Mowing Mowing MPH

[NewToy]

Just wondering what speed fellow TBN'ers mow with a RFM. I mow 5.5-6 acres with only 1.5 acre of it smooth. The rest of it is a bit rough and you have to be vigilant of the occasional groundhog hole. I mow in low range 4th gear which translates to 2.7 MPH on the rough stuff and hi range 1st (3.3) MPH on the smoother sections. This feels comfortable to me, just wanted some comparisons.

Thanks,

John

 

[Nasty135]

NewToy, I mow the same as you , In the tighter/more rough areas low range 4th gear open areas hi-range 1st.... That is for tractor mowing , But I mostly mow with my ZTR now .... Soooooo much faster!! But I like using the tractor also , go figure

 

[commkam]

I also have a 5' RFM. Most of my 4 or so acres has a slew of 150+ year old trees on it so I go about the speed you do as I am not fond of the idea of hitting one of those bad boys About 10-15% of my yard is very level and flat with no trees (one corner of the yard) and I speed up to probably an average of 6-8 miles per hour on that section....

 

[Soundguy]

My field I'm renovating has an odd gopher hole or two ( Less every year.. )

I usually mow in 1st and high, and that is about 6mph or so.. Some bumpy areas.. but that's what an air ride seat and seatbelt and pneumatic tires are for..

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Just wondering what speed fellow TBN'ers mow with a RFM. I mow 5.5-6 acres with only 1.5 acre of it smooth. The rest of it is a bit rough and you have to be vigilant of the occasional groundhog hole. I mow in low range 4th gear which translates to 2.7 MPH on the rough stuff and hi range 1st (3.3) MPH on the smoother sections. This feels comfortable to me, just wanted some comparisons.

Thanks,

John

Mowing the lawn, I go as fast as I can go. Probably around 6.5 to 7 mph. (Mower doesn't have speedo. No way of knowing for sure) Pastures and fields, well, I'm in no big hurry and kind of enjoy the time. Maybe 4.5 to 5 MPH tops. Then there's the creek bank and hilly ground on the back of the place. S.L.O.W.!

When I'm doing something I enjoy, why rush to get done?

 

[PineRidge]

You can't mow faster than the mower can cut, and you can't move faster than the terrain will allow without making for a bone jarring ride. Speed has to be adjusted constantly for varying ground/turf conditions.

That said I mow with the Boomer in range II and constantly vary the ground speed via the hydro. It's great for this kind of application and makes mowing an enjoyable experience.

 

[bloody_peasant]

I typically mow my fields with some rough spots but fairly level in Hi - 2nd (close to 6mph according to my little speed chart) except when trimming the edges then I'm usually in Hi - 1st or Lo - 3rd. Same for the yard.

 

[slowrev]

I mow as fast as I can go and still get a good cut and not get bounced off the darned mower.
It depends on the grass density, height, terrain, and how much beer I might have consumed.
Ben

 

[JimR]

My Cub 7275 has a hydro and a 6' MMM. I mow in second gear, 2200 rpm's and pedal to the metal whenever possible. I think it is about 8 mph.

 

[Dargo]

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.