Finish mower vs bush hog?

[artp]

I am going to replace a Ford 1210 & 4 ft Model 936A finish mower with a new tractor and rear cutter. I am looking at 28-30 hp tractor to match up with the new cutter. The property is approx 4 acres of generally flat to small rolling hills of mostly open pasture with some out buildings, ect to cut around, nothing severely steep-just rough grass to cut- a few low spots that can get a little wet. I like the look the finish mower gives, but I am wondering how well a new finish mower will hold up? The pasture is very visible from the house so the finish look is appealing (my wife's input here). How much should I expect to pay for a good quality finish mower vs the bush hog? Dealers in the area are quoting between $700-1400 for 5ft bush hogs (Land Pride, Rhino,ect)-good match for my situation? I don't have any experience here expect for the 936A for a finish mower. I don't know how it compares in quality vs the newer finish mowers. I would appreciate input from forum members. Thanks for all the great posts!!!

 

[ncengr]

You might be able to get by with just a RFM, but you would certainly have to mow more frequently to keep the growth from getting ahead of you. I have used a 5' Sitrex rear finish mower for 6 years behind a Kubota B-2710 and I love it. I normally just use it for mowing the lawn areas but have on occasion mowed around a field to maintain a walking path. I also have a bush hog (KK brand) and it handles heavier growth with no problems. It probably comes down to finances - if you can't afford 2 implements then the RFM will do the job - you might have to go a little slower and more often. If you read the L&G posts there are a number of folks that use L&G tractors to mow fields and pastures that probably should require a bush hog but they get it done. Good luck with your purchases. NOTE: don't know the current prices for Sitrex but mine was around $900 new in 2002.

 

[Soundguy]

A 30hp machine should pull a 6' finish mower. You can likely expect to pay about 1500$ for a 6' one.. ot about half that for a 5' hog.

pasture? I'd hog it and save the money. That way if the grass ever shot up 2' you'd be ok, and not burn up your 1500$ finish mower trying to brush hog with it..

soundguy

 

[artp]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I really appreciate the fine posts on this forum. I don't know when Dad bought the Ford 938A finish mower, but it was many, many years ago. The only thing he ever did was just regular maintenance. He always kept his equipment in great shape. It still runs, but like you said when the grass gets away from you, especially with the very wet spring we had in Southern Illinois, it can be really tough on the equipment. Still leaning toward the RFM (please the wife, but me too). Will check around on prices. One more thing to decide for my new tractor setup. Lots of work, but fun too. Just trying to pick up good info before I put the final package together.

 

[Soundguy]

Remember... a rough cut mower with a sharpened blade will cut nearly as good as a rider lawn mower.. perhaps just a bit shaggier.

soundguy

 

[RollTideRam]

You might want to read up on the Caroni flail mower also. JC

 

[Gizmo2]

I had a Land Pride Air Tunnel finish mower I pulled around with my JD650, did a real nice job on the pastures. Always said the lift suction was strong enough to suck a golf ball through a garden hose. Mower was built really strong and quite frankly if it went under the deck I cut it, yea to some extent I used it as a brush hog. Let's face it, pastures should never get to a height of two feet or one foot for that matter.

 

[jbrumberg]

A 30hp machine should pull a 6' finish mower. You can likely expect to pay about 1500$ for a 6' one.. ot about half that for a 5' hog.

pasture? I'd hog it and save the money. That way if the grass ever shot up 2' you'd be ok, and not burn up your 1500$ finish mower trying to brush hog with it..

soundguy

Ditto- Jay

 

[mwb]

How about a few sheep or goats?

I cut with a 5' hog - the worst of it is that the corners dig in when turning, ends up plowing chunks of sod up. I have to lift before turning - sometime i will get around to putting double (corner) tail wheels on it

I does do a good cut though - i put a sharp edge on it and it cuts fine. The finish mower will have better lift than the hog - if your grass is a little to long then it won't stand back up after driving over it and the hog won't lift it very efficiently.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[Gizmo2]

A couple points,
A good finish mower needs 4 wheels, one on each corner, so it can follow the contour of the land, it will be like towing a trailer.
Side discharge works best for me. If the pasture got away from me I could always run through again and windrow the cuttings for easy pickup.
Deep deck design works best for pasture. I think my Land Pride had a 6-inch deep deck. I could mow at 4.5 inches and have room under the deck for 10.5-inch high grass to stand up to be cut. And remember it takes far, far less time to mow, say 8-inch grass than it does to cut 16-inch grass, the higher the grass the more weeds you'll have, high grass that has been cut and laying on the pasture does not promote good pastures.

 

[kiwiroo]

I have a 6' Frontier 2072R Rear discharge finish mower and it has no problem cutting super tall grass, although I try and keep it cut, and is really sturdy- I have a 3520 Deere hooked to it- At first I was a little skeptical buying it versus a bush hog but since I'm cutting mainly pastures and a berry field I don't have to worry about taking out bushes or large branches where a rotary would have the advantage. Plus my wife also likes the nice finish cut of it

 

[MODiesel]

For just 4ac, I'd go with the finish mower. I've got a ~15ac field that I've cut both ways -- with a 60in rotary cutter, and with a Woods RM990 90in finish mower. It could just be that particular mower, but I've cut the field with the RM990 when it's been as tall as 2ft high and never had a problem. The drive belt still looks like new, and the difference in cut quality is like night and day, even when I sharpen the rotary cutter blades.

Now mind you, this field is just grass. If I'm messing around with any sort of brush, or truly tall weeds, I won't use the finish mower as it's just not cut out for that. But if I want the field to look like a well-manicured yard, the finish mower is my choice.

 

[IslandTractor]

A medium duty flail can cost less than a finish mower but cuts much smoother than a bush hog. Check out the Caroni TM1900 from AgriSupply which could be run on a 30hp tractor.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have a 28 HP tractor that is 24 HP at the pto. I have a brand new 6' Caroni rear discharge finish mower and love it. This was a step in the right direction for me coming from a piece of junk 5' King Kutter side discharge unit that cost me more than I paid for it in maintenance.

I also have a 25 year old or better used 5' Ford Bush Hog that is built like a tank. I have tried to mow my lawn with it in a pinch when the KK went **** up. It scalped the yard like mentioned before. If I were you I would get both. Buy a new finish mower like a Land Pride, Caroni, or Bush Hog, abut $1200-$1800 and then pick up a used $150 Bush hog like I did for the occasional tough job.

Chris

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a 35hp 4wd tractor that I use to pull my 7 ft landpride finish mower, or my 6ft rotary cutter. The difference is night and day.

I started out with the rotary cutter and really thougt I was getting a good cut. From a distance, it looks like a nice cut, but up close it starts to look pretty bad. It's very hard to keep the grass all the same level and you pretty much have to do it twice to farily even.

I use it for my rougher areas and where I haven't mowed for months, or even yearly. I don't like it, but it does the job it's designed for. The worse part is how much dust it throughs. Imaging a giant fan spinning on the ground and creating a dust clowd all day long.

Last year I bought the 7ft finish mower. Its a side discharge model, so I can't compare it to rear discharge mowers. The four wheels just float over the ground and the three blades do an amazing job of making everything look nice. It's twice as easy to pull as the rotary cutter, there is just about no dust and I can drive faster with it. The speed increase probably has allot to do with cutting shorter grass, but whatever the reason, I love mowing with it. I try to mow on the first of every month, so it's never a problem with the grass being to tall.

If you want nice grass and are willing to cut it on a semi regular basis, the finish mower is the way to go. If I could only have one mower, it woudl be my finish mower.

Eddie