3-point-hitch finish mower opinions...

[Dave___in___CT]

Hi...


I'm looking for opinions and experiences with 3-point-hitch finish mowers... 6' deck...
rear or side discharge... prices... sources...

I want a quality unit... I have the brochure on the Woods RD 72... looks nice... but have no other info. on it...

Will be mowing 2 1/2 acres of current hayfield once a month or so... with some 3-4' high scruff around the perimeter to cut...


Thanks...


Dave...

 

[Bird]

Dave, maybe a few more details of what you want to do might help. You can do that mowing with a finish mower; have to go really slow in that tall stuff, but finish mowers are expensive. You might find a cheap one in the thousand dollar range, but generally $1,500 to over $2,000. A light duty brush hog, also known as a rotary cutter, shredder, etc., can be had for half the price of a finish mower and will hold up much better cutting the heavy stuff. Finish mowers are made for mowing lawns; i.e., grass that isn't too tall.

Now of course if you know you want a finish mower . . . well, Woods makes a good one, I had a Bush Hog brand finish mower myself and think it would still be my first choice, but there are also several other good brands out there. I think the rear discharge models are the most popular and I prefer them. You can get some windrowing, clumping, etc. with any of them, but will get less with the rear discharge.

Good luck with your shopping.

 

[normde2001]

Dave, if you are going to be cutting a (ex)hayfield "once a month or so", you will definitely need a rotary cutter, instead of, or in addition to, a finish mower. Hayfields turn to weeds, not grass, and can easily be knee deep, or worse, in one month.

 

[ipwanab]

I'll wade in here.I have a Woods 5 ft finish mower (rear discharge). It does a beautiful job - I cut 5 acres of rolling property. My next door neighbor cuts about 27 acres of the same type property with a Woods dixie chopper. Under good conditions (if he cuts it periodically), his grass looks as good as mine. If either of us lets it go too long, his looks better when cut with the Rotary cutter.I have to cut twice to get acceptable results. Then I have finely ground thatch that literally chokes the grass and makes it turn brown. His cutter just lays the grass over like a scythe and seems to not choke new growth so much. He also has less wheel rut damage since the cutter has only tail wheel.Lastly I think the cutter was much cheaper.Look at the beautiful job a lot of highjway departments do with their huge cutters. Around here the roadsides look very nice , and the guys that cut them really get with it.

 

[johnsonauto]

I agree with the rest of the group, you would probably be better off with a bush mower over a finish mower if your going to be letting it get tall and or have small scrub brush mixed in. Befco makes a nice finish mower in a 90" (but may be too big) cut that has 3 spindles with hinged blades similar to a brush type mower but with 3 spindles. This does work well as a finish mower and well as a light brush mower. Most people keep a good set of blades for nice finish mowing and an old set for rough mowing. They also make a nice brush mower as well as other finish mowers. If your interested in seeing the quality of the befco product we have some here at our store in Bethany, Connecticut. Feel free to stop in or give us a call, toll free 1-866-393-0642
www.newenglandtractor.com

 

[RoyJackson]

I've a 60" Befco unit I'm very happy with. I did try to mow an area that was more brush and thicker. No success at all...

That Befco costs around $1600. Just didn't want to ruin it mowing something it wasn't built to do. So, I think a light duty rotary cutter is the way you should go.

 

[Dave___in___CT]

Hi...


Thanks for the replies...
The "hayfield" is pretty much grass...
It's grown about 8-10" since end of July to now... so I'd expect it to grow no more in 1 month in spring/summer

The scrub stuff dosen't have any small trees in it... tall grass... weeds... about 2-3' tall... In the past I've cut 1/2 acre of this kinda stuff with a 12HP Deere garden tractor... real slow and multiple times though... so I figure a finish mower can handle it too...


johnsonauto...
What hours you open there ? I'm right next door !


Dave...

 

[Bolie]

i dont have a hitch but i got a universal Three point hitch. "assembly quide"

 

[mytoys]

Dave,

I have a landpride 84" rear finish mower and love it. I mow about 4 acres with it. I used to use my rider and it would take a couple of days, now it's an hr or so. I keep the grass pretty short so I decided to get the finish mower vs a brush mower. I wanted a park-like look. I have to admit it was expensive though, over 2 grand. I purchased it as part of a package with my tractor. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I use a Befco 60" finish mower on close to 5 acres. I have used it, with modest results (need to mow the same area a couple times) on grass up to to top of my tractor hood. The unit was pretty pricy, but it is very well made. I think if you are going to keep the tall grass short then you can get by with a finish mower. But realize that it might take a couple passes over the tall stuff to knock it down and then it will need to be mowed on a fairly regular basis. That is assuming you don't have small trees, etc mixed in there. You really don't want to take a finish mower and try to use it as you would a rotary cutter and knock down saplings.

The key will be to knock down the tall growth as early in the spring as possible and try to keep up with it.

By the way, as far as discharge goes, on the 3pt mower decks I think most all of them are rear discharge.