Pls Recommend Mowing Solution for 10 Acre Rural Residential

[thewalnutguy]

I've got 7 acres with rows of walnut trees. Use a Kubota L3600 hooked to a Mott flail mower with side kick-wheel rotary to mow between trees in the row. Mowing with the flail mower about 2 inches from the trunks dictates driving slowly, but when I mow the middle of the area between rows I kick up to a higher gear and the Kubota handles the 88" wide flail mower nicely. I've had no trouble handling the mower in two to three foot high grass when clearing an area.

 

[DK35vince]

I have neighbors on all sides with ZT mowers, with one having a tractor and ZT. He does the bulk of the yard with the tractor and goes around the house with the ZT. All of the neighbors with the ZTs mow at roughly tractor mid-range speeds or slower, and get done in similar or slower times than I do on my LS with 72” cutter at mid speed. The pro mower who does the front property (about half the size of mine) takes several hours on a ZT, because he goes maybe 4-5 mph to get a good cut while avoiding hitting the uneven spots at high speed. The big tires on my tractor don’t care about those spots in my field, so I get done much faster. We all have the same basic landscape, as it was a giant property that was cut up and sold at some point in the past.

Come to think of it, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone run a ZT at 10+ mph anywhere. It may be possible on a soccer field or a golf course, or someone’s HOA neighborhood with perfect yards, but it’s just not something that seems to be done on a pasture, field, highway median, school grounds, or anywhere else you have less than perfect conditions. At least in my observation.

Now I will concede that a small SCUT is probably not going to perform anywhere near ZT efficiency, even with a 60” deck. I had a little BX for a while, and it just won’t compete. However, I get to cut in the AC in the Florida summers on my cabbed LS, while all of my neighbors suffer! (I know, I know…not funny. But it really is worth having AC and sun protection when it’s in the high 90s with close to 90% humidity.)

I've got a lot of things done around the house with my tractor over the years.
One of the things I did was spend a lot of time fixing/smoothing our yard.
Once I got zero turns, I can and do mow much of our yard at full speed

I mowed for years before getting zero turns with my tractor and an 84" rear finish mower.
My tractor does not ride smoother over bumps at the same mowing speed than our commercial grade zero turns

 

[RichardMeyer]

I have neighbors on all sides with ZT mowers, with one having a tractor and ZT. He does the bulk of the yard with the tractor and goes around the house with the ZT. All of the neighbors with the ZTs mow at roughly tractor mid-range speeds or slower, and get done in similar or slower times than I do on my LS with 72” cutter at mid speed. The pro mower who does the front property (about half the size of mine) takes several hours on a ZT, because he goes maybe 4-5 mph to get a good cut while avoiding hitting the uneven spots at high speed. The big tires on my tractor don’t care about those spots in my field, so I get done much faster. We all have the same basic landscape, as it was a giant property that was cut up and sold at some point in the past.

Come to think of it, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone run a ZT at 10+ mph anywhere. It may be possible on a soccer field or a golf course, or someone’s HOA neighborhood with perfect yards, but it’s just not something that seems to be done on a pasture, field, highway median, school grounds, or anywhere else you have less than perfect conditions. At least in my observation.

Now I will concede that a small SCUT is probably not going to perform anywhere near ZT efficiency, even with a 60” deck. I had a little BX for a while, and it just won’t compete. However, I get to cut in the AC in the Florida summers on my cabbed LS, while all of my neighbors suffer! (I know, I know…not funny. But it really is worth having AC and sun protection when it’s in the high 90s with close to 90% humidity.)

I agree. We mow in the ac and would never go back to the heat and dust.

 

[chim]

I mow 3-1/2 acres with the L4240 and a refurbished 7-1/2' Caroni RFM. It takes between 1.25 and 1.5 hours depending on how leisurely I go. Sometimes the extra time is spent making diamond designs and such I have done it one time as fast as I could and wrapped it up in just under one hour. That was too much torture for the machine and me. Whatever doesn't get cut with the Caroni does get cut with a string trimmer about every third mowing. Most obstructions have mulch or bare ground around them that eliminates a bunch of tedious mowing.

 

[4570Man]

I mowed for years before getting zero turns with my tractor and an 84" rear finish mower.
My tractor does not ride smoother over bumps at the same mowing speed than our commercial grade zero turns

If you had a fairly large tractor with a suspension seat it would probably ride good. But a regular size compact tractor especially with a basic seat definitely doesn’t ride good. Mowing with the loader on also makes the ride much worse. My ZT isn’t a Cadillac but the ride isn’t any worse than the tractor and it mows way faster.

 

[chim]

...........................But a regular size compact tractor especially with a basic seat definitely doesn’t ride good.................................

BIG amen. The B7500 I had was brutal. Now and then I'd hit rough spots and WAPWAPWAP the seat would impact some of my more tender parts mercilessly. It would smack me two or three times in such rapid succession that backing off the hydro pedal wouldn't put a end to the punishment.

 

[Popgadget]

I just noticed that the OP wanted to use a B7500. That rules out any large mower, pushing a ZTR to the most logical choice. A suspension seat would be an option worth the cost.

 

[JethroB]

I dropped the air pressure recently on a compact Kubota tractor to 15 lbs. all around. Down from 20/rears and 25/fronts. Noticeable difference in ride, particularly after the front reduction . No loader and I go slow so hopefully I’m good until the air ride seat arrives.

Edit: I’m told by Kubota that the ordered air ride seat will completely replace my suspension seat and it’s base too. Now who has a need for a nice seat? Kubota doesn’t want it. . Deer stand/condo?

 

[Overtaxed]

I mow ~10 acres every few weeks with a 12' batwing. Makes quick work of it. Mine is a BW12, which I pull with my Kioti NX6010. Plenty of power (60HP) to mow just about anything I'm willing to drive over.

I do the cleanup around trees with a Ferris 3100Z. I have Tweels on it, upgraded suspension and it'll still beat you to death in a field. It's the best way to do between the trees, but I know it after I finish doing that mowing. The batwing on the Kioti, I go slow, but I'm mowing 12' at a time (roughly 3 passes with my Ferris's 61" cut).

I've mowed it all a few times with the Ferris. It's miserable. It goes about 12MPH, but going that fast in my field will beat you to death. But then you get bored and go faster. And then you get beat to death. Rinse and repeat for a few hours. It's loads of fun.

I actually enjoying mowing using the BW12 and my tractor. I have a cab, so I can be out there, nice and comfortable, listening to the radio, not sucking in dust/pollen/bees/etc.

In a field like mine, you want "slow and wide" vs "narrow and fast". I've been through a few ZT mowers and finish/bushhogs before I threw in the towel and spent the money on a batwing. If the BW exploded tomorrow, I'd be at the dealer on Monday ordering another one. They are the way to go when you're mowing lots of rough field. I'm also very happy with the cut from the BW; the Ferris is quite a bit better, but, when you finish with the tractor, it looks really nice. Nice, level cut, very few/no stragglers (again, because you're going slower, the BW has more bites at the apple).