Rotary Mowing in the Rain

[crashz]

I have some mowing to do this weekend (my house and a side job). My lawn is not a golf course by any stretch, in fact I'm just happy its green in some form. I have about 2 acres that I mow for myself. This would be done with my 6ft finish mower.

The side job is about 20 minutes away and is 4-5 acres of field that is described as "over grown" but I'll be able to tell better when I see it. Yeah - unseen right now. I'll probably do this with my 5ft brush hog.

Schedule forces me to do these this weekend, and it looks like rain all weekend.

As far as getting soaked, I don't care. But being able to actually perform the work concerns me. I've done bush hogging in the rain with little issue, but its been a long time ago. New tractor and mower.

Any thoughts?

 

[Phillip w]

If i am mowing either with my zero turn or my brush hog and it starts to rain, job is over. Cutting wet grass is hard on equipment and does not provide as nice of a cut. If you have the brush hog, and you have to wait a week or ten days, it should not be a big deal. That is just my thoughts.

 

[jbrumberg]

Crashz- I'd "google" an aerial view of the area to get an idea of what you plan to cut to get an idea of what you will be cutting. "overgrown" = rotary cutter. I do not cut my field when it is raining, but I have a decent slope and uneven ground surface with which to contend.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

That's why they put cabs on tractors. :thumbsup: If its raining you don't have to stop. If the ground is soaking wet, you are leaving ruts, or it just gets to be a hassle, id wait for some dryer times. I've cut all afternoon in the rain with the MX10 with 0 issues. It was just an overgrown field I mow once a year so no big deal.

 

[rgr33]

Not a fan of cutting in the rain, mostly because I am on a hill, and it gets real greasy.

Might think about leaving it in FWD if your jobs are similar.
Tall grass might cause problems.

 

[majorwager]

Yogi Barra once noted that he would rather cut when conditions are dry unless it is raining, no mention if he used tractor w/ cab. :confused3:

 

[M5farms]

Cut it when you can rain or shine. I will actually hook to the bush hog and cut when its raining because there is not much else you can do outside . you will get a little banking up of grass and it doesnt scatter it as much but its just a field and who cares what the neighbors think.

 

[747driver]

I am with rgr33. When it rains or the area is still wet I won't mow. Have to many slopes and hills....which can cause the tractor to slide to easy !! If your area is somewhat level and you know the ground then I would proceed.

 

[Liquidsilver]

I do it in the rain, too... as long as the grass/weeds are standing up. I don't notice any difference in the quality of the cut. Traction, softness of the ground, standing water would all be variables I guess.

 

[crashz]

Thanks all for the replies. I'm going to throw the canopy on and give it a shot. Fortunately the customer postponed, so it looks like just my house is getting the crappy cut.

I googled the property and it looks easy enough, but I feel like there could be a slope to it. Wouldn't look to proffesional sliding down the hill screaming!

 

[DK35vince]

When I mowed my field (neighbor takes it for hay now) I always mowed it in the rain. Got other things to do when its not raining. Tractor has a canopy.
The lawn I mow when I get a chance, rain or shine. If its raining I only mow with the tractor w/canopy. We don't use the zero turn in the rain.

 

[Cavjock22]

cutting the rain is awesome. No dust.

 

[YLee Kioti]

Cutting new field having never walked it down is a risk all of its own.
Cutting said field in the rain increases risk.
Does it have deep ruts, swales, chunks of tree remnants?
Google earth can help get the lay out but not up to date so how high the growth is also an unknown.

Is it hilly, just have slopes from erosion etc. All those factors even in R4 ballast filled tires can give you a pucker factor and have you spitting foam.

Wet vegetation will build up under the deck not allowing good air flow and lift of grass about to get cut. So when it dries the pasture could look like a haircut from a freshman barber college student. :shocked:

 

[RalphVa]

Contractors do it all time because many of them have schedules that have to be met, rain or shine.

However, you can get the grass gumming things up underneath, similar to running a lot of green stuff through a chipper/shredder. Would help if you had a pile of limbs or woody stuff to run over every so many rounds to clean things out.

Ralph

 

[DK35vince]

However, you can get the grass gumming things up underneath, similar to running a lot of green stuff through a chipper/shredder. Would help if you had a pile of limbs or woody stuff to run over every so many rounds to clean things out.

Ralph

For me it seems to depend on the mower.
Example, my zero turn mower deck will sometimes build up/stick bad underneath if I mow in the rain.
But my tractor mounted 84" rear discharge finish mower and brush mower never seemed to build up underneath mowing wet grass.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Mowers are usually designed with some kind of flow. That simply doesn't work when wet. It also doesn't cover the ground as evenly. It can result in Dead patches if not dealt with.

But, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Also anything compacts better when wet, including your lawn.