Kioti Owner Newbie

[ejames]

Hello. Have 4 acre horse property in northern CA. I have a used (300hrs) Kioti CK20, 21HP. Has bucket, box scraper and rotary tiller. Very ignorant about tractors except that I love to drive em. They are the ultimate power tool.

I'm shopping for a high weed mower for the horse pastures. Some rocks, no brush, fences/barn to get around. I can't forsee needing the tiller since my veg garden is all raised beds so I'd like to sell it.

I've learned from the forum that I probably don't want a flail mower since I want the grass under the weeds. I currently use a string type push behind high weed mower. So bush hog? Recommendations?

Thanks for the forum!

 

[Muhammad]

Welcome to TBN.

 

[mguitas]

:welcome:aboard , there is a koiti forum above, lots of good info.

 

[Briana03]

WELCOME to TBN

I moved your thread to the Kioti Owning/Operating Forum.

 

[murphy1244]

Hello. Have 4 acre horse property in northern CA. I have a used (300hrs) Kioti CK20, 21HP. Has bucket, box scraper and rotary tiller. Very ignorant about tractors except that I love to drive em. They are the ultimate power tool.

I'm shopping for a high weed mower for the horse pastures. Some rocks, no brush, fences/barn to get around. I can't forsee needing the tiller since my veg garden is all raised beds so I'd like to sell it.

I've learned from the forum that I probably don't want a flail mower since I want the grass under the weeds. I currently use a string type push behind high weed mower. So bush hog? Recommendations?

Thanks for the forum!

Welcome, I don't have a ck but I have a DK40. The rule of thumb for rotary mowers is 5 pto horse per foot of blade.

 

[IslandTractor]

Hello. Have 4 acre horse property in northern CA. I have a used (300hrs) Kioti CK20, 21HP. Has bucket, box scraper and rotary tiller. Very ignorant about tractors except that I love to drive em. They are the ultimate power tool.

I'm shopping for a high weed mower for the horse pastures. Some rocks, no brush, fences/barn to get around. I can't forsee needing the tiller since my veg garden is all raised beds so I'd like to sell it.

I've learned from the forum that I probably don't want a flail mower since I want the grass under the weeds. I currently use a string type push behind high weed mower. So bush hog? Recommendations?

Thanks for the forum!

Welcome. I had a CK20 for a few years before moving to a DK40. Loved the CK!

I used both a 48" bush hog and a 60" finish mower on the CK. If I had your mowing task to do I would probably special order a 59" B rotor flail from Caroni. No problem adjusting the cut height to cut weeds but leave grass. I have the bigger version of that mower on my DK and it is excellent. If that is not an option I guess I would go with a bush hog. Size would be an issue for you to ponder. If you are cutting heavy brush or mowing lush grass or weeds then 48" is the way to go. However, in my California travels I have rarely seen brush or grass as lush and thick as what we have in the East. If grasses are thin and brush is light, I would get a light duty 60" bush hog like the Bush Hog squealer series.

If you have any hills you will certainly be mowing in low range if you have HST. While the speed is slow it does give you plenty of power to run a 60" mower so I would take the old "one foot of mower per 5hp" rule with a big grain of salt. In low range the CK is very capable of running a 60" mower.

 

[murphy1244]

Welcome. I had a CK20 for a few years before moving to a DK40. Loved the CK!

I used both a 48" bush hog and a 60" finish mower on the CK. If I had your mowing task to do I would probably special order a 59" B rotor flail from Caroni. No problem adjusting the cut height to cut weeds but leave grass. I have the bigger version of that mower on my DK and it is excellent. If that is not an option I guess I would go with a bush hog. Size would be an issue for you to ponder. If you are cutting heavy brush or mowing lush grass or weeds then 48" is the way to go. However, in my California travels I have rarely seen brush or grass as lush and thick as what we have in the East. If grasses are thin and brush is light, I would get a light duty 60" bush hog like the Bush Hog squealer series.

IT, What would be a good finish mower for my pasture???

 

[IslandTractor]

IT, What would be a good finish mower for my pasture???

You have the same tractor I do so I'd go with the Caroni TM1900 with the B blade rotor. Lots and lots of discussion on this in the "let's talk flail mower" thread. The mower is technically not a "finish" mower but for anything short of a suburban yard or golf green it does a great job while being much tougher and more compact than a true finish mower and way safer and higher quality cut than a bush hog. Cost is the same or less than either a decent name brand bush hog or any finish mower. If your pasture is really well kept with no rocks a finish mower would have a slight advantage in width (7 vs 6 ft) but you could never bush hog with it while the flail can do that all day with no modifications.

 

[RSKY]

If all you have to mow is four acres of pasture once or twice a year then don't throw your money away buying more than you need. With a screaming 21-horses you will stall the motor before breaking anything on all but the cheapest light duty mower. I used mine cleaning up fence rows and around edges of woods with no problem.

Can't give advice on a finish mower, never used on.

 

[IslandTractor]

If all you have to mow is four acres of pasture once or twice a year then don't throw your money away buying more than you need. With a screaming 21-horses you will stall the motor before breaking anything on all but the cheapest light duty mower. I used mine cleaning up fence rows and around edges of woods with no problem.

Can't give advice on a finish mower, never used on.

Fair point. You certainly don't need a heavy or medium duty bush hog for mowing pasture. However, you do have to consider safety issues so if the pasture is near human habitation or activity and especially if the soil is rocky, you still might consider a flail for safety sake. A cheap bush hog can be had for under $1000 in 48" size. A Chinese flail costs about the same. An Italian flail (Caroni) would be about $1500 or so and a US built flail (Alamo etc) would be about $3000.

 

[ritcheyvs]

I think it depends on the nature of the ground in your field. If it's flat a rotary cutter will probably do fine and also be good for brush and small saplings if needed. My fields have several berms and the rotary cutter didn't do well where the ground was uneven. So I got a finish mower which does a better job "floating" on the four wheels to follow the ground contour. But if you have rocks or debris, the finish mower can send them flying with great speed (read: danger Will Robinson). That's where a flail shines; it doesn't turn rocks into missiles. Flails are also pretty good chopping brush; I don't have a flail (and haven't used one) but I'm impressed with the ones the public works guys use.

But also consider this: whatever you get, you will break stuff and need parts. So make sure you can fix whatever you get. On my finish mower, I've broken wheels, bent caster forks, and lost small parts that mysteriously disappear. Mine also came with a bad bearing that failed in short order and fried a belt. The local steel/welding shop fixed some things but I had to get factory parts for others. Another consideration is that many "brands" are made by someone else (just painted a different color); this can be a good thing for parts availability. My Phoenix mower was made by Sicma (Italy) and is the same as Kioti, First Choice, and many other "brands". This was great (after I discovered it) because I could then get parts from many sources. I tried to get parts from Phoenix (which is local) but Phoenix only works with dealers and my dealer didn't want to place an order until he had "enough stuff" to make it worthwhile.

 

[ejames]

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas to think about! I shopped around locally and ended up with a 48" cimmeron rotary cutter. We will see if that works!

 

[RSKY]

My Howse 5' cost $800. If I can push a sapling over it will chop it up. Parts are available. Rather have the extra $700. But then, I've always been known a tightwad.

 

[ritcheyvs]

One benefit of Howse is that you can order parts directly online. To date, I've only had to replace the shear bolt on my 72 in light-duty model.

 

[IslandTractor]

One benefit of Howse is that you can order parts directly online. To date, I've only had to replace the shear bolt on my 72 in light-duty model.

Only one shear bolt??? What's your secret? Are you mowing a golf course?

 

[ritcheyvs]

Only one shear bolt??? What's your secret? Are you mowing a golf course?

The secret is I got a finish mower for mowing and seldom use the rotary cutter now. Perhaps I should mention my Howse has big dings on the back (from backing into trees) and the wheel is castered but that doesn't require parts.