PT425 Lawn Job Pics

ernemats · May 13, 2002

Oh for nice level ground!!!!

marrt · May 13, 2002

Hans, couple of questions. When mowing with the wing mowers, are you also using the PT mower or is the tractor used just as a “tow machine?” Also, how many hours do you have on your PT now? And finally, what issues, if any, have you had with the PT mowing deck itself? Thanks!

bubenberg · May 13, 2002

use all three mowers, but recommend to use either the 48 finish mower or the 48 inch rough cut mower with the blades sharpened, because at times on slopy properties the 60 inch strains the machine a bit. please read this right this strain is WITH another 700 pounds in tow. as far as use of the hydrostatic power is concerned mowing is the most strainious work to be done.
mower deck problems, there are none, thing is build like a tank. repairs; broke a bearing a few weeks ago out of my own stupidity and replaced a belt also due to my lack of maintenance.
mowing hours alone mostly either with one or two wing mowers in tow 300 hours.

Sedgewood · May 13, 2002

ernemats Oh for nice level ground!!!!

http://www.worldcup-sapporo.com/english/dome/

duane · May 13, 2002

Hans, could you elaborate a little more on the rough cut mower, "sharpen the blades"

I ordered the rough cut mower. Will it do a decent job as a finish cut with a different or sharpened blade? I am not exactly sure of the difference between a rough cut mower blade and a finish cut mower blade.

thanks Duane

bubenberg · May 13, 2002

was really talking about myself and other users of rough cut mowers (farmers, contractors etc). some of us do not regularly sharpen the rough cut mowers blades as we would our finish cut mowers.

we cut the grass around the farm house with a rough cut mower for many years every weekend, we just lowered the height setting.

rough cut mower is to use to cut tall grass in pastures, abandoned weedy areas etc.

Charlie_Iliff · May 14, 2002

Duane:
I don't mow professionally, so I don't sharpen regularly the way Hans and other pros do. On my 1845, the rough cut deck has hinged blades, but four on each of three spindles. They arrived with a fairly blunt edge, and certainly haven't gotten sharper as I've run them through brush, occasional rocks, and at least one clump of old fence wire. Their cut wouldn't look good on a lawn, but still are fine for pastures and brush.
To get a good finish cut, I would have to sharpen the hinged blades to a finish edge, or replace the rough blades with a set of finish blades that I got from PT, but haven't tried.
There have been a lot of posts on the lawnsite about how best to sharpen mower blades, and how often. If you search on sharpen or similar keyword, you'll find a lot of information and opinion on <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.lawnsite.com/>LAWNSITE</A>
Basically, I think for the prettiest cut, going all the way to razor sharp would be best, but would last about 5 minutes. For the rough cut, the edge is probably no sharper than 1/8 inch, which batters the grass a bit rather than cutting it cleanly.
A great advantage of the PT is that you can lift the deck, prop it up and get at the blades.
Glad to hear your PT is on the way. Keep us posted.

Sedgewood · May 14, 2002

Charlie On my 1845, the rough cut deck has hinged blades, but four on each of three spindles.

Oooh oooh so those extra holes ARE for four blades. I've been meaning to bring that up, wondering if four would cut better than two and if four would be harder on the motor. Now I wonder why you got four and I got two... must be part of your advance commission on my machine.

MossRoad · May 14, 2002

I like to make the patterns in the lawn. I like to take my time and get them even. I mow east west like in the pictures one week, then at a 45 degree angle the next week for a diamond pattern. Sometimes I'll even go out when it doesn't need mowing just to touch it up. When I do that, I get "the look" from the wife, because she knows that I am just playing /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif. You just don't see too many folks mowing their lawns with a big smile on their face. They think I'm nuts.