Buying Advice Trying to decide if a cab is worth the extra $$

[Gary Fowler]

My 46pto HP would lay that broom grass down no problem with an 8ft cutterView attachment 279273

Have you ever been into some brome grass that is laying down? If you have you will know that a premium, e.g., Woods BB720X, etc., (good grass clearance) 6' rough cut mower will eat up 60+ HP in a heartbeat even with lawnmower sharp blades as I keep mine. The mower simply cannot clear and you will be down to about 2 MPH with 45 PTO HP. BTDT.

That said, a (true) 60 PTO HP tractor can handle an 8' rough cut mower in most conditions so long as you do not plan to mow quickly and infrequently.

SDT

I will stand by my quote of 6 acres or more with a 6 foot mower if the area is not filled with trees that have to be dodged around. A good pasture land that is smooth enough to run as fast as the tractor can pull it will mow more acreage than that. True that as some of you stated, you can load a 120HP tractor with a 6 foot mower given the toughest conditions imaginable. Normal pasture mowing that is properly mowed twice a year is just to clip the undesirables usually needs minimal HP requirements and can run as fast as you can sit the tractor. Throw in a bunch of trees to mow around and you can triple your time required quickly if trying to mow it like a home lawn.
When we first got the 40 acres here, it was grown up to high to even see the tractor and our first tractor was a 750 JD (19 HP) with a 4 foot mower and it still got the job done, it just took about a week or so. Normal mowing conditions, a 45 HP hydrastatic drive tractor can mow at 6-8+ MPH powerwise. At 8 mph=5.81 acres per hour not allowing for overlap waste. Road conditions will vary and speed has to be adjusted accordingly.

 

[foreman Etexas]

thats 46 horses 3low 2/3mph

 

[94BULLITT]

Don't even think of a 10', 8' or even 7' rough cut mower with an L5740 unless you have a flat golf course that you plan to cut regularly.

Simply not enough cubic inches and weight.

Been doing this stuff far too long, folks.

SDT

The L4240 I have will pull a 5ft and you can't even tell it is there. You can watch your pto speed in the dash and in never dropped below 537 pto rpm. The Kubota owners manual says it will pull a 6ft. I sold a guy some tire chains a hydraulic toplink and he said he had been using his neighbors L4240 to make hay. He said that tractor would probably pull a 10' rough cut. I know a guy who has a 50ish hp farmtrac and he pulls a 11' with it. How heavy of a tractor do you need to pull a 7ft?

 

[94BULLITT]

View attachment 279277View attachment 279278View attachment 279279 thats 46 horses 3low 2/3mph

What tractor is that on?

 

[foreman Etexas]

What tractor is that on?

Kubota M5040 my old one...

 

[SDT]

My 46pto HP would lay that broom grass down no problem with an 8ft cutterView attachment 279273

No it won't.

Been doing this far too long.

SDT

 

[SDT]

The L4240 I have will pull a 5ft and you can't even tell it is there. You can watch your pto speed in the dash and in never dropped below 537 pto rpm. The Kubota owners manual says it will pull a 6ft. I sold a guy some tire chains a hydraulic toplink and he said he had been using his neighbors L4240 to make hay. He said that tractor would probably pull a 10' rough cut. I know a guy who has a 50ish hp farmtrac and he pulls a 11' with it. How heavy of a tractor do you need to pull a 7ft?

What do you want to cut?

How close do you want to cut it?

How often do you want to cut it?

How fast do you want to mow?

What does the terrain look like?

Eighty four inch rough cut mowers are long and heavy. A good bit of that weight is well back of the lift point. I would not even consider a 7' rough cut mower with anything less than a relatively heavy 55 PTO HP tractor unless I planned to cut light cover often and/or slowly. Unless the terrain is relatively flat I would expect to add about 4/500 lbs. of front weights unless the tractor has a heavy FWA axle.

That said, an 8' twin spindle rough cut mower is usually easier to handle than a seven foot single spindle. Such mowers are not so long (less weight well away from the lift arms) and clear better.

Your neighbor is going to be moving very slowly pulling a 10/11' rough cut mower with 50ish PTO HP unless he is cutting light cover and/or not very close.

SDT

 

[SDT]

I will stand by my quote of 6 acres or more with a 6 foot mower if the area is not filled with trees that have to be dodged around. A good pasture land that is smooth enough to run as fast as the tractor can pull it will mow more acreage than that. True that as some of you stated, you can load a 120HP tractor with a 6 foot mower given the toughest conditions imaginable. Normal pasture mowing that is properly mowed twice a year is just to clip the undesirables usually needs minimal HP requirements and can run as fast as you can sit the tractor. Throw in a bunch of trees to mow around and you can triple your time required quickly if trying to mow it like a home lawn.
When we first got the 40 acres here, it was grown up to high to even see the tractor and our first tractor was a 750 JD (19 HP) with a 4 foot mower and it still got the job done, it just took about a week or so. Normal mowing conditions, a 45 HP hydrastatic drive tractor can mow at 6-8+ MPH powerwise. At 8 mph=5.81 acres per hour not allowing for overlap waste. Road conditions will vary and speed has to be adjusted accordingly.

Again, it depends upon what you want to cut.

Have you ever tried to mow at 8 MPH with anything other than a ZTR or sickle bar mower?

Even if you have enough power a rough cut mower will not mow properly at such speed unless the cover is very light and it certainly will not clear if there is much to cut and you are mowing close.

SDT