rotary mower manufacturer comparisons

[MBDiagMan]

Sounds like you have some really tough ground to keep mowed! Advice so far is spot on... and just to keep things in perspective, consider this: it's actually better to beat up the mower rather than the tractor. If you get a heavier mower, it may just identify the next weakest link in your mowing system. If that is something in the drivetrain of the tractor, rather than the mower, your next repair bill will be a whole lot more costly than buying a new mower gearbox or re-attaching a wheel.

Just a suggestion about your 30 acres. You might see if anyone with a mid-size dozer would go over the property and grub any larger stumps and rocks for a reasonable price. Not a full re-grading, but just so you woudn't have it quite so rough when mowing. There are plenty of contractors looking for work these days. Maybe you could get 1-2 days work out of one for a reasonable price.

The above is a very insightful post. Being an old geezer that has always been around old fashioned iron tractors I found it to be surprising, but with many of today's lightweight tractors, the statement is also plausible.

For 24 years, I've overworked my old Ford 3000 to a point that I'm ashamed of myself. I ran a swather, a baler and a shredder that overtaxed this little tractor beyond what any machine should be asked to do. I've torn a medium duty shredder into a pile of scrap iron with it. The baler overtaxed that little tractor to a point that the variation in RPM made me wonder if the governor in the IP would fail. I replaced so many broken knives and bushings in the swather they probably would fill a five gallon bucket. I might could also fill a five gallon bucket with the shear bolts that have sacrificed their lives for the good of the equipment.

All this and I NEVER had any gear failure in this overtaxed tractor. SO, to me, GrandDad's statement makes me wonder if some of these small new tractors have weak gear trains if they can't hold up to running equipment that are rated for that size tractor or even a little bigger.

Thanks GrandDad for pointing out something that I haven't thought about before.

 

[Grandad4]

MB... you probably know what they used to say about the engineering design process they used back in the day... when your customers break something on your tractors, beef up that part and wait until the next weak spot shows up. Do it long enough and you eliminate all the weaknesses. There has to be a germ of truth in it, because we have so many 50-60-70 year old machines still going strong after decades of hard use.

The drivetrains of those old tractors were made to pull at the drawbar and operate with variable loads on the belt or pto while modern tractors... particularly these compacts... rely more on hydraulics, the 3 point, and implements that have more steady pto loads. Just as an example, there is a world of difference between the drawbar and the rear-end on my Farmall Super M and the ones on my modern Kubota, even though they are about the same horsepower. However, I wouldn't expect any machine, new or vintage, to just shrug off the repetitive hitting of stumps, boulders and culverts with a big brush cutter that was discussed here. One of those tough old machines would stand up to it probably longer than a new one, but eventually something would let go that wasn't worth fixing. Many old, busted machines ended up in hedgerows or scrap yards for similar reasons.

Bottom line is anyone who wants to keep his equipment running over the long haul needs to respect what it was and was not designed to do.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

7 foot low end cutters + uneven ground=$$$ maintenance. There are reasons not to get a 7 foot cutter. If you have uneven ground you are better off with a hinged 10 footer with (2) 5' gearboxes. Just too much bad force exerted on a 7' gear box when hitting dirt. Force X distance.

Look at "Mowhawk" or "Modern" brands.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Everything I have had that was KK has been basically junk. That said I think you are going to tear up whatever you get. I would fix and beef up the KK you have and find some wheels that will hold up. I know guys who run aircraft wheels. You can get them for free many times when bald. The airplane I run has 18 ply tires and we run 260 PSI -0/+5 in them. You will not tear them up.

Chris

 

[Builder]

I know what you mean about property with streams through it. One of my customers has a lot of acreage with 3 streams running through it. I have trashed my old landpride mower on it and other properties and just moved up to a Deere MX-8. Time will tell how it holds up.

I'm wonerdering if you're using the wrong kind of mower. Would a big sickle or disc do you any better set about 8" off the ground to avoid all the undulations in your property and also give you the ability to angle down to cut along stream beds?

 

[RedRock]

The land you are describing sounds just like mine, lots or ravines, slopes, etc. I mowed if for the first time this past weekend. Several times the slip clutch was tested and though the tractor engine was tax'd a few times, it never died because raising the mower would get my rpm's up again.

I'm using the Mohawk Brave 5' and it held up well during this the all day torture test I gave it , the sandy areas being the toughest. Ag-meier has some that are even more heavy duty. AG-MEIER.htm

Good luck