Mowing LK3054 finish mower
- Thread starter OFarrell
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manganos
Platinum Member
I ran a 6' wide First Choice finish mower with mine and it is all it wanted. It did fine but I wouldn't even try anything bigger then that.
mark.r
Platinum Member
I can't even begin to see it working out very well . . . and if it does it may just be the slowest mowing job in the history agriculture. I run 7ft. finish mower with my DK45 and all though I can mow in mid range flat out I can tax the tractor if get into some heavy wet stuff and don't lift.
mark.r
Platinum Member
I think it depends on the mower you are looking at. Do you need a gang of finish mowers for 10 acres? I can't see why you would unless you are cutting something like a park or golf course. Those gang mowers are limited unless you have another small lawn tractor/zero turn type mower for smaller more intimate mowing. Furthermore, they are expensive just for 10 acres. I would save my money and by a large 3pt finish mower and go that route. I have 4.5-5 acres of pasture to cut plus I do my neighbors stuff with either the finish mower or the rotary. One is 7ft. and the other is 6ft. and there is no way a gang mower would work with the exception of my large pasture. I would have it done it about 20 minutes but then what. I spent a large chunk of change on it.
Either way I'd be looking at a 35-40 horse tractor. Are you doing anything else besides mowing?
I've got a 52" Exmark but that's way to slow for 10 acres. I won't be doing anything else on this 10 acre lot but mowing. I'm trying to minimize the amount of time spent on this lot. I did look at 3 point single deck finish mowers but going from a 52" deck to a 72" deck didn't seem like that much of a difference. I would imagine that the tractor puts more hp to the ground than the 52" Exmark.
Mark.r how long does it take you to do 5 acres with the 6 or 7 ft mower?
Mark.r how long does it take you to do 5 acres with the 6 or 7 ft mower?
MichiganIron
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A good rule of thumb for Finish Mowing is 3-4 pto hp per foot of mower width. That number can change up or down depending on conditions, but it is a good place to start.
mark.r
Platinum Member
It take me about 3 hours to do it all with the 84" finish mower.
Do you know what the cost of the Landpride gang finish mowers are? At one time I had heard 7k and another time I had heard 12K. I friend of mine had one that he inherited from the owner of the own he purchased along with a NH TC45 or TC55 tractor he never used it but I know his wife sold it CHEAP on craigslist. So cheap I don't think they spoke for a week or so. At the time I didn't have a tractor that could pull or I would have bought it just out of principle.
MichiganIron
Silver Member, Advertiser
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Figure about $1000/ft of width for a BEFCO Flex-Wing Mower.
mark.r
Platinum Member
Wow, I knew they were pricey.
DK35vince
Super Member
Takes me 3 1/2 hours to finish mow around 7+ acres with an 84" rear finish mower.
What speed or gear do you usually run in?
kentrodngun
Gold Member
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I mow about 20 acres with a 60" brush (rotary) mower. Takes me about 12 hours (machine time). I normally run between 1.7 and 2.7 mph (never faster) depending on where I am - slower in plenty of spots.
Terrain is somewhat hilly and there are some rocks & groundhog holes to avoid. I also mow carefully in my overgrown (trees still need to be thinned out and pruned/shaped) apple orchard.
DK35vince
Super Member
First gear, high range on a DK 35. I'm quessing 4 or 5 MPH. (my yard is to bumpy to mow any faster)
Well, I think i'm going to go with an 84" mower since that's about the max my tractor can handle. It's a shame since I had the opportunity to but a 3 yr old batwing for cheap.
As far as a rear discharge single deck finish mower, are there any brands to stay away from?
As far as a rear discharge single deck finish mower, are there any brands to stay away from?
JDeerekid
Platinum Member
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I would say if you were going to mow once a week I would say go with the big batwing one. The 11ft bush hog say minumum 30hp. I have seen a JD 4300 with the same mower at the local school which has around the same hp as your tractor and it seems to run fine. They move along at a good pace and it doesnt seem to bog down any.
This is just my opinion but I would go with the bigger one and if the grass gets to tall take half width passes. I think choosing a finish mower is the same as choosing a bush hog. One big blade takes more hp that 2 smaller ones. Same with finish mowers, you have 3 small mowing decks instead of 1 big one. This saying a 7ft model takes the same hp+ than the 11ft. Also if you have uneven ground I would think the larger model with 3 smaller mowing decks would float better that the large 7ft deck.
hope this helps.
This is just my opinion but I would go with the bigger one and if the grass gets to tall take half width passes. I think choosing a finish mower is the same as choosing a bush hog. One big blade takes more hp that 2 smaller ones. Same with finish mowers, you have 3 small mowing decks instead of 1 big one. This saying a 7ft model takes the same hp+ than the 11ft. Also if you have uneven ground I would think the larger model with 3 smaller mowing decks would float better that the large 7ft deck.
hope this helps.
mark.r
Platinum Member
I disagree 100% , but to each his own. Good luck, what ever you do.
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