Mowing Mowing MPH

[KevinFoshee]

WOW! You guys really cover some ground! I mow at about 2mph. My Mitsubishi D2000 (24 hp) tractor and Woods RM-59 finish mower do a wonderful job at this speed. Never occured to me to try to go any faster.

 

[TwinWillows]

We too went with the ZTR for finish mowing. Dixie chopper 60" cut running as fast as possible/comfortable. I'm not sure what the MPH are but it's got to be around 8 or 9 MPH average.

 

[Theowegian]

Im pretty consistant at 3.0-4.5 mph depending on grass depth or ground roughness.

 

[Soundguy]

Can't really brush cut with those bad boys though, can you? ( say.. 1.5' - 2' material.. up to 1/2" stems.. mostly green, some woody and brambles.. etc. broadleak weeds.. occasional grass (grin) )

Soundguy

I can only go about 3.7 to 4.5 with my 7' RFM on my tractor and keep a decent cut (has digital speedo). Any faster and I have some grass sort of stand back up later. With the Grasshopper front mount ZTR mowers I have with 61" cuts each, I paced them at 11.1 to 11.3 MPH while still keeping a great cut. I guess that's why I spent the money for a couple of them rather than mow with the tractor. Even with smaller widths, they mow considerably faster; especially when you take the quality of cut into consideration.

I doubt that the RFM's have anywhere near the blade tip speed of the ZTR's based on what I've experienced. I know some companies post the blade tip speeds, but I don't recall any.

 

[NewToy]

I guess I could go a little faster, I'll have to experiment and see if the quality of cut suffers.I have noticed that I can go a bit faster with the hi-lift blades installed. Right now I'm running the lo-lifters due to the horrific amount of dust generated by the hi-lifters. Also, how often do you sharpen your blades? What do you use for blade sharpening?

John

 

[PineRidge]

We keep an extra set of blades in the pole barn and swap them out when the existing set gets dull.

An angle grinder touches up the spare set real quick.

 

[Soundguy]

Sure does. i just did some blade sharpening last week.

One thing i gotta say. After using 3pt mowers for years.. and then getting a batwing... Boy.. is it sure easier to get to the blades...No more jacking and cribbing the deck to get at them... Just fold the wings then you have verticle access to 4 blades, and easy horizontal access tot he other two... No jacking or cribbing needed...

Soundguy

 

[NewToy]

We keep an extra set of blades in the pole barn and swap them out when the existing set gets dull.

An angle grinder touches up the spare set real quick.

Ridge, How long does it take for them to get what you consider "dull". That's a somewhat subjective term. I always hit them with the angle grinder and then really dressed them up with a big bastard file. Also, are you concerned with the balance of the blade after sharpening? I could see where the balance check could be easily ommited with the batwing mower.
Thanks,

john

 

[Soundguy]

I've never ballanced a a lawnmower blade any more than by eye, and perhaps with a finger thru the hole.

It's pretty easy to tell when a blade is out of balance as the mower should vibrate. My deck on my cheapo murray will run smooth with no vibrations untill you loose a chunk of blade .. like on a rock.. etc.. and you know it immediatly too! It doesn't take much breaking or wearing off to tell ( by feel ) the blades are out of ballance, or bent.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[PineRidge]

John I kinda watch the grass that I've just mowed. If the blades of grass aren't squarely cut or appear jagged or torn the mower blades get replaced with a sharp set. Depending on how careful I am when mowing around the gravel drive sometimes I can get a decent cut for 3 months on a set.

I hammered a nail in the end of a short piece of 2 X 4. I put it in the vise and hang each blade from it through the blade hole to be sure they are still somewhat in balance. I also check them with a straight edge to be sure one or more isn't bent. Pretty easy to straighten a blade that isn't to badly bent.