mowing speed

[majorwager]

Recently noted a FL member reference 1-3/4 to 2-1/2 mph mowing speed. Mower type wasn't indicated but thread dealt w/ finish mowing. The reference was 48" and 60" cutting deck width.

My befco C-70 is factory rated @ 8 mph, 3 point finish style. I mow @ max pedal in med HST range.

Do folks actually mow around 2 mph?

 

[captronr]

I'm faster than 2mph most of the time, but well less than 8. My house lot is not that big, and slower gives a cleaner cut for me.


Ron

 

[bdhsfz6]

I just finished mowing the 6 acres around my house. It took 2 hours using my L6060 and LandPride 84" 3 pt mower. I mostly mow at 8 to 8.5 MPH, a bit slower in spots. At 2 MPH, it would have taken all day.

The mower does cut better at slower speeds but my time is worth more to me than having a manicured lawn.

 

[BubbaJr]

I have about 6 acres that I mow. Most of that ground is rougher than a cob. Being hard packed clay there is not much I can do with it, other than till it and start over. Rolling the ground every spring has not made much difference in it. So in my case I mow as fast as I can without cracking my teeth or giving myself a hemorrhiod. Probably about 3-4 MPH.

Everyone will be different depending on hills, obstacles, and roughness of the terrain.

Joe

 

[dodge man]

I have a BX and mow flat out in low range or even a little slower. I bet it isn't much faster than 3 mph. My yard is rough enough that is about all I can take for speed in terms of bouncing around.

 

[Oldoak]

Everyone will be different depending on hills, obstacles, and roughness of the terrain.

And the height of the grass being mowed and how short it is being mowed, dull or sharp blades, etc, etc. Just like the selection of tractors and equipment, there are so many different variables according to everyones situation.

I could not tell you how fast I mow (MPH), I have never payed the slightest attention to the speedometer. I do know what my RPM my PTO is set at (540) and what gear I do most of my mowing in (Kubota GST). But even the gear selection varies whether I am mowing in my orchard or in an old open hay field which looks more like a lawn after a couple of years of using the finishing mower on.

 

[jeff9366]

I have a BX and mow flat out in low range or even a little slower. I bet it isn't much faster than 3 mph. My yard is rough enough that is about all I can take for speed in terms of bouncing around.

Here is a reply in context with subcompact tractor under discussion here:
LINK TO OTHER THREAD: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...395897-looking-first-tractor-sub-compact.html

DODGE MAN mows his yard. Implement unspecified.

JERIK mows pasture. Considering purchase of a Flail Mower.

Pasture maintained, or NOT maintained, by others for twenty years. A Flail mower, which JERIK is considering, will require more power from the subcompact tractor than a 48" Finish Mower. A Flail is heavier than a Finish Mower and it will bounce the light subcompact tractor more mowing pasture.

I believe 1-3/4 mph mowing speed for a subcompact tractor with two-range HST, operating a 48" Flail mower, mowing old pasture, is a likely prospect.

Looking for first tractor (sub-compact) and flail mower

I bought a 9 acres spread 20 years ago as a retirement home. We rented out the house and paid someone to bush-hog the half of the fields twice a year for $500 a pop. Two other fields were being hayed by a neighbor, and another neighbor fenced in another pasture for their cow. But now the cow is gone, the first neighbor is talking about moving further south, and we are in the house. I figure it is time for me to do the mowing.

Any comments, advice, and/or suggestions would all be appreciated.

Unless your pastures are rut, bump and hole free, the dinky wheels on a subcompact tractor will give you a bucking bronco ride which will slow your mowing.

Here is a mowing calculator. I hate mowing in hot months. With a 48" mower, nine acres at 1-3/4 mph will take more than ELEVEN uncomfortable hours. With larger wheels 2-1/2 mph is reasonable with a 60" mower = 6.5 hours mowing time.

Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

The diversity of opinions offered on T-B-N is its strength.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I mow as fast as the ground conditions and thickness of pasture allows. If I can mow 8-10 and stay in the seat without tearing my stuff up and maintain a good cut I’d be happy to. If it’s thick and dragging the tractor down I’m limited by that.

Brett

 

[Gary Fowler]

Recently noted a FL member reference 1-3/4 to 2-1/2 mph mowing speed. Mower type wasn't indicated but thread dealt w/ finish mowing. The reference was 48" and 60" cutting deck width.

My befco C-70 is factory rated @ 8 mph, 3 point finish style. I mow @ max pedal in med HST range.

Do folks actually mow around 2 mph?

Only my 85 year old neighbor mows at 2MPH or less. He has an old tractor type mower with 3 speed transmission and only goes in 1st gear. He as a 1/4 acre lot with house and 3 sheds on it. I can mow my 6 acre yard, starting after he does and finish before he does. I mow at full speed mostly as long as the ground isn't too rough to stay on the mower with the seat belt fastened.
The only time I have to go slower is if I use the mower to mow the cow pasture. It is just too rough to hang on at 9.9 MPH.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I do understand why Jeff said 2 MPH when using a flail mower with a BX tractor. He likely wont have the power to go much faster in high grass.
I recommended the OP in the original post to ditch the tractor since he didn't want an FEL and just considered it for mowing. Get a Zero Turn mower which is designed strictly for cutting grass and he will get the job done much faster

 

[zionview]

I travel 5-6mph with a rear mounted mower. I am giving up getting a perfect cut directly behind the tires, but with 3 1/2 acres here and helping cut 2 1/2 acres at the farm, time is a factor. I will slow down in grass in front of the house and around the pavilion if it's the last cut before a cookout or company, but I gotta keep moving.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Most the homeowners i see with ZTs mow at about 1 mph. Lol

 

[dodge man]

Yes my BX had a 60" mid mount mower. It would help if I had said that. I don't know how people can mow that fast. I wonder if they are really going as fast as they think they are? I would think even a smooth yard would beat you up at anything much faster than 6 mph. I estimate my speed by how fast I can walk. A person can walk about 4 mph but one almost has to jog a little to maintain that walking speed. Mowing 10 mph is a running speed.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My kubota tells me my speed, my massey doesn't.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Most the homeowners i see with ZTs mow at about 1 mph. Lol

One would need to drive a stake in the ground and come back in 10 minutes to see how far they moved if mowing that slow.

 

[JWR]

Yes my BX had a 60" mid mount mower. It would help if I had said that. I don't know how people can mow that fast. I wonder if they are really going as fast as they think they are? I would think even a smooth yard would beat you up at anything much faster than 6 mph. I estimate my speed by how fast I can walk. A person can walk about 4 mph but one almost has to jog a little to maintain that walking speed. Mowing 10 mph is a running speed.

Dave's walking/running analogy is a good one. Rare few of us have a speedometer and we use all sorts of extrapolations to estimate speed. When the OP quoted some very low speeds they were more verbal guesses than measurements. I like the measure another guy mentioned of "acres per hour" being more practical. If he mows 6 acres in 3 hrs = 2 acres per hour. Very believable/credible. Using a 7ft bush hog in mostly weeds and some 2ft tall grass clipping pasturefield I usually do about 2 1/2 acres per hour. For the lawnmowing applications I compare the visual speed of my mowing (normally with a Kubota BX2200 and a 60" MMM) compared to what I would be doing in linear speed with a push mower -- it is one heck of a lot faster ! Two to three times faster. All subjective.

 

[diesel85]

I run both a 60" MMM and a Woodmaxx 62" flail on my BX2200.

The MMM depends. If the grass is tall, then 2 mph. If the grass is short, then 5-6 mph -- but no faster.

The flail, 1-3 mph depending on the grass.

I use both my MMM and my flail with grass blades to mow my lawn. Usually I alternate between the MMM and the flail to give my lawn a different look every other week.

I do prefer the flail mower because of the more pronounced "striping" effect.

 

[TomIre]

Don't know what speed i mow at but my "smart" phone congratulates me for getting so many walking steps in when I mow! So, I'm guessing not much more than a brisk walk. Typical walking speed is 3mph if I recall correctly.

 

[Ortimber]

My flail mower works the best at about 2.5 mph. Any faster and it leaves quite a few uncut grass stems. Although my particular mower is designed more to clean up orchards/saplings/limbs. I switched from hammer blades to Y blades and really didn't notice any difference in cut quality.

I have the JD mowing app on my iphone and yesterday my average mowing speed with my zero turn was 3.3mph. I have sloping ground with a bunch of trees.

 

[JWR]

I should have known "there's an app for that." Holy cow, of course. Ortimber, do you know how small a mowing area is handled by that JD mowing app ? No doubt that sort of thing is easy with very large fields but there is probably some low-end limit. Second question, does the JD app also have an Android non-Apple version ?