Of my 9 acres, 2 are bush, 3 are cult. field, and 4 are yardsite currently cut with my JD garden tractor, I would like a ztr, but home renos and young children are getting to my money before I can. The Kubota dealer has a nice zd 326, but alas... mucho dinero. I have heard good things about a flail mower, but I think for the amount of use the cost would be too great. I don't really want another 3 acres of "lawn", but would like something natural and maintained. I am not sure what would come up if left to grow and jenkinsph made a good point about what is left to grow. To the best of my knowledge the plot was used for two years with little chemical use. As mentioned above I may have to look at seeding at some point. This is all fairly new to me and so I will learn as I go, with the help of those such as yourselves.
right equip. to mow field?
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dangerdoc
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I mow about 12 acres on a riding mower. It takes about 5 hours including trimming. My riding mower is narrower than the finish mower but it is faster with the mower than the tractor. Looks better with the riding mower too.
I'd agree but with a tractor on 9 acres, you spend more time turning than mowing.
Soundguy
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what kind of rider mower are you talking about... sounds like a ZTR.. NOT a standard rider like a snapper or crapsman like most homeowners have.
I don't agree that you spend more time turning on 9ac than mowing.. I mow a 10ac pasture and plan it for the least turns as possible
soundguy
I don't agree that you spend more time turning on 9ac than mowing.. I mow a 10ac pasture and plan it for the least turns as possible
soundguy
dangerdoc
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I'm using a ZTR.
You may be right, I just googled JD332, it's a little smaller than I expected. My brother mows about 10 acres with a JD lawn tractor but it has a 5 ft deck and more HP.
Soundguy
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yeah, big difference in teh average ZTR and the average rider ( which is usually 36-48" cut unless you get a monster rider.. ).
given the slower ground speed of the average rider.. large acerage mowing is a daunting task.. not to mention hard on the mower. My neighbor mows 3ac with a rider.. in 10ys he's on his 3rd one.. has already wore out one craftsman, and one jd, and on his 2nd jd....
soundguy
given the slower ground speed of the average rider.. large acerage mowing is a daunting task.. not to mention hard on the mower. My neighbor mows 3ac with a rider.. in 10ys he's on his 3rd one.. has already wore out one craftsman, and one jd, and on his 2nd jd....
soundguy
I mowed 6 acres of pasture with a 48" craftsman mower pulling a 60" swisher trail mower for a few years after we bought our house because I couldn't afford a tractor. The mower came free with the house, I paid $1200 for the swisher. So that gave me just over an 8' cutting width. I finally got a tractor and have a 5' bush hog and it takes longer to mow with that than it did with the lawn tractor. One of our boarders likes to mow so she uses the tractor to mow the pasture. When I was mowing I attached the swisher to the back of the bush hog so I could cut about 9' but it was hard to maneuver around trees and corners, and nearly impossible to back up. The swisher still works fine, I loaned it to a friend who bought 10 acres and can't afford a tractor, so he pulls the swisher with his garden tractor that came with the house. History repeats itself.
big e
Silver Member
This is based on my plans for my overgrown pasture fields... may or may not be for you.
Stop tilling it. You'll just bring up millions of old weed seeds. Spray it with round up after spring green up, let it green up, spray again. Drill seed in some praire grass/flowers so as not to disturb undesirable seeds (county farm services have seed drills to borrow). Then hog it, or better yet, burn it every three years to keep trees and woody growth from getting a foothold. Natives love being burned, invasives don't. Best practice is to hog/burn one third each year so animals can move to a different part of the field for nesting... as opposed to doing the whole thing at once, then it'd be bare one year.
The deer, rabbits, birds, bees, voles, butterflies, etc., will love it.
Exact timing for spraying/planting can be gotten from your local version of this:
Ohio Prairie Association
Pheasants Forever might even do matching dollars with you and provide expertise.
Stop tilling it. You'll just bring up millions of old weed seeds. Spray it with round up after spring green up, let it green up, spray again. Drill seed in some praire grass/flowers so as not to disturb undesirable seeds (county farm services have seed drills to borrow). Then hog it, or better yet, burn it every three years to keep trees and woody growth from getting a foothold. Natives love being burned, invasives don't. Best practice is to hog/burn one third each year so animals can move to a different part of the field for nesting... as opposed to doing the whole thing at once, then it'd be bare one year.
The deer, rabbits, birds, bees, voles, butterflies, etc., will love it.
Exact timing for spraying/planting can be gotten from your local version of this:
Ohio Prairie Association
Pheasants Forever might even do matching dollars with you and provide expertise.
Diamondpilot
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My thought is a Bush Hog. You will tear up stuff if you only mow it a few times a year using anything else.
Chris
Chris
