Mowing and Chipping

[ottawarob]

After I made my post, I was thinking turf tires would be really helpful for this kind of situation.

I have similar wet spots in our paddock, I'm considering getting the sickle mower. It would also be helpful if I left things too long and I want to knock things back. While the bush mower can definitely chew through 4 foot tall grass, I have to believe that the sickle would have an easier job of it.

 

[cmyoung2]

There is a big difference in the bush hog and mower. 40" mower in 3-5" grass is no issue for the Honda 390. Sometimes in heavy tall brush my 30" combo mower is in 1st gear. Anytime you put a spinning blade in water it will take all the hp you have, but it does do a good job cleaning under the deck. I do try not to mow water, just doesn't seem to accomplish much . The sickle bar doesn't even know it is in water. The problem I have with a sickle bar is it does great at cutting tall stuff, not so good with short, flexible grass, and it leaves all the debris laying. Best for cutting briars or hay. They work well, just not for me. The comment about wide tire spacing is correct. For stability, mine are out to the edge of the mower, sometimes wider on real steep areas.
The combo mower has a big, heavy single blade, does an ok job mowing, good job bush hogging. Chops residue better than the sickle bar, but does leave a little bit of a windrow. It is for sale, I just find the flail works better for what I need.

 

[saxnbees]

I don't have a BCS but I do have a Grillo G110 that is approximately the same size and weight. It will sink into soft ground with ag tires. It is possible that turf or balloon tires would be better on soft ground. I don't have a finish mower but have a 28" Bellon brush mower that I really like. My old Craftsman riding mower is getting old and I may just try the Bellon on my yard instead to see if it would be adequate vs. a finish mower. Like you, I don't care if my lawn looks pristine.

I am not sure how well the BIO-150 works, but I do have a BIO-90 chipper. The BIO-90 is designed to be a chipper but I have an old Tomahawk shredder I can use for what little shredding I do. For small branches and brush, the BIO-90 is a beast. It will generally handle small stuff with ease. Anything that get towards 2" or more I generally try to slow down by holding it back. But you have to be careful because the chipper will try to pull you in. There is no real feeding mechanism, but somehow the design of the chipper/blades will pull material in as long as the blades are reasonably sharp. They don't feed as well when they start getting dull and that is how you know it is time to sharpen them. We use the chipper for cleaning up the smaller stuff when we trim bushes or cut a tree for wood. The BIO-90 has impressed us from the day we bought it. Most stuff can just be tossed in and it feeds itself. By the time we have more to throw in, it is ready. But if you have shredding to do, then the BIO-90 is probably not for you. The BIO-150 is probably a fine machine but my understanding is that it is not anywhere near as fast as the 90.

 

[englishlarry]

Thanks all for the advice on this thread.

In the end I elected for BCS 853 with the BCS 38" finish mower. Also got the adjustable axle extensions from earth tools and a pair of turf tires.

So far the setup has been great. Changing the turf tires to regular ag tires with the extensions only takes a couple of minutes with the help of a floor jack. The mower gives a great cut and I was surprised by the maneuverability of the tractor even with the turf tires set fairly far out on the extensions for stability. It is possible to do a fairly tight 180 turn at the end of the row. The turf tires have worked as intended for mowing on slightly wetter areas with our heavy clay soil.

The only thing I was disappointed about with the setup was that the BCS 38" doesn't mulch. My fault for not reading it properly. The side discharge works well enough that it isn't a huge loss and I don't think the normal Zanon mowers mulch either.

Larry.