It's just sad... (flail content)

[allen in texas]

When you start shredding 25 acres and you look back after your first pass and see the tiny swath you just cut with your 6 foot flail.
You think, "This is gonna take forever". Good thinking time though. :cool2:

 

[LD1]

What, no pictures????

But yeah, a 6' mower of any kind is a bit small for 25 acres:laughing:

Largest job I ever did was 13 acres with my 6' hog. Took about 6-7 hours IIRC. With loading and unloading tractor and drive time, it was an all day job. Couldnt imagine a job taking 2-3 days......Thats like forever:confused2:

 

[MoKelly]

It always gives me a perspective of how large the land is v. us human beings. I sort of like the "quiet time" on the tractor (like you said) and the obvious sense of accomplishment each time a new row is mowed. I will always listen to the Rodney Akins song "A man On His Tractor" at least once during the process.

MoKelly

 

[allen in texas]

My largest job was 40 acres. I had two tractors on this job, both with 6 footers. It was a long way to get to the job, a 4 hour drive, it took 8 hours to shred and 4 more hours to get home. It was a LONG day but it was financially acceptable so I guess I would do it again. Yes a 6 footer is too small for a regular diet of that type of shredding but those jobs for me are few and far between. Most jobs I do are 10 acres or less and I can do those quickly so 6 foot is what I will stay with. Wouldn't pay out (I don't think) to go with a larger shredder. When I first started doing this and submitting bids, I cut my own throat pretty regular so I just started charging by the hour. I have finally learned how much I can cut per hour so I will bid jobs now and ususaly I'm pretty close and actually, I make a bit more money than I did by going hourly. I have a couple coming up that I can do in 40 minutes each. That's loading, travel, unloading, cutting, loading back up and going home. $100. It a good gig. I'm almost ashamed to charge $100 but a fella has to have a minimum just for the trouble of getting his rig there.

 

[minner]

I will second what you last said. I've being doing some tractor work on the side for a while now but this year I "went legal"; license, insurance, incorporated, business account, the whole nine. The small jobs <2acres were killing me especially; those with a 30-40minute drive one way. I had to implement the $100 minimum as well. Otherwise I'd be gone for 3 hours and clear $20. Now at least I clear $35-40. :laughing:

I have been pretty busy too, with a lot of 16 hour days mixed in. I am looking hard at an 80-100hp tractor and batwing for next year but that presents a whole new set of problems. I would need a bigger trailer, CDL, and possibly a bigger truck.

 

[LD1]

40 acres with 2 6' cutters in 8 hours is pretty impressive. You must have been hauling @$$

 

[allen in texas]

40 acres with 2 6' cutters in 8 hours is pretty impressive. You must have been hauling @$$

I wrote about that job here on the forum. It was a comparison between my flail and the rotary cutter. Yes we were "hauling *****" and we took quite a beating too. Most of it was easy cutting so we could go fast. The only limiting factor (to a point of course) was how much of a beating we were willing to endure.

 

[LD1]

Each cutter mowing 20 acres in 8 hours, 2.5 acres an hour. Yea, I imagine you took a beating unless it was golf course smooth.:laughing:

 

[Baby Grand]

When you start shredding 25 acres and you look back after your first pass and see the tiny swath you just cut with your 6 foot flail.
You think, "This is gonna take forever". Good thinking time though. :cool2:

A son of the gentleman who built our house said his dad called the tractor his "Thinking Machine".
Now I understand - it's the only place I can get a moments peace.

 

[woodlandfarms]

What I always wonder is how much overlap one really has when mowing. I mean, on my mower, it is 90". But I constantly find myself using the front guide wheel (my mower mounts in the front) as a line up, thus effectively loosing 12 inches off my mowing width. So for every 7 passes I have lost one pass. Adds up. Maybe it is different for a 3pt mower?

 

[allen in texas]

I lose some when I overlap but not much. The outside of my tires are almost perfect to use as a guide with my six footer. I may lose 6 inches per pass but it has to be that way I guess. what really cost time is when you leave a strip a few inches wide and have to go back over it cutting a full 6 foot. I used to do that quite often.

 

[TerryR]

What I always wonder is how much overlap one really has when mowing.

I've often wondered that myself. I have a 60" BushHog rotary cutter, 3-point mount. Our field is pretty steep in places, so I have the tractor wheels set wide. I pull the cutter to one side so it cuts the tire track on one side, which makes the wheels on the other side a pretty good gauge. But even then I wonder how close I really get to using the full width of the mower. It's even worse on side-hill cutting. While I mow the steepest place up and down the hill, it's easier for the rest going round and round. When I do that the cutter tracks at least a foot off toward the down-hill side, making it even tougher to keep it cutting full width.

Terry

 

[allen in texas]

HM...
speaking of taking a long time, the plowing I show in my avatar was 10 acres plowing with a 2 bottom 14 inch plow. 28 inches per pass. Pulling between 3 and 4 mph, all day, two days. Of course that included BS time with my friend who owns the land, beer breaks er, I mean, refreshment breaks, etc. That was a LONG two days.

 

[npalen]

You guys really need to get setup with GPS on your tractors. 6' mower? Set the GPS to move over 71.5" each pass. Think of the fuel savings. Probably need to consider it for the lawn mower also.
Just kidding, of course, but sure would be fun to play with.

 

[allen in texas]

You guys really need to get setup with GPS on your tractors. 6' mower? Set the GPS to move over 71.5" each pass. Think of the fuel savings. Probably need to consider it for the lawn mower also.
Just kidding, of course, but sure would be fun to play with.

I already have GPS, at least in my truck. I didn't know that until one day I was going to take an unfamiliar trip and was looking at a map to plot my course. My friend said why don't I just use my GPS. It's a ladies voice that tells you when to go, when to stop, when to turn, when to go straight, slow down, speed up...
All these years I thought that was my wife but now I know it is GPS.
One day my friend asked me if I knew how to reduce the road noise in a vehicle. He said leave the wife at home. I asked if I leave my wife at home, would my GPS still work?
:laughing:

And if I want my wife to know I said this, I'll tell her.

 

[npalen]

Allen, if you want to post your wife's cell phone number here, I'll give her a call and save you all the trouble. After all, what are TBN friends for.

 

[Midniteoyl]

CROP CIRCLES!!!!

DO IT! DO IT!

:thumbsup:

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

HM...
speaking of taking a long time, the plowing I show in my avatar was 10 acres plowing with a 2 bottom 14 inch plow. 28 inches per pass. Pulling between 3 and 4 mph, all day, two days. Of course that included BS time with my friend who owns the land, beer breaks er, I mean, refreshment breaks, etc. That was a LONG two days.

When I worked on the farm as a kid and teenager, I sometimes had to plow a 160 acre (1/4 section) tract with an old Minneapolis Moline tractor pulling a 3 bottom moldboard. It was a perfect square, and I plowed it that way as one big field.

It was always depressing to make that first pass around the field and come back around to where I started and see how little I how plowed and realize how many more rounds were in front of me. It took several days. But it always felt good to finish.

 

[leonz]

Were You lucky enough to have a MM with propane for fuel Poopdeck Pappy?

 

[npalen]

That takes me back to the days on the farm as a kid also. You knew the field was big when the overturned dirt from your previous round had already dried out on top.