is 7 Acres too much for a 2-wheel?

dbUMS · Apr 17, 2017

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are about to close on a nice house with just under 7 acres. Of the 7 acres, about 5 are currently open (mowed). Our long term goal is to get some sheep and graze most of that land, but in the short term I'm concerned about keeping it mowed down enough to keep the brush and saplings at bay.

To that end, I've always seriously pined for a BCS 852 - I think they're perfect for a small non-commerical homestead, and the range of implements is really attractive. Everyone I've talked to has been heavily on one side or the other. Some people love their BCS and couldn't imagine ever having to part with it; others tell me that mowing 5 acres, even infrequently, with just a walk-behind will be miserable.

Assuming I am making the right choice, is there one do-it-all mower attachment for both finished lawn and scrub, or do I need to get a couple mowers right out of the gate.

Anyway, thanks for any advice - I've been reading this forum like crazy and getting some great ideas.

freedomlives · Apr 17, 2017

Last year, with my inadequate Czech two-wheel sickle bar mower (far too slow, picked up something different this year) I mowed and then belt-raked about 4 acres of hay. In previous years probably some similar amount. Like I said, what I have is really too slow.
What is good to do, is to get some good ear buds that block noise, and that way you can listen to music or even e-books (I prefer on austrian economics personally

), and that way be learning something new, getting exercise and mowing all at once.
A sickle-bar mower is more fuel efficient and a walk behind can drive a wider one with the same HP motor than a rotary mower-- from what I can tell, about twice as wide. Sickle bar mowers can take care of small bushes/saplings, brambles, etc. as well. Obviously, the downside is that you are cutting then hay, so you need to collect it and can't just leave it on the field to decompose, but probably you'll need some hay for the sheep in winter in Vermont anyway!

cmyoung2 · Apr 17, 2017

I have a BCS850, 38" BCS finish mower, 26"flail mower, 30" combo mow(for Sale) and had a 48" sickle bar mower. The finish mower does a good job on the yard, I do not use the bagger, just too much yard. I don't think it would work in tall grass very well. The flail mower handles tall stuff and brush, but not real fast. Mower the yard last week with it, had let the grass get too tall, and probably needed to rake. I don't rake! The combo mower does a 55x55 job on yard grass (55mph at at least 55 feet away) Not what I would call a finish mower, but it does work. The combo mower will handle tall grass and weeds and light brush, actually does a pretty good job. It does sort of windrow the debris, just like any rotary mower. The sickle bar mower works well in tall grass and weeds, but is not a finish mower.
My yard is probably a little bit more than 1/2 acre, pasture 3-4, garden, 1/2. Takes about an hr to mow the yard, about a day for the pasture(I am not fast and take breaks) 5 acres is doable with the BCS, but probably only 2X/year, which will keep the weeds at bay.
I went with the finish mower as a backup to our old riding mower(and I got it as part of a package deal). For my use, the sickle bar just did not fit, good mower, just not for me. The combo is a good bush hog, but I wanted something that would do better in garden prep, mulching cover crops, and as a bush hog, so I went with the flail. Flail does a good job, may be a little heavier, it is slower, but it is also overall shorter than the combo, so I don't seem to get hung up quite as much. So the combo is of sale, just to give me a little more room.
I'm like you, no big tractor, BCS does most of what I need, and you will end up with several attachments.

fried1765 · Apr 17, 2017

dbUMS said:
Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are about to close on a nice house with just under 7 acres. Of the 7 acres, about 5 are currently open (mowed). Our long term goal is to get some sheep and graze most of that land, but in the short term I'm concerned about keeping it mowed down enough to keep the brush and saplings at bay.

To that end, I've always seriously pined for a BCS 852 - I think they're perfect for a small non-commerical homestead, and the range of implements is really attractive. Everyone I've talked to has been heavily on one side or the other. Some people love their BCS and couldn't imagine ever having to part with it; others tell me that mowing 5 acres, even infrequently, with just a walk-behind will be miserable.

Assuming I am making the right choice, is there one do-it-all mower attachment for both finished lawn and scrub, or do I need to get a couple mowers right out of the gate.

Anyway, thanks for any advice - I've been reading this forum like crazy and getting some great ideas.

For seven acres, if you choose a two wheeler, you are opting for serious bodily punishment!
I have a 2 wheel 12HP Gravely with 30" rotary deck.
It is a great machine, but quite tiring......it has been sitting in my barn now for at least 10 years.
My 32HP tractor with bush hog, now does the work!

smstonypoint · Apr 17, 2017

Let's see. The average walking speed is about 3mph. Assuming you are using a 4' mower and obtain 82.5% field efficiency (allowing for overlap, turning, bathroom breaks, etc.), you would be able to mow 3*4/10 = 1.2 acres per hour. So, > 4 hours to mow 5 acres. That would be miserable for me.

Steve

js5020 · Apr 17, 2017

I look at it as old "time is money" thing. If you have the time and are willing/able to put forth the effort you don't need to spend the money on a 4 wheel machine. Although I like using my Gravely 2 wheeler I just can't allocate that much time and effort to mow 2 acres of lawn on a weekly basis, now the other 2 acres of less than lawn I mow every month or so would be another story if I didn't already have a compact tractor. You can of course ease the effort aspect of mowing with a sulky, can't mow any faster but you won't be as tired when you get done.

My current list of useable mowing tools for the Gravely 2 wheeler include a 30" rotary deck and a 40" sickle mower. I use the 30" rotary almost exclusively, it works well enough on the lawn and weed areas of the property. Maybe once a year I might mount the sickle mower and let the back grow a bit higher just to use the thing. The sickle is great if things get ahead of you as long as you don't mind the cut material laying brown on top till it decays and you can tolerate the slow ground speed, but you can get a pretty wide cutter bar to compensate for the slow ground speed if the area being cut is big enough that its not a pain to maneuver.

All in all I find my 1970's 2 wheel Gravely to be an amazing and very capable machine, however in the "full view" of reality I would not want it to be the sole machine to take care of my 4 acre property, it's just to slow and to small to accomplish all the tasks that come with a larger property.

tcreeley · Apr 17, 2017

Try a sulky and use front attach implements.
BCS America

fried1765 · Apr 17, 2017

js5020 said:
I look at it as old "time is money" thing. If you have the time and are willing/able to put forth the effort you don't need to spend the money on a 4 wheel machine. Although I like using my Gravely 2 wheeler I just can't allocate that much time and effort to mow 2 acres of lawn on a weekly basis, now the other 2 acres of less than lawn I mow every month or so would be another story if I didn't already have a compact tractor. You can of course ease the effort aspect of mowing with a sulky, can't mow any faster but you won't be as tired when you get done.

My current list of useable mowing tools for the Gravely 2 wheeler include a 30" rotary deck and a 40" sickle mower. I use the 30" rotary almost exclusively, it works well enough on the lawn and weed areas of the property. Maybe once a year I might mount the sickle mower and let the back grow a bit higher just to use the thing. The sickle is great if things get ahead of you as long as you don't mind the cut material laying brown on top till it decays and you can tolerate the slow ground speed, but you can get a pretty wide cutter bar to compensate for the slow ground speed if the area being cut is big enough that its not a pain to maneuver.

All in all I find my 1970's 2 wheel Gravely to be an amazing and very capable machine, however in the "full view" of reality I would not want it to be the sole machine to take care of my 4 acre property, it's just to slow and to small to accomplish all the tasks that come with a larger property.

DITTO.....!!!!!!
My 2 wheel 12HP (Kohler) Gravely is great, but not for THAT MUCH mowing.
I was considering selling mine, but oldest son asked me to keep it.

Streetcar · Apr 17, 2017

When I first was married, mowed one and a half acres with 22" push mower. It was all lawn

js5020 · Apr 17, 2017

fried1765 said:
DITTO.....!!!!!!
My 2 wheel 12HP (Kohler) Gravely is great, but not for THAT MUCH mowing.
I was considering selling mine, but oldest son asked me to keep it.

I also have a 12hp Kohler machine. It sure is a beast, taking nothing away from its capability, but is more of a helper/backup machine around here. I do plan on downsizing to a much smaller property (1/2ac or less) this year and I think it would be ideal as an all year, all purpose machine for that size property and a heavy duty option in comparision with the average push mower and walk behind snow blower?