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?