Mowing Mowing speed changes

[Gatorboy]

<font color="blue"> My question is; to slow your speed with a gear tran, while mowing through the occasional tough spots, do you have to shift gears? </font>

Depends. On my geared tractor each gear has a HIGH and LOW, so when I cut, I cut in the HIGH position, and if I come up onto some thicker stuff, I flip it to LOW and the tractor slows down. If it is too thick, then I may indeed have to shift gears completely.

 

[WhiteRock]

I was looking at the JD 4720 for a while. It had something they called load match. You could set the cruise, and if the tractor loaded up, it would automatically reduce the hydro speed by the correct amount for the load. Once past the load it would return to speed.

I thought this was really neat. Anyone tried this out?

 

[MMM]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I havn't encountered brush or saplings that have made me change mowing speed. )</font>

Ground speed and saplings/weeds are not an issue except for terrain/comfort, I don't see any problem with horsepower and rpm drop. The only way to cut thick Bahia at higher groundspeed is to run pto at higher than recommended rpmis to have decent finish. I'm not clipping the top of stock pasture, but cutting to 3" height between orchard rows.
I wish I'd have thought of using a batwing when laying out rows. I just don't have the room to turn unless I was to fold. What is the cyvle time to fold/unfold yours?

 

[MMM]

Pretty neat until you gotta fix it. I've worked with load sensing/sharing controls on large power arrangements. They can be a headache.

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What is the cyvle time to fold/unfold yours? )</font>

I looked at 10 and 12' mowers.. batwing, fixed pull, and fixed 3pt.

I really thought about a batwing ( and my wife wanted one ) But I got a 3pt fixed unit instead. Price was right... couldn't turn it down. Plus it lets me back into spaces I normally couldn't get to. It is funny to see a 3pt 10' mower.. but it actually cuts great. I wouldn't want it if I had lots of hills or changes in terain though.. but for flat land, it's great. And Like I say.. there are a few places I have to back in and mow.. and it is much easier to do with a mounted mower than a pulled mower.

Another neat thing is it is only about 5.5' 'deep' so I don't have a long 'train' behind me. It does however stick out a couple feet on either side of the tractor.. so you do have to watch it when mowing fence rows.. no hard turns untill you slip about 4-5' away from the fence.. otherwise the mower swings around and gets it. I'd guess that is the one major drawback as opposed to a batwing. That and a batwing can be stored in less space.. etc.

Soundguy