Rear Finish Mower Ford 3100 How large of a finish mower?

[Chyslersucks]

I have a Ford 3100 I want to get a finish mower for. This 5 hours on a zero isn't getting it done and I'm not spending what they are asking for commercial mowers right now. My area has lots of 60, 72, and even larger finish mowers for under $2k. I was told the 3100 wasn't good for putting finish or Bush hog on. I have a 4600 also but it is usually tied up with hay implements. If I sound like I I'm a little green with too much equipment, yes, father in law passed away and I'm trying to learn as I go. So question is, how big? Are there brands to stay with and brands to avoid. Everyone around here seems to love Woods brand.

 

[espacef1fan]

Diesel or gas claims 37-38 PTO hp and 47 engine hp.

I just sold a John Deere 1120 with similar specs and I mowed 10 acres with my King Kutter 72” rear finish mower.

The engine never bogged in thick grass though I had to occasionally slow down to maintain cut quality. I could mow at 4-6 mph with it and get a residential quality cut.

My advice is look up the models of mowers and their pto power requirements. Failing that I think you could run a 6ft mower without issues.

Also try to go atleast as wide as your tractor with the mower so you aren’t running over some grass twice before mowing.

 

[RickB]

Anything up to 90" so long as you don't let it grow up like a hay field before you cut it. I used a Woods RM990 for years behind a 40 PTO hp tractor. It hardly knew the mower was there. Local fairgrounds put 4000 hours on a TC45 with a 12 foot flex wing finish mower. If you wait till the grass is knee high all bets are off.

 

[workinonit]

If you keep it cut like a lawn you can go with a small bat wing finish mower. You need to gain quite a bit in width or you won't decrease your time over a ZTR that much. I would say 8 foot minimum.

 

[RjCorazza]

You don't mention how the current zero turn is set up, but for reference my 60" zero out-cuts my 7' rfm behind an L4060 by a wide margin. My primary mower is a 72" and I suspect I would need a 10' rfm to equal it.
If you're looking to save time over a 60" ztr, I would be looking for a minimum 8' rfm, and preferably 10-12'. Regularly mowed grass won't be a problem with your tractor at those widths imho.

 

[dodge man]

I looked up the specs and if it still runs well, I’d go at least 8 foot.

 

[workinonit]

The only downside to the 8 foot that I had was scalping issues if terrain was the least bit uneven.