Turf Bat Wing Sizing

[OrangeToys]

Ok well i've searched for a few hrs :confused2::confused2:not looking and I can't find anything.

I Mow commercially and I am thinking about adding a bat wing mower to the crew but how I don't know the right way to size up one. Is it the same rule for brush hogging, 5hp per foot?

Thanks

 

[leonz]

It involves two things specifically, The gearbox horsepower rating of the mower and the "Net available P.T.O., horse power at the drawbar of the tractor to use the implement.

The 5 horse power figure is not written in stone its simply a guide.

Dont forget that you are not using the entire width of the mower when mowing as you would with a flailmower as only one blade on each spindle is cutting grass at any time with the other blade following.

The same rule applies to 4 blade spindles on what is referred to as a roller mower with anti scalp roller sfront and rear which limit the mowing height at all times.

It all depends on your pocket book as a wide Vrisimo grass mower will cost you less than bat wing mower and be easier to handle.

You should examine a flail shredder for mowing sod as you can get good bargains for them on Used Tractors For Sale at TractorHouse.com: John Deere Tractors, used farm tractors and farm equipment, tractors for sale, Case IH, New Holland, Agco, Kubota and auctiontime.com
and you will always be aboe to buy parts for them and some units can be towed with dolly wheels using a hitch at one end of the flail shredder.

 

[OrangeToys]

My goal is to get into larger properties to mow

 

[aczlan]

I know someone who has a 12 or 15 foot mower (cant remember if it is 3x60' decks, or 3x72" decks). They started with a Kubota L3830, but upgraded to a larger Kubota (42PTO HP IIRC) as the L3830 (~35 PTO HP) didnt have enough HP.

Aaron Z

 

[leonz]

My goal is to get into larger properties to mow

The Goal is fine but the more important thing to do is get the contract to mow these large properties first.


Ferri makes a great line of winged flailmowers for farm tractors and tractors with high floaation turf tires to mow good turf and brush both with the same mower.



You can buy excellent mechanical drive winged flailmowers from Ferri but they will need higher horsepower as well.


If you want to mow larger properties WITH GOOD TURF that will require a mower that will have to deal with wet grass conditions and still be be able to mow the GOOD TURF this is where you want to use a flail mower as you wil be able to shred heavy grass and go over it a second time if it is thick and leave almost no cut grass to be seen.

The added benefiit of a flailmower is the rear roller comes at no extra charge and it stripes the grass automatically.


Its all dependent on your prime mover and its horsepower AND The Gear box rating.

You may be better off using a wide 8 foot John Deere finish flail as it takes very little power to run one. My father used an 84 inch JD finish flailmower that he used to mow reclaimed pasture to make good turf using a Ford Jubilee.



A wide flail mower will shred grass to the sod if its high and leave no residue
a rotary mower will leave a mess if the grass is tall even if it is good turf!!
Believe me I know and I have been There and done that.



You would be surprised how much better a flail mower works on grass and a flail mower will almost never scalp unless it falls forward into a ditch.

 

[TraderMark]

I have a Bush Hog TD11 finish mower. It's an 11 ft model and I pull it with my 1720 Ford. (28hp/eng 24hp/PTO)

I used it for a couple years to mow 50 acres of sod but now only use it to mow 6 acres of lawn.

Is it a load for my tractor? Yes, but I can and do mow very well with it as long as I remember the capabilities of my tractor.

The grass I mowed was centipede. As long as I mowed once a week during prime growing season I could mow with no trouble on my little 1720. If I missed a week, or we had a lot of rain there would be places I'd have to find much lower gears and crawl through the grass, even mowing some of it twice to get it all cut.

I would recommend at least 3hp/ft. There have been quite a few times I wished I had 10 more hp so I could pull my mower through the tough stuff better.

Hope this helps,
Mark