Timrpremier;
To answer your question, I bought a finish mower 10 years ago. At that time I had a Kubota 16 hp tractor. The finish mower was rated 15 to 25 hp and weighed 550 lbs. ( a real heavy well built puppy!). My Kubota couldn't even lift it off the ground but it pulled it all those years without problem and most important, without breaking the tractor. (Kubota recently replaced with my Bobcat CT 235)
Over the years and while mowing the property I hit numerous rocks, bottomed out, you know how this goes when developing your property. As time passed, trees were trimmed up about 8ft., the small ones were taken out, the dips and doodles were filled with horse manure (we have 10 horses), lots of grass seed, and well, 14 years later I have a Park, at least that is what people tell me.
If you plan on just keeping the grass down then anything other than a finish mower will be fine, however, if you want it to look great (like a golf course)and want to spend the time then a finish mower may be better suited to your needs.
I opted for a heavy duty rear discharge finish mower, spent the bucks and it paid off. I nailed a crap load of rocks etc and no real damage to the mower. I sharpened the blades a couple of years ago and they hardly had any damage and I found that hard to believe considering what I had put it through in the first few years. I no longer hit anything due to the filling etc.
Tire tracks, yes you can see them a bit with the turfs but WAY better than Ag tires. By the way, mow your lawn with a push mower and you can also see wheel tracks, although only 1 inch wide. I prefer sitting on my rear using the tractor.
I bought a real heavy duty 5 ft finish mower knowing that I would eventually do what I did with the property. I am however a slave to the land,, but I enyoy it and I am retired!
Fred
