it pretty hard in the snow anyway. Run the front mount plow pretty hard as well...

 

[sea2summit]

That should be plenty of tractor for a 7' cutter. Is it overly hilly? Does it have an economy PTO mode and are you using it (would not want to for mowing)?

 

[5030]

One thing I never do is mow with the bucket on, ever. It's SSQA anyway and comes right off. Always fearful of impacting something hidden in the grass or hay that would damage the loader or cause me whiplash if the tractor stopped suddenly. Been there and did that before in more than one occasion. Don't want to be repairing a blown hydraulic cylinder or fixing a bent loader frame or tweaked bucket from a sudden stop.

 

[ernieatv]

Honestly I don't see what the problem is. I'm mowing with 5.6 hp/foot (28 pto hp/5 = 5.6, 35 engine/5 = 7) and it's very adequate for what I'm doing.
You are mowing with 9.7 hp/foot (68/7 = 9.7).
And yes the first time I go through stuff it's slow going but as you keep up with the mowing you can move right along.
And now your talking about a bigger tractor and a wider mower and going down to 9 hp/foot. (90/10 = 9) I'm wondering if your not just looking to buy bigger equipment. If you want bigger stuff just go buy it but your going to need to come up with some more logical justifications.... if you need them.

I agree % with you. How many times a year do this guy use the machine? Just comment sense.

 

[ernieatv]

One thing I never do is mow with the bucket on, ever. It's SSQA anyway and comes right off. Always fearful of impacting something hidden in the grass or hay that would damage the loader or cause me whiplash if the tractor stopped suddenly. Been there and did that before in more than one occasion. Don't want to be repairing a blown hydraulic cylinder or fixing a bent loader frame or tweaked bucket from a sudden stop.

How fast are you mowing for you to think that the bucket would damage something or make you stop quickly to get a whiplash???? The bucket actually would help you not the other way around, have a great slow day

 

[DGF]

If you can you might try lifting the mower about 50% of the grass height on the first pass and double cutting. It takes extra time but it'll cost you a lot less not having to buy new equipment.

 

[28RedHorses]

I currently run a Kubota M6800 to use a 7' land pride brush cutter and 7' snowblower. 68 hp. Even with sharp blades, some real thick grasses makes tractor work harder than i'd like. I usually mow in first to get it all. Would 90hp give me the umph I'm looking for and perhaps give me enough to maybe go to a single batwing 10 footer. Some mowing is also red brush and tag alders. If I can drive over it it gets cut. Would not use the 10' for heavy brush. Thoughts?

I run an almost identical configuration (Kubota M6800 and a 7' HD brush cutter) minus the snowblower (thank goodness I don't need that here). I routinely clear off fields of Johnson grass that is as high or higher than the cab. Saplings mixed in as well. Field size of 20 to 60 acres.

Set your RPMs on the attachment correctly and go at a slow speed. I'm paranoid because I don't want to run over a log that is on the ground. This works for me and I get 99% of the material cut with one pass. My only caution is the screen on the front of the tractor and the screen in front of the radiator. I have to keep an eye on both of them so they don't clog up and raise the temperature of the engine.

The M6800 handles everything I can throw at it.

Go have fun and good luck!

 

[johneking]

I currently run a Kubota M6800 to use a 7' land pride brush cutter and 7' snowblower. 68 hp. Even with sharp blades, some real thick grasses makes tractor work harder than i'd like. I usually mow in first to get it all. Would 90hp give me the umph I'm looking for and perhaps give me enough to maybe go to a single batwing 10 footer. Some mowing is also red brush and tag alders. If I can drive over it it gets cut. Would not use the 10' for heavy brush. Thoughts?

Lot of great comments with this -- here's my "two cents worth" -- depending on the size of area you are cutting {if it's several acres of BIG stuff, time might be an issue} I will raise my Bush Hog for a first pass, then lower to what I would like it to end up as.
Also, if you have a loader you can push down most stuff the Bush Hog is capable of then chew it up that way.
Another option is to cut more often -- but then again, time depends on ones' availability.

 

[scootr]

I have a MX5200 and a 7 ft flail mower. I believe the flail takes less power, but the tractor cuts the mustard weed even when its 6ft tall and has 1 inch stems too thick to walk through. Maybe a flail mower would be a solution.

 

[Indian Territory]

How fast are you mowing for you to think that the bucket would damage something or make you stop quickly to get a whiplash???? The bucket actually would help you not the other way around, have a great slow day

Yeah this is my thought too.

 

[scootr]

When I was young I was impatient and mowed too fast. Now that I'm older I mow slower and get a much better cut. The Hydrostatic trans is also a big help because I can set the cruise control and then slow whenever the brush get too thick for the current speed. Keeping the blades in good shape helps alot too. Every winter I hoist the mower up in the barn and touch up the cutters on my flail.
This year I will be doing the thickest of it with the modified brush hog. We cut half the blade length off and added chains. I think they call it a slasher. works like an industrial weed eater.

 

[sea2summit]

Cutting some pretty thick stuff lately with the MX and a 6’ cutter. I do need to blow off the cowling and radiator about every 90 minutes but no real over heating issues so far and I can’t imagine cutting anything thicker. Better yet, nothing broken

 

[troverman]

Mowing with the bucket on doesn't help keep the chaff out of the radiator screens, I think it makes it worse. The bucket makes contact with many stems of grass and releases their chaff into the air just a couple of feet in front of the radiator and the fan drawing air in. I mow without the bucket. You will still have to deal with the chaff, but for me its a little longer interval. Also, I remove the entire loader and bucket from my 60HP Kubota when mowing. It is absolutely more stable on sidehills without that added weight. Another thing to consider is that the loader and bucket assembly is very heavy (1500+ lbs) and if you remove it, the tractor's engine no longer has to devote power to move those 1500lbs, giving you more power to turn your mower. It's worth noting that even if you had 500HP driving your 7-foot mower that the implement itself has limits, meaning it can literally only process so much grass at a time. Sometimes more horsepower won't fix the problem. I was at one point running a 6.5' flail mower with a 40HP tractor in tall grass and going very slow, but if I tried to speed up the mower would bog. I also noticed it was leaving a lot of standing material. I opened up the "trash door" on the mower, which allows a much larger discharge area...lo and behold, I could now mow faster and leave less standing. One last thing - I know someone gave you advice to have a mechanic "turn up" your engine...I wouldn't do it.

 

[EddieWalker]

For years, I mowed with a 37 hp tractor and a 6 foot rotary cutter that didn't have a front loader on it. I read how the bucket helps keep the screen cleaner by pushing the matrial down before you run it over.

Last year I bought a 70 hp tractor with a loader. I also bought a 12 foot batwing. I was excited to mow with the bucket angled out front to push over the material before driving over it. What I didn't realize is how far out it sticks, and how much effort it takes to not run into trees with it while mowing around them.

I took off the bucket and I feel it's so much better not having a bucket out front. I mowed all this year without the bucket on and I didn't notice any difference with stuff getting on the radiator screen. I don't think the bucket makes any difference at all in keeping the screen clean.

Having done it both ways, I wont mow with the bucket on. It just takes a minute to take it off, and my visibility is a lot better, along with being able to get around trees.

 

[scootr]

Agree with no loader getting around trees. I how smaller fields with fences. Raising the loader arms for the fence in corners is a pain and splits your attention off the front tires and terrain. But for me it seems that everytime I take the loader off I need it back on shortly

 

[D&D]

That should be plenty of tractor for a 7' cutter. Is it overly hilly? Does it have an economy PTO mode and are you using it (would not want to for mowing)?

I know a guy that won’t run his tractor over the e-pto setting. Won’t move a 4x4 round bale over 1200 rpm in 1st gear. Says his round baler doesn’t work right for 4x5. Runs his jd310 backhoe at 1500 rpm.
Can’t figure if he’s too cheap to burn more fuel or scared something will go wrong.

Just because it Looks or sounds fast enough doesn’t mean it’s working up to its potential.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a button that I push that brings my RPM's up to where I have them set for mowing. It's just under 2,000 RPM's, which works perfectly for my batwing.

 

[olenjohn]

I currently run a Kubota M6800 to use a 7' land pride brush cutter and 7' snowblower. 68 hp. Even with sharp blades, some real thick grasses makes tractor work harder than i'd like. I usually mow in first to get it all. Would 90hp give me the umph I'm looking for and perhaps give me enough to maybe go to a single batwing 10 footer. Some mowing is also red brush and tag alders. If I can drive over it it gets cut. Would not use the 10' for heavy brush. Thoughts?i

I currently run a Kubota M6800 to use a 7' land pride brush cutter and 7' snowblower. 68 hp. Even with sharp blades, some real thick grasses makes tractor work harder than i'd like. I usually mow in first to get it all. Would 90hp give me the umph I'm looking for and perhaps give me enough to maybe go to a single batwing 10 footer. Some mowing is also red brush and tag alders. If I can drive over it it gets cut. Would not use the 10' for heavy brush. Thoughts?

i think you are looking for justification to buy a bigger tractor. So…..definitely YES! You need at least 100 hp to run the mower, blower and anything else that may come along. When your wife questions why you’re getting another tractor, tell her we highly advised it. I’m sure there are others here that agree.