Rear Finish Mower Bush hog or finish mower

[JDRandyC]

My wife and I just purchsed 23 acres and plan on building a new house on the property. Right around the house I will cut the grass with a lawnmower and hope to have a good looking lawn/yard.

We have about 5 acres that is overgrown with weeds that used to be a pasture and still has a lot of pasture grass under the weeds. I would like for this to look a good as I reasonably get it but I am not sure if I need to purchase a rotary cutter or finish mower. I have a 3930 tractor. Man at Kubota dealership said that I would probably go throught 5 sets of blades in one season if I try to keep this area cut with a finish mower. (I think I would probably cut it every 2-3 weels)

My question is this, would a regular bush hog do a "good enough" job with this so that the field looks good or would I need to get a finish mower? Is the Kubota guy right that I would go through that many blades in a season? What is the relative cost of a bush hog vs a finish mower? Would a 6 ft finsih mower be what I should use if I go that route?

Rest of property is woods and I would probably not try to keep this area cut.

Thanks

 

[TripleR]

If you cut with relatively sharp blades, a rotary cutter will serve you well. I haven't used my RFM in over a year.

Another option is a RFM with hardened steel cutters on the blade ends, about four inches long such as my Caroni has which will last a whole season unlike the lawn mower type blades.

 

[flyingcow]

I got about 20 acres i keep mowed with a 7ft bush hog. Does a nice job. Try to do twice a yr. Sometimes only once is all I have time for. I would suggest a bush hog vs a finish mower. Price diff? Dunno. Blades will last many seasons on a bush hog. Touch 'em up once in a while and i think you'll be impressed how it cuts. Mow a couple times of yr and keep the weeds from seeding back and the grass should grow in a little thicker. Bush hog will out last you in years to come.

Thats my 2 cents.

 

[brin]

My wife and I just purchsed 23 acres and plan on building a new house on the property. Right around the house I will cut the grass with a lawnmower and hope to have a good looking lawn/yard.

We have about 5 acres that is overgrown with weeds that used to be a pasture and still has a lot of pasture grass under the weeds. I would like for this to look a good as I reasonably get it but I am not sure if I need to purchase a rotary cutter or finish mower. I have a 3930 tractor. Man at Kubota dealership said that I would probably go throught 5 sets of blades in one season if I try to keep this area cut with a finish mower. (I think I would probably cut it every 2-3 weels)

My question is this, would a regular bush hog do a "good enough" job with this so that the field looks good or would I need to get a finish mower? Is the Kubota guy right that I would go through that many blades in a season? What is the relative cost of a bush hog vs a finish mower? Would a 6 ft finsih mower be what I should use if I go that route?

Rest of property is woods and I would probably not try to keep this area cut.

Thanks

If you hired someone to bush hog your overgrown 5 acres the first time and then you had a finishing mower and always kept it cut like you would your lawn ..say at least every two weeks ( remember a finishing mower is not tough like a bush hog ) then you should not need but one set of blades for over a year as long as obstacles are removed and you don't let the grass get to high beyond the capability of a belt driven finishing mower. A new 6' finishing mower can cost $1,800 or more and a new 6' bush hog can cost $1,000 or more...you could buy both used for a lot less...about 1/2 and then you could also take care of your woods since a bush hog will cut small saplings and branches on the forest floor...In general though the bush hog on your 5 acres will do fine if you go at a slow speed and lower gear and not bog it down by trying to go too fast.

 

[easygo]

If the field has small saplings now you would have to cut it with a bush hog first. If you want it to look more like a lawn then you probably will be happier with a finish mower. If you want to keep it in check and cut it 4-6 weeks apart then the bush hog is better.

 

[SandyTX]

I use a 5" Finish Mower to mow my shooting range and drive area (about 3-4 acres). The final outcome is very good; about the same as my sears riding mower. The other 15 or so acres is done with the brush hog and while yes it does look very good; it does not look as pretty as with the finish mower. If you were just buying one; I'd say go for the brush hog and just keep the blades sharp. You'll get more use out of the brush hog without having to worry about running over any large items (rocks/sticks etc). I know also my finish mower has belts (which require maintenance) unlike the rotary mower where you mostly just oil and sharpen.

 

[peterc38]

I use a 5" Finish Mower to mow my shooting range and drive area (about 3-4 acres).

5 inches eh? That must take a while huh?

 

[BTDT2]

5 inches eh? That must take a while huh?

Leave it to a **** Yankee! :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[TripleR]

5 inches eh? That must take a while huh?

Not if you go really, really fast.:thumbsup:

 

[WH401]

The guy from the Kubota dealership is pretty spot on in that the RFM would take a beating in mowing that field initially. I don't think you'd go through 5 sets of blades, maybe 2 because of breakage. You'd be more likely to go through belts, u-joints, or anything else in the drive line. If you or someone else initially bush hogs the fields the first time then you'll be able to keep them nicely groomed with a finish mower, as long as you cut regularly, about every 2 weeks. I cut about 7 acres of my total 11 with a 6' Woods PRD7200 RFM. 1 of my fields, which is about 2 - 3 acres in size, used to be an open field that would just get bush hogged once every year. I bush hogged it a few years ago and have been finish mowing it ever since and I haven't had any issues doing that.

 

[IslandTractor]

You haven't considered a medium duty flail mower? That would be perfect. Cut is much better than with a bush hog, much tougher than a finish mower and it is safer and easier to store as well. Most people forget about flails as the major US manufacturers build mostly heavy duty models designed for roadside maintenance and those are very expensive. For less than $2000 you can have an excellent Italian flail (Caroni TM1900) delivered to your door by AgriSupply in North Carolina. It will cut just about anything a medium duty bush hog will cut but the cut itself is only a little worse than what you'd get with a finish mower. Way less noise and way way safer than a bush hog too. Only real negative compared to a bush hog is that you actually need to grease the bearings every six hours of mowing (a three minute procedure) and replace the drive belts every few years (a half hour procedure). It is certainly much less maintenance than a finish mower used in the field. There is lots of reading on flails here on TBN: try the "Let's talk about flail mowers" thread. (not sure if that is the actual title but something like that....days of reading on all aspects of flail mowers).

 

[Ford850]

I'd get a bush hog, but make sure you research it to determine the lowest cutting height. Some cut at a minimum of 4-5" which means you have to drag the sides in the dirt to cut and it still won't look like a lawn. Look for one that cuts 2" or less. The real advantage of a bush hog is that if you keep up with the mowing it will give you a cut that is close to a lawn. And if it is wet or your tractor is down for weeks while the 5 acres grow tall again, it's no problem for the bush hog. With a finish mower you will have a mess every time the grass grows too tall between cuttings or when it's wet when you mow. Tall grass and weeds are also rough on the spindles of a finish mower.

 

[beenthere]

You said "pasture overgrown with weeds".
A finish mower will work quite well for that.
I have about that many acres that was pasture overgrown with weeds, and I mowed it initially with my JD 54" mmm and JD 445 lawn tractor, and keep it mowed in nice lawn every couple weeks on average.

I've used the rotary cutter in place of a mower, but wouldn't classify it as much of a hit for lawn look. Finish mower or flail mower would be my suggestion (rent a rotary for any initial brush cutting).
You've a lot of good suggestions, and I'm thinking you could make any of them work for you. But in the long run, I suspect you will end up with a finish mower.