Hogging With the 2520

[Runner]

Greetings, all. Thought I would post up some pics of the action around here this weekend rotary cutting with the 2520. This is about a 4 acre field behind my house, minus some wooded areas and was mostly about 2 foot tall grass and weeds. A few places were 3 foot high. Took me about 3 hours.

The 2520 and Frontier RC1060 performed flawlessly and the machine didn't seem to breathe hard even in the thicker stuff. Overall, a beautiful day for hogging, about 75 and partly cloudy. Too bad I only get to do this two or three times a year since this is my favorite tractor activity.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Thanks for posting the pictures Runner. It's always great to see action shots of our tractors, and especially in beautiful settings like yours! After trying both rfm, and mmm, and your 60" rotary cutter, do you think you would recommend a 60" RFM for the 2320/2520 tractors?

 

[RoyJackson]

Thanks for the pics!

Why did you drop your bucket off?

 

[Runner]

Chuck,

Thanks for the compliment. After living in a subdivision for too many years, this is our little slice of heaven. Only wish we had about twice the acreage we have (6 at present). I can tell that the previous owner went through a LOT of work to get the lawn and pasture areas to look the way they do, so I feel it is my duty to do the best I can to keep it looking decent.

As for the mowers, if you are wondering about power, I have no question that the 2520 has plenty of power for any of the mowers I'm using (62D, GM1072R and RC1060). I was surprised to see that one of the JD catalogs even lists a Frontier 84 inch finish mower for this tractor. The 2520 definitely has an easier time moving around with the belly mower because all the weight of the mower is on the tractor. The extra weight on the back end from the rotary cutter also helps with the traction.

But power-wise, I've never seen the tractor bog down, even cutting thick lawn grass with the 72 inch RFM.

That said, I have also found that each one of the mowers has certain issues, at least on my property (rough and big hills) that you just have to work around. The fact is, driving a compact tractor around on a lawn is about like driving a Honda Civic on your grass, minus the 4WD, so it's a little hard to tiptoe around.

With the 72 inch mower, is is heavy so traction is an issue on the hills, and 4WD is used most of the time. Loaded tires might help the situation. With the rear mower, when it's wet, the casters will tend to take divots out of the grass when changing direction while backing up. Otherwise, it does a beautiful job and is my favorite mower.

The 62D is a fine mower too, but in my opinion, the cut quality is not as good as my RFM and I'm not crazy about the windrowing of clippings when the grass is high and the fact that the machine (grille particularly) gets covered with grass clippings. Again, not complaining about the 62D, it works as advertised, just that there are issues with any type of mower.

Same with the rotary cutter. They call them rough cutters for a reason, it is what it is.

Here is one more pic.

 

[Runner]

Roy,

I always drop the bucket off when mowing for maneuverability. Actually, I much prefer mowing without the loader frame too, but the loader is just too darned handy!. Seems I'm always needing to grab something with the forks or haul some dirt or some such thing, so I just leave it on.

 

[prosperity]

Thanks for the excellent photos!

I still have my 48" Bush Hog that I have used on my 2520 a couple times. After seeing your pics, I am going to have to find a 60" - I can see that the 2520 handles the 60" great.

Anyone want to trade a 60" Bush Hog for a 48"......???????

 

[kennyd]

Anyone want to trade a 60" Bush Hog for a 48"......???????

While I do not have a 60" to trade, I may be interested in the 48" if the price is right

 

[Chris2520]

Runner , it looks like you were really haveing some fun....
the 2520 seem to mow it down pretty good..

Chris....

 

[Runner]

Prosperity,

It does handle the RC1060 with ease. I'm curious as to how it would handle a heavier rotary cutter, like a medium duty unit. I don't need it, but it would be interesting to see if anyone has tried it. I would certainly recommend a light duty 60 inch cutter for this tractor.

Chris,

Yup, pretty much a 3 hour long amusement park ride. Next, I need to do some finish mowing and then put the bucket back on to move some rocks...

I missed my calling. Ever since I was a little kid, I loved watching guys driving tractors, backhoes, motor graders, dozers and such. I should have been a heavy equipment operator. Guess it's never too late...

 

[ChuckinNH]

Runner, I have a friend that says "never do what you really love for money". Maybe he has a point.

 

[Runner]

Chuck,

I hear what you're saying. That's the reason I'm not a pilot....

Forgot to mention, I ran the machine at 2500 RPM the whole time I was mowing. Not sure why exactly, but I just have some kind of mental block about running things "wide open" unless really necessary. So, I usually experiment and find the lowest RPM setting that still gives me the performance I need without bogging or any other ill-effects. In the case of the rotary cutter, and with the hills I was pulling it on, 2500 seemed right.

I can get away with less when using the RFM, like around 2400 or so.

 

[n3ra77]

Thanks for the pictures.

Has anyone used a flail mower with the 2520? Is so, what size and brand? When I get my tractor one of the big uses will be rough cutting and some of it is near houses and there are bunches of kids in the area, so a flail (although expensive) might be a bit safer.....

Still thinking about the 2520 and now maybe the 2720.

Thanks

 

[Runner]

N3,

As far as I can tell, JD doesn't recommend a flail mower for anything with less than 25 PTO hp, so that would also leave out the 2720. However, I'll bet you could still get one to work with either tractor. Seems like JD is more concerned about the weight of attachments sometimes as opposed to the actual hp required to run them, even though they list hp as the limiting factor in their catalogs.

 

[BlackRaptor]

That looks like fun.
Awesome Pictures.
Brush cutting with a BushHog is a blast.

 

[Spud67]

Great pictures.

I just received my RC 1060 for my 2320 and working with it this past weekend was a dream. The 2320 handled it very well cutting the 5 - 8 acres we have around our place. Most of the cutting was through dried up grass and weeds from last year, the new growth hasn't done much yet but with the warmer weather this week it will take off soon. I wasn't sure if teh 2320 would handle this mower but it does and in heavier grass I will just slow down a little more so it will not bog down.

One question about the 3 point hitch. How much play if any should there be in the bottom arms of teh 3 point hitch? Should the attachment be able to sway from side to side a little or should it be steady? When using the tiller and now teh RC1060 I have the unit pretty steady so it doesn't sway very much at all.

 

[Runner]

Spud,

Not sure how this translates to the 2320, but us 2520 guys can't have ANY play in our draft arms or they will hit the tires. The "new and improved" draft arms may make a difference on this.

Mine are always tight and I haven't noticed any ill effects, even running a 675 lb rear finish mower. Plus, I'm not crazy about the idea of heavy attachments being free to move around too much back there anyway. Just my view on it.

 

[Spud67]

Thanks Runner, I haven't used too many tractors with a three point hitch so I was just wondering. When I use any of my three point equipment I have the draft arms tight. So now I know I am doing things right.

The mower is excellent and I am happy with it.

 

[Engine66]

Looks good...I liked the pics. Now about the clippings left behind? Do you bag, mulch, leave them in place? Depending on how much material is left behind, I let the clippings dry out, then sometimes mulch with a MMM, sometimes bag. Just curious how you do it...if at all. Looks like a nice piece of property...enjoy!

 

[Runner]

Engine66,

I just let the clippings lay. However, I also always keep the cutter at a high setting too (8" or so), so the clippings tend to filter down into the grass pretty well. After a few days, it pretty much disappears.

Wish I could say the same about the clippings from the finish mower. We've had a lot of rain around here this spring, so the grass has been getting a little too tall between mowings. I leave the lawn grass pretty tall too, about 5 inches, mainly so it will handle the summer heat better.