So that's what that lever is for!

[N80]

I've never had much use for the hand throttle. But this weekend I realized that the fields I frequently hunt turkeys in had not been mowed in a year. The farmer next door owns the fields and he usually bush hogs thm once a year. I asked him if he minded if I cut them. He wanted to know if I'd like to do the rest of the farm!

Well, these fields down in the creek bottom are pretty big and the one in the picture below is nice and flat. So once I got going (with my oh-so tiny) 6' mower I realized how handy the hand throttle is! It was also nice to be able to mow at a good ground speed that I'm never able to do on my place. The field in the first pic had not been mowed in a year. Lots of saplings and briars, some dense broomstraw at times but I had no real problems:

The field above it was another story. Had not been mowed in 5 years. See pic below. It was slow going, low ground speed, 4wd and not taking full cuts. Lots of 1" saplings too. The mower and the tractor were handling it until the broom straw started clogging the radiator screen (and my eyes and nose). Got it almost finished but called it quits when the tractor temp started edging up:

I have no idea how many acres I mowed yesterday; I'm terrible at guessing acres but somewhere around 5 probably. It took the better part of a work day but other than the deep stuff, the rest was quite pleasant and so different from the bumpy, tight uneven ground on my place.

Next time I'll use his ancient old Case with a 14 foot mower on the back, but last weekend we couldn't get it started anyway. (That's me behind the camera):

 

[acs55812]

Is that Case a 530? My Grandfather had one that is still on his farm that I would like to get my hands on just for a project.

Looks like the Kubota got a workout

 

[N80]

I'm not sure what model it is but he has at least 2 and maybe three identical Cases, I can't keep up with how many tractors he has. The two Cases that I know of do almost all of his bush hogging. The starter on this one is bad.

 

[thcri]

Is that Case a 530? My Grandfather had one that is still on his farm that I would like to get my hands on just for a project.

It sure looks like a 530?

 

[escavader]

Now that its mowed,its time for practicing that turkey call.When is your season down in that neck of the woods.Looks like a nice place to set up a blind.Thanks for the neat pics.
ALAN

 

[redlevel]

You should have burned that broomsage field. It would have been good for the field and a lot better on the fellow trying to mow it.

 

[N80]

Escavader, turkey season is the month of April around here. I've killed a lot of turkeys in that field over the years. Usually with decoys. I don't mind shooting turkeys in a field but I enjoy calling them up in the woods a lot more.

Redlevel, burning might be an option but there are no fire lanes nearby and there are lots of woods close by. The main thing we need to do is to just keep it mowed once or twice a year. The farmer is glad for me to do it and when he/we get the Case running I'll be able to do it with the proper equipment.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin George,
Real nice shots ! Im surprised that you dont use your hand throttle much ! When Im mowing off my fields with my Massey, the hand throttle is the cats meow If I need to stop in a hurry, just dump the throttle quick and in 4th gear in mid range I stop almost instantly. I use mine all the time.

Its the foot throttle that I dont use much

 

[Soundguy]

Nice pics. Get some more of those nice old tractors.. especially the 14' mower.

Also.. I love my hand throttle.. It's pretty much all i use on my mowing tractors... ( most of my tractors ONLY have a hand throtle anyway.. )

Soundguy

 

[N80]

I love the hand throttle now too. But like I said, the stuff I normally mow is tight, bumpy and often on an incline. I think the Case has a hand throttle only.

The 14' mower is an old JD pull type. You can still see a little green if you look in the right place. I say its 14', it might be 12. It is cobbled together. More welds than original metal. You do not want to walk on the deck, you'd fall through the rust. He has two, the other one is up at the shop and looks considerably worse. They have both been broken at every point you can break one.

He wanted his thirteen year old daughter (his youngest) to start mowing with that Case, but his wife nipped that in the bud. His daughters can outwork most men and are very proficient on horseback, but momma drew the line at that big old tractor.

I've got pictures of a number of his machines, I'll post a couple when I get home. I'm into photography and he is too to a certain extent, but he thinks I'm an oddball taking pictures of his old tractors. He sees them only as tools. I like good tractor pics though.