Renting an JD 445 to cut a tall grass - advice

[arrabil]

Yep, 8 hours will be enough.

 

[Scooby074]

445 will do it no prob. Ive cut as heavy with my x540. Might take a couple passes. 8hr should be more than enough time

 

[MESSMAKER]

Wow. I am suprised. I would hace thought he would have needed a brush mower. I knew a 445 was tough, but this is pretty high praise.

 

[RoyJackson]

Since the other guys reckon the 445 will do the job....and I'm sure they have more experience with a 445 then I do (which is zero experience), the only suggestion I can add is to ensure the mower is insured for damage. It is a rental that may have been ran hard and put away wet...extra few bucks for insurance may save you big dollars if it turns out the tractor can't handle it, or if you hit something under all that tall grasses.

 

[mostly_gas]

Make sure the blades are not dull! You never know with rentals. If the blade are dull it double or triple the effort to cut.

 

[rogerius]

I'm so impressed with all the feedback received, so I just want to give an update to everybody:
- In the final I choose to rent a JD3320 with a 5' Bush Hog for this job. I never rented a tractor so don't want to risk my luck to damage a small garden tractor.
- The total damage for 1 day is $520CAD which includes taxes and delivery plus p/u at 100Km away.

Now, I'm at the point to prepare myself for this job, because I never touch a JD3320 before (don't laugh:laughing::laughing::laughing: ), so I really appreciate for any tips or even a driving lesson story.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[Gary Fowler]

That is a lot of money just to get 3 acres mowed. I guess the fun of doing it yourself is worth something. Someone with a 5-6 foot bushhog should be able to cut that in an hour or two at most. If some local person is available, I would certainly check them out. I would think $100 per hour would be plenty compensation for that job.

 

[The Baron]

Small Garden tractor????????????? I thought they were good sized Garden tractors. Good luck with the mowing and thanks for the update, Tim

 

[rogerius]

That is a lot of money just to get 3 acres mowed. I guess the fun of doing it yourself is worth something. Someone with a 5-6 foot bushhog should be able to cut that in an hour or two at most. If some local person is available, I would certainly check them out. I would think $100 per hour would be plenty compensation for that job.

I forgot to mention that I changed my mind and I will cut the grass on aprox. 9 acres by renting this tractor. About asking a local, they quote from $600CAD to $800CAD to cut the grass on 9 acres, so....

 

[beenthere]

Small Garden tractor????????????? I thought they were good sized Garden tractors. Good luck with the mowing and thanks for the update, Tim

They are not "small", but compared to the JD 3320, are smaller.

I shocked a neighbor when I rotary cut about 6 acres for him, and charged him $50 an hour. I could have done it for nothing, but decided he really needed to get serious about either renting some equipment to do his work, or buy something. His wife wasn't letting him buy anything, and he was trying to care for a small horse farm with nothing but a push mower and a wheelbarrow. Took me 5 hours and I knocked down some pretty big brush and some of it on a steep hillside.

rogerius
Go slow, and you will have no problem. Lengthen the top arm of the 3 pt so the rear of the rotary cutter is carried by the rear wheel (adjust the height of the rear of the deck with the bolt setting of that wheel). Then carry the front of the deck with the height adjustment of the 3 pt arms (front should be slightly lower than the rear for best cutting but high enough that the skids on the sides of the deck do not dig into dirt). Speed is adjusted by the forward pedal of the hydro transmission (assuming you are getting HST tractor). Engage the PTO at low engine rpm and then increase the rpm to cut.

Watch for rocks and large sticks/limbs and be ready to raise the deck as soon as you hear something bumping around under the cutter. I keep a hand on or near the 3 pt lift lever when cutting.

You will like it, and can figure at that cost, it is cheaper than buying (but be careful that it doesn't happen )