Bush Hog ASV RC60

[Blackhammer]

I have a RC 60 and have used a 60" heavy duty mower on it before and it worked great. Now I am looking into bidding on a contract that is monthly mowing of 4 landfills about 425 acres total. If I get the contract I will probably get another larger machine but I want to know what you guys think. The project is priced per acre so time is money. How long do you think it wil take per acre.

 

[howierd3866]

depend on what you use to mow it with and how thick/tall the grass is.We use 110 hp cab 4x4 with 15 ft batwing so we should be able to mow it fastes than the rc60

 

[J_J]

Blackhammer ,

Someone might check my figures, but at 5 mph and cutting 5 ft wide, = 132,000 sq ft per hour

1 acre is 208 x 208 = 43,264 sq ft

425 acres x 43,264= 18,387,200 sq ft. divided by 132,000 = 139 hours.

5 mph = 139. hr

10 mph = 69.5 hr

3.29 acres per hr @ 5 mph

6.11 acres per hr @ 10 mph

If these figures are not correct, please fix.

Did not figure any overlap in cutting, but you probably overlap about 12 in, which will increase the time.

 

[QwikDraw]

what's the terrain like and how thick is the vegetation.

The fastest I have mowed grass in a RC100 with a bobcat 60" rotary was 7mph, it was thin and dead. For thick stuff, I can only do 3-4 mph with a 72" bradco, I was happy with 2 acres per hour.

My batwing at 3 mph in the same tough stuff was knocking down 5.5 acres per hour.

You'll get killed bidding against tractors with batwings if the terrain allows them. If it's steep or on a hillside, you have a chance.

Good luck.

 

[QwikDraw]

JJ,

For the record an acre is 43,560 square feet. Everything else looks correct.

 

[J_J]

Thanks, I know, I always drop the .71 after the 208 .

Would a flail mower do any good with that job?

Came across this conversion chart.

http://www.onlineconversion.com/area.htm

 

[radman1]

425 acres is a lot of mowing even with 15' batwing. I would try to find 20' batwing just to make it easier. 15 footers are much more common.
5' mower on skid steer won't have a chance. Based on the 139 hour estimate, it would require mowing 40 hours per week and then start over again. Also the efficiency/power of a hydraulic driven rotary mower is poor compared to pto driven mower.
Your only reasonable chance is buying a used 15-20 batwing and used 80-115 hp tractor. New would be way too expensive unless you can find other jobs. Good used tractor and batwing is probably 50-60% cost of new. Tractor cab highly recommended.

 

[Blackhammer]

2 of the sites are land fills that are closed. The terrain would be hairy in a tractor. The contract is for 1 cut a month. I am going to find out what the current contract holder is using to mow the land. I figure the grass will probably be fairly thick and about 15" to 24" tall. the wet areas will be worse. I am meeting with the waste management super tomorrow to see if it is doable.

 

[Eagleview]

Has the area been flattened and track rolled ? If not it will be a nightmare of whoops and hollows and sharp things sticking out of the ground to tear up tracks and tyres and also have soft spots to get bogged in . Maybe you can ask them if you could use a trailed wick wiper and Roundup to keep the grasses and weeds at bay .

 

[cbturf]

Iron Horse, our closed landfills are required to have a 36 inch dirt cap and be covered with vegitation to prevent erosion. Using Roundup would not be an option since you need the grasses and weeds growing on the area as per local laws.

I personally think that you need at least one of those off road high horsepower tractors towing a mower or you will spend most of the month on one job. 450 acres is a huge area so consider wisely as you bid. Your business is different than mine so maybe you can make it work, I hope so.

 

[Eagleview]

We use this method in Australia for pastures etc. It only kills the tall grasses and weeds like giant Parramatta grass and Stinking Roger , Bracken etc. The low grasses and broad leaf weeds are unaffected which hold the soils and are a food source for stock and wildlife . After a couple of goes with the wick wiper , the area becomes pasture and is quiet manageable . As can be seen in the photo , the tall grasses have been killed and the area is turning to lush pasture . The dead grasses will dissapear within a month .

 

[Blackhammer]

Thanks Guys.

Yes there is plenty of dirt and grass over the land fills they have been closed a while. I found out the old pricing for the contract that was established 2 years ago. It is $14 per acre. That is dirt cheap. The project includes several acres (140) of finish mowing which I am not interested in, and and a TON of weed eating. I met with the director of facilities and the contract is going up for re bid. The guy who currently has the contract has several tractors and several bat wings 20 footers. he probably has 20-25 guys cutting the grass. First truck is a semi with 2 tractors and wings, followed by 3 pickups pulling mowing trailers. I think I counted 6-7 Z-line mowers, 2 6x6 gators with round up tanks and 10-15 guys with weed eaters. There are power lines near what is being cut and it has to be weed eated by hand. I think that is where I can excell because of the manuverability of the RC-60. I tried pricing it several ways and without owning a good ammount of equipment it is a tough price to beat. The current crew spends about a day per site. It is a site to see.

 

[howierd3866]

$14/15 is about the going rate around here. I agree with you its too cheap. If I can help you out in any way we do rightaway and slope mowing I'm in South Fla..good luck

 

[Heavyduty]

$14/15 is about the going rate around here. I agree with you its too cheap. If I can help you out in any way we do rightaway and slope mowing I'm in South Fla..good luck

I saw a tractor for sell a few years ago that came from Florida. The guy cut canals with it and it had something like a crazy 35-40 foot reach. I took pics. but don't have a scanner to convert them to dig. It was a cool set up.

 

[howierd3866]

would love to see the pics if you can download them...most everyone uses 24ft..the biggest is some gov. dept with 30. I'm looking at a 60ft but two things that stopping me.1) located over sea 2)about $200K

 

[Eagleview]

It is $14 per acre. That is dirt cheap. /QUOTE]

It would cost you more than $14 per acre to do the job , i'd be walking away if i were you . It's easier to go broke at home than busting a gut and burning fuel to do the same .

 

[Blackhammer]

It is $14 per acre. That is dirt cheap. /QUOTE]

It would cost you more than $14 per acre to do the job , i'd be walking away if i were you . It's easier to go broke at home than busting a gut and burning fuel to do the same .

I am not interested in the job any more. It is close to 40% finish mowing and I have no interest in that. I was looking for possibly some busy work but this one is not it. Not a problem I will just look somewhere else.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Heavyduty]

would love to see the pics if you can download them...most everyone uses 24ft..the biggest is some gov. dept with 30. I'm looking at a 60ft but two things that stopping me.1) located over sea 2)about $200K

I'll check on it. It felt flemsy(sp) and you had to have a good fill for the machine so you wouldn't bend the boom. Problem with a 40 foot reach on a tractor is that it has to be light enough to be mounted on a tractor, so you loose some strengh. I think 30 feet plus is best left to excavators, but you can't drive them like you can a tractor.

 

[Heavyduty]

View attachment 134243

would love to see the pics if you can download them...most everyone uses 24ft..the biggest is some gov. dept with 30. I'm looking at a 60ft but two things that stopping me.1) located over sea 2)about $200K

Here's some pics I found.

 

[Heavyduty]

View attachment 134243

Here's some pics I found.

couple more