Good Moring New BX2360 Owner with Questions

[Panik]

We just recently purchased a 5 acres plot of land. Of which about 3.5 acres have historically been leased for corn and soybean cultivation and the other 1.5 are maintained yard. Was trying to mow the yard yesterday and our Bolens finally gave up the ghost. Long story short the Kubota dealer is 10 minutes down the road and we walked out owning a new BX2360 with a 60" mmm deck. While it was somewhat of an impulse/frustration purchase. There was at least a little thought behind the decision. The idea was to use the mower on the yard until such time we wanted to end the cultivation lease and buy a brush hog deck to maintain the additional 3.5 acres.

Well last night before drifting off to sleep I got to wondering if the mmm deck might not be able to handle the additional 3.5 acres as long as I don't let it get too out of control between mowing. Right now it's covered with 1' tall course grass and weeds with some 3" corn stubble left over from last year. I would appreciate and BX and 60" deck owners' input as to whether or not I am expecting too much of our new addition.

 

[madmax12]

For the rough land, I would think you'd remove the mmm and use a rear rotary cutter.

I think you bought a great machine. You'd just need the right implement for each task. The mmm would have some pretty dull blades cutting rough land.

 

[unbidden]

Panik, any chance you can post a picture of the rough cut area?

 

[Panik]

I'll happily post picture this evening when I get home. Assuming the forum doesn't have a minimum post count. As for how rough it is - I've cut about the same with way less than the BX, but and it's a big but here - when I did that it was very minor amounts of land, and I wasn't concerned about tearing a mower of deck up in the process.

Basically part of this issue is that I am trying to determine whether or not to have to current leasee continue to work the land or whether to start caring for it and making some improvements on it and whether I need to buy a brushed I immediately.

 

[leonz]

Save your money and keep your tenant.

Major improvements are adding field drainage tile and that takes a
trencher or a back hoe which is much more expensive than
a trencher per acre as you are dipping 3-5 feet below the ground depending
on the lay of the land and the depth of any road dtiches nearby that you abut
with your property-if not you are stuck with a wet piece of ground that should
be worked in the fall after harvest and planted in the spring unless you are dealing
with winter wheat.



If you mow in a spiral pattern you will save time, money and fuel as
there is no need for braking or turning around and the grass will look nice.


Buy a flailmower sometime in the future and keep renting the land
to your tenant as this will be one less headache to worry about.

The issues will be that YOU will need to pick rocks by hand and
reseed everything unless you can find a neighbor with a grass
drill to plow, disc, and seed the plot. then the issue of rocks will
rear its ugly head and field rocks are butts ugly when mowing
with a lawn type rotary mower over new sod ground where they
are a non issue with a flail mower due to the full width rear roller.

The other thing is the planting of the grass where you need to pay at
least fifty dollars an acre to fit ground and then another 100-200
dollars for seed and fertilizer. (and even more if you have to buy all the equipment)

A sure stand grass seeder is the only way to go to eliminate bare spots and
have nearly 100 percent germination as new ground gets very muddy if the
sod is not firm.

I would wait and see how well your tenant takes care of the acreage
because otherwise you are going to have a mess on your hands unless
you have a plow, disc harrow or tiller and a sure stand seeder availble
and belive me cash rent is simpler for this.


The other issue is drainage and or the lack of it on the acreage.
If you have drainage tile installed you can ask for slightly higher
rent per acre as this will alow the tenant to get on the land sooner
in the spring and do the tillage work. BUT if he plows and harrows
after harvest in the fall thats even better for you as you can have
the tile installed then with much less waiting time for the ground to dry.

 

[Panik]

Leonz - Thank you for the comprehensive advice. Its quite a lot to think about to be honest. Unfortunately the tenant is a multi-state farmer and is not much interested trading cash for the use of 3-5 acres. I would imagine its more of a headache for them than its worth. Basically the previous deal was that the leasee maintained the drainage ditches that run across our land (which also serve the rest of the crop field that we do not own) as well as occasionally brush hog it in the off season.

Basically we lose use of the land in exchange for the maintenance of field drainage as well as brush hogging. In any case here are some photos of the property and the vegetation currently in the field.

*Edit* Apologies - For some reason the majority of the pictures are upside down and I cannot get them orientated properly.

 

[rbarker]

After looking at those pictures I wouldn't try to cut that with a mmm on my BX. They're great little tractors and pretty tough but that's a lot of heavy mowing there and the mmm isn't really designed for that.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[fordmantpw]

I would agree with rbarker. A little rough for the MMM, but a 42" brush hog would be perfect for it!

 

[Panik]

I kinda figured I was pipe dreaming a little bit last night thinking a belly mower would handle the field :biggrin: Kinda one of those kid with new toy type of dreams. I think what we will likely due in the near term is split the difference and get a brush hog or flail mower and assume responsibility for smaller portion of the field and let the leasee utilize the remainder. Hopefully this will be best of both worlds - more room for the kids (and Dad) to play with toys, my tenant doesn't have to re-cut established drainage ditches, and the rest of the field gets maintained for crop. In either case I'm glad I found the forum and plan on doing plenty of reading. I've done plenty of landscaping, but never dealt with managing this much open land. Again, thanks for the advice!

 

[jb62901]

I to have a BX2360 for 4 years now. I have a 5' RFM for lawn/grass anything other than that the 4' RC goes on. Just wish to save the mower & blades.