Mowing Will my bison run a finish mower?

[twoshoes]

Will my Satoh 650G Bison run a 6 foot finish mower on the pto?? 6 feet just sounds like a lot and I wanna make sure before I buy the mower also. I also have a question about the 3 point hitch. It lowers very very slowly when nothing is on it. I have to stand on it to make it drop faster but still takes about 2-3 minutes. When my rear scraper blade is on it still takes too long to drop. Any ideas? My Bison is a 25HP. Thanks.

 

[Utah Bison]

On the 3 point drop speed, have you opened the valve below the seat between your legs?
That controls the implement drop speed.
As for the mower I am no help but I am curious for the answer.

Lee

 

[twoshoes]

Ok. I will look for that valve the next time I have the beast out of the shed. Thank you.

 

[oliver28472]

I just did a search on this forum for "mower" and read all of the posts related to the 550 and 650. Most are running 5' but there are some 6' finish mowers also. Will the seller let you try it before you buy it?

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

I've read where a general rule-of-thumb is 5hp/ft of mower.

 

[Irishman73]

I use a 5' mower with my 16hp beaver, you should be fine.

 

[RoyJackson]

I think you'll be OK as far as mowing. You might have to slow down or take partial width passes in thicker growth. Just remember that finishing mowers are for lawns, not fields.
Now one thing you may have to consider is lifting the RFM. Good chance you'll need front ballast as some RFMs are quite heavy. Use caution...

BTW, the "5 HP (PTO HP, BTW) per foot" normally applies to rotary cutters (bush hogs) which require more PTO HP to operate.

 

[Lebby]

I would also think that you should be OK with this combination assuming that the Bison is running up to par. The other thing that comes to mind is that in the event it is working it hard, you can always shift down a gear or half particularly in tuff spots. These Satohs realy have some "granny" gears in them. I'd also make sure that the blades are good and sharp.

I don't know the size of you "lawn" area and what your time table will allow, but, all and all I'd say you should be just fine.

 

[JD5210]

You may want to look at this article on tractordata.com

TractorData.com - Mowing with tractors

 

[twoshoes]

All of the info has here has been very helpful. Thanks to all.