Mowing Question on mowing 5 acres

[carrsw1]

I am in the process of purchasing a new property that has 5 acres of lawn. I have a bx2350 that I have had for about 6 years. Can the BX PTO HP handle a 70 or 80 inch finishing mower or should I invest in the kubota zero turn line of mowers? I would prefer not to spend the entire weekend mowing. What's the experience of others? Appreciate the help.

 

[whistlepig]

I think the PTO HP may be enough but a 70" + finishing mower might be a little too much weight on your three point.

 

[tc18ny]

I run a 60 inch belly mower on my b3200 (32hp) and i can hardly tell its even there while cutting tall grass. I could have gone with a 72 inch but decided i wanted to be narrow. I would think your tractor maximum would be 72inch and that might be pushing it in tall grass. It might make you cut slower than a smaller deck. I imagine a 60 inch would be ideal for you. What does your dealer say?

 

[Geneha]

i have 60' ZTR mower and cut our 4 acres in about 4 hours easily. I have concluded that with at least 60" deck on a ZTR it take 1 hr per acre. 5 acres would take 5 hours. A 72" would cut that time by 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour. On a good day I bet may as much as a hour.
Good luck.

 

[dstig1]

Any reason you can't let some of that lawn go natural or something that doesn't require mowing? That's a ton of mowing to do...

 

[Turbys_1700]

You have enough HP for a 5 foot RFM but your wheel base is short and weight is too light to handle anything over 450# of so on the rear...
I had a YM 1700 Yanmar that had 17 PTO HP and it handled a 5' Land Pride RFM well but that unit only weighed in at around 425# or so...
That Yanmar with loaded rears weighed in at around 1800# but on slopes I had to be careful with the RFM wanting to pull the rear end downhill...
I now run a 650# Woods heavy duty RFM that is 6' and my 1720 New Holland has all that it can handle...
That 1720 has a 65" wheel base and weighs in @ 3300# with loaded rears...
It handles it well but it will pull the rear end downhill...

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

If your lawn is flat then it might handle a light weight larger RFM. If it's hilly then I doubt it.
I had a B7800 30HP 1700lbs Plus FEL. It pulled a Cheap ligtweight RFM 6' OK on my hills. The RFM kept breaking because it was cheap and light weight and I don't have all flat ground . Traded the Cheap RFM to a Landpride 6' RFM that was solid as a Tank and heavy. The B7800 pulled it OK but the RFM would swing the tractor around when I'd make a turn at the bottom of the hill. Traded the B7800 to a L3240 3700lbs plus FEL and couldn't tell the RFM was behind it except when cresting the steepest hill the tractor would slow down pulling the extra weight of the tractor and RFM with the same HP as the lighter tractor (half the weight of the L).
Kubota Lawn & Garden Read this thread and learn about the best mower available. Barlows has a used F2680e with a bit over 100 hours that he'd trade for your BX. It was my trade in.

 

[jb62901]

I use a 5' RFM on my 6 acres, open ground and works well on my BX2360.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/24eazyp.jpg

 

[unbidden]

I run a 60" RFM on my BX2660. Steep short slopes and the rest is rolling. I wouldn't want to try anything larger than the 60 unless the grass was fine and terrain flat.

 

[LD1]

As others mentioned, power isnt the problem, its the weight of the mower that is the issue. A 6' mower would require some weight up front like a loader.

I noticed in your signature you have a MMM. What size is that?? Cause if you have a 60" MMM, I dont think a 72" mower off the back is going to save you any time at all even if you could run it. They just mow slower it seems, less maneuverability, and you are running over grass to be cut with all 4 tires instead of just the fronts.