Questions about tractor rutts.

Timber · Jun 26, 2007

Welcome to the group,
Lots of good info hear for you. I have a 30 horse cut but I don't do any grass cutting with it. I will tell you when it is wet the front wheels will sink into the soft soil. The heaver the tractor the longer it will be before you can work your fields. Your not going to be able to use a 6 foot mower on a 30 horse cut. not that it won't work but it will vibrate through the tractor. Personally if it were me I would consider the B3030 possibly with a cab with a loader and hoe for your stump removal. The loader and hoe are removable to lighten the tractor up. I would not fill your tires as the hoe will be plenty of wt. for the loader.Seems to me that if your willing to spent the doe on a much bigger tractor, spend the money on a smaller one that will do a larger variety of chores & do a better job at it. This is a case where bigger is not better

gf5205 · Jun 26, 2007

If your reed grass is the same as the Reed Canary Grass that we have here in Maine I think you'll want more horsepower than the rule of thumb of 5 HP/ft. We had some hay fields that were too wet to hay last year so we ended up bushhogging the wet areas. The Reed Canary was 6 or 7 feet and mature. It cut hard. We used a 48 PTO HP JD5203 with a 6' MX6 cutter and it was slow going. Some of it was in the lowest gear. If the grass will never get over mature or too high then the rule of thumb is good, but my experience was different.
Greg

Z-Michigan · Jun 26, 2007

I bought extra hp with the thought that I could mow at faster speeds. Hasn't worked out that way - oh, I have the hp, but I'm bumping all over the place, the cutter is bumping out of sync with the tractor, and I'm basically scalping ground and damaging the cutter without producing a good cut. Unless your ground is really smooth, the width of the mower will be far more important in your cutting speed than going fast with it. Plan on only 4-5mph unless really smooth ground. Of course more width takes mower power, but it also takes counterweight to keep the cutter under control. I would be inclined to think about a 6' cutter with something in the 30-40hp range and just mow often enough that you don't have to slow down too much.

KaiB · Jun 26, 2007

I can't yet understand why you would want to mow every two weeks during the spring and summer. That's quite a chore and will get rather expensive.

As Daddy always said, if you're leaving ruts, you're in the wrong **** place...

I don't know what Reed Grass is, but it occurs to me that you may want to take a look at managing (controlling) it and putting your acreage into something more productive or maintainable. Once you do this, you may have a different set of decisions regarding your tractor and its use long term.

Keith_B · Jun 27, 2007

ArtVandelay said:
How bout a Mahindra 4110 4WD? I know it's not the lighest CUT out there, but it seems really heavy duty and nice. What size brush hog would I want to use for the 4110?

I've got a 4110, it is the perfect size as it is a large CUT, putting it between the CUTs and the Utilities. I use a 5' heavy duty bush hog on my 4110. I use the 5 footer because it belonged to my late father-in-law and I don't see any need to invest in a new six footer when this one is here on the farm and works great for my uses.

The 4110 has plenty of power, and should run a six footer easily for the tasks you have in mind.

Timber · Jun 27, 2007

KaiB said:
I can't yet understand why you would want to mow every two weeks during the spring and summer. That's quite a chore and will get rather expensive.

As Daddy always said, if you're leaving ruts, you're in the wrong **** place...

I don't know what Reed Grass is, but it occurs to me that you may want to take a look at managing (controlling) it and putting your acreage into something more productive or maintainable. Once you do this, you may have a different set of decisions regarding your tractor and its use long term.

I understand why he is cutting every 2 weeks. I have to do it every week. I have 3 to 4 acres of lawn and if I miss a week I'm in trouble. I have to cut every week or I'm in tall thick grass and then I have to sweep the lawn as well as cut it.
A 30 horse cut is rated for a 5 foot rear deck. Like I said it will run a 6 footer but you'll get a better response, cut and ride with the 5 footer

hsvhobbit · Jun 27, 2007

Buy whatever tractor you really want of course. but it seems to me as though you're equating Compact Tractor with Lawn tractor. Don't discount the kind of work the CUT's are capable of doing. I've cut 'grass' with my Kubota 4630 that was literally higher than my head when I'm on the tractor and the tractor never even noticed it was there. This was with a 6' Rhino standard duty bushhog. In the tractor world, standard or light duty equates to normal-around-the-farm work, Medium/heavy duty is pretty much what the commercial guys put stuff through. 3 Foot tall grass? With any decent horsepower tractor you'll be able to go through it like butter, you'll be limited more by the bouncing around than by the equipment. 5 MPH is pretty darn FAST bushhogging a field in my limited experience. Figure with a 6' cutter you'll cover around 1-1.5 acres per hour.

As far as ruts? Basically if it's wet, don't take ANY machine out there or there will be ruts, heck, even a tracked vehicle will probably leave SOME ruts.

Greyfields · Jun 27, 2007

I live in the soggy pacific northwest as well. I'm on an island in the Columbia River where the ground water is between 2 and 3' down. Using a 4120, I can get on the wetter areas in late May. Anytime sooner, I leave ruts, which are very annoying to deal with in the Summer when the soil dries out. Here, we're a silt soil, with not too much clay. Here is my experience:

My 4120 runs a 6' Frontier rotary cutter with ease. In the tall clumps of canary reed grass and tussock, sometimes the turbo kicks in for a few moments, but I hardly slow down (I mow at about 3.5 mph).

Be sure to get a 4WD tratcor. Do not consider any 2WD options, even with differential lock.

My 4120 weighs around 4000 lbs with me on it. If I drive over the lawn, it leaves marks (not ruts). They disappear within a couple days.

ArtVandelay · Jun 27, 2007

Greyfields said:
I live in the soggy pacific northwest as well. I'm on an island in the Columbia River where the ground water is between 2 and 3' down. Using a 4120, I can get on the wetter areas in late May. Anytime sooner, I leave ruts, which are very annoying to deal with in the Summer when the soil dries out. Here, we're a silt soil, with not too much clay. Here is my experience:

My 4120 runs a 6' Frontier rotary cutter with ease. In the tall clumps of canary reed grass and tussock, sometimes the turbo kicks in for a few moments, but I hardly slow down (I mow at about 3.5 mph).

Be sure to get a 4WD tratcor. Do not consider any 2WD options, even with differential lock.

My 4120 weighs around 4000 lbs with me on it. If I drive over the lawn, it leaves marks (not ruts). They disappear within a couple days.

Greyfield, thanks for the response. I think that I would get done faster with a 4120 and 6ft rotary cutter. And IMO that setup would be the most ideal for mowing 9 acres of pasture. On the other hand, I'm sure I could get by fine with a 3320 and a 5ft rotary cutter, but it just wouldn't be as fast.