Mowing with 100hp and 3-pt Finish Mower

[John0829]

I doubt a tractor would be smoother, and more comfortable than a modern, highend ZT running coilovers on all 4 corners.

I will tell you right now there is NO comparison between a high end ZT with suspension seat and a heavier tractor, the tractors will win everytime. I bought a high end ExMark 2 years ago with the best suspension available at the time because of my back and neck surgeries and while it does ride better than most my tractor and its BIG tires will gently roll over bumps and drips instead of bouncing over or through them. The size of the tire is what makes the difference.

The best ride would be a mow where I sit on the porch and control it remotely but those are not that dependable, yet, or in the budget.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have two 72" mowers. The first one I bought is a Farm King and I pull it with my 4410 with R-3's. I modified it by making it a rear discharge mower and adding a anti scalping roller just behind the center blade. Both of those mods enable me to mow considerably faster. What slows me down is mowing around obstacles.

The second mower is a F935. It's not a ZT but it is a front mount. It's not as maneuverable as a ZT but it was also a lot cheaper. (I bought it used "as is" from a dealer.) It's a lot more maneuverable than my 3ph mower on my 4410. My main mod was to initially install dual tires to smooth out the ride. After breaking an axle I had the front rims widened and installed 24x12x12 tires vs the original 23x8'5x12 wide tires. The wider tires really helped smooth out the bumps.

So now I have a great combination of mowers. I have a fairly maneuverable front mount and a very smooth riding 3ph mount. They each have their +'s & -'s but I don't have a lot of money invested. The F935 was $5000 CAD and I paid $1000 for the Farm King. I was gong to sell the Farm King but with two people mowing we're done my 4+ acre yard in about an hour and a quarter. I can use either mower to mow the whole yard but the front mount is about an hour faster.

 

[dieselscout80]

Not enough juice for the squeeze.
I’d get some more mowing contracts, then go for a bigger mower.
The other thing is with a 100HP tractor on lawn-style fields, AG tires would be leaving marks unless it was ideal (dry) conditions.
One other thing of note: You’d be surprised at how nice of a cut a traditional 15’ batwing bush hog can do on lawn grass with sharp blades. Those finish mowers are fine, but a bush hog is much tougher and you could cut properties with rougher grass.

View attachment 801696

Looks great.

What speed are you running to get that nice of a cut?

 

[boatmoter]

I'm hoping to get some feedback from more experienced people (which is probably all of you).

I have an old Kubota ZG327 (yes, gas) zero turn that has been serving me well for about 10 years (bought it used, and it was old then).

It works, and does okay, but I think it's underpowered for me needs and I'm sure I don't have it tweaked well. I often need to go over an area a few times.

I'm in Sullivan County, NY and have 5 different locations to mow, totaling about 16-18 acres. Not golf course or high end lawns but trying to make everything as nice as possible. Some of the land has hills, and some can be quite bumpy (and my back does not appreciate that). Takes 2 full days (maybe 2.5) to get everything mowed.

I also have a 100hp M-series Kubota with Ag tires.

I was thinking about getting a new zero turn, but availability is scarce and price is high.

Then I though maybe I should get a PTO driven finish mower. EA has an 84" that looks nice. I have a suspicion that anything wider (96" for example) would not work so well because the ground is so often not flat.

My thinking is I could do that the straight runs with the Kubota-finish combination and the areas that require more maneuverability with the zero turn.

Does this make sense? Would is save my back? Would it do a good job?

Thanks very much.

with that much HP & land to mow I would try to get a Batwing mower to put in behind of your tractor

 

[jjp8182]

Just a thought, but it might be worth paying attention to how ditches & right of ways are maintained (with regards to mowing) in your area by the local & state governments. ....in this part of the country it's almost exclusively done with tractors and either batwing rotary cutters - or other flexing deck. For the most part a 100hp tractor would be at the smaller end of the equipment being used. Of course on the other side of the equation a federal installation in the area maintains a fleet of basic Kubota M5's (all pulling batwing rotary cutters) for mowing right of ways and pretty much everywhere else they can physically drive through --- and none of the tractors I've seen used there have turf tires.

Now that I'm thinking about it about the only places I've seen zero-turns (or other dedicated mowers) used there are the grassy areas between parking lots and buildings and the islands in the parking lots - or interior courtyards (there's been more than once I've seen a mower get driven from an exterior door across a hallway and out another door so a grassy area could be mowed ).

Personally I use my L3560 (with R4s) and with 72" finish mower to mow my lawn and over the last several years I've noticed my yard has been less rutted & worn since switching from a zero-turn/riding mowers to the tractor.

Unless the ground is soggy - or the tractor is being run in 4WD (& even then it usually requires a tight turn to do damage) I've yet to see much done in the way of turf damage. In those times/places where the ground is too soggy (e.g. hitting a spot that hasn't yet dried out enough) I've been less likely to get stuck than I was on a zero-turn or riding mower. ...of course the quick/easy way to figure out if you'd have a problem with lawn damage would to just drive the tractor across the area prior to buying a mower ...only difference between that and actually mowing would be finding out if the finish mower wheels themselves would leave ruts.

In my experience the casters on the mower have usually been more likely to leave ruts than the tractor .....usually when I hit a wet/soggy spot at which point I tend to use the 3pt & hydraulic top-link to shift more mower weight onto the tractor instead of letting the mower ride fully on it's casters.

As for maneuverability concerns that have been raised I've learned that mowing around objects more like river flows around obstacles is generally more efficient than doing donuts around said obstacle. Though no matter what kind of mower is used some grass growing right up next to a large solid object is going to escape mowing just because of the (necessary) gaps between blade tips and deck sidewalls.

So it might just be me and the experiences I've had, but I can't see ever going back to mid-mount mowers or any mower (that could be ridden on) that isn't a tractor/mower combo. The only real "problem" I've had with my set up is that it means needing to keep the lower branches on all the trees trimmed a bit higher -- of course that's also helped let more sunlight get to the grass and keep bare spots from forming due to insufficient sunlight so there is that....

But that's just me and my opinion/experience so.....

 

[lcalverson13]

I would strongly recommend against using a typical 3 point mount finish mower behind a 100 HP utility tractor on ag tires on yards that average roughly 3 acres or so, for many reasons. I used to mow a yard with a much smaller tractor with a 6' 3 point mounted mower so I speak from experience.

- A 3 point mower is not very maneuverable behind a 30ish HP compact, let alone a 100 HP utility tractor. 3 acres or so is not very large, particularly if there are any obstructions to avoid. You will spend a lot of time turning around and avoiding objects.
- You will rut up the yards terribly unless it's bone-dry so the soil is rock-hard. People here complain about a compact weighing only twice what a good zero turn weighs and riding on much less aggressive industrial tires rutting up their yards. You are about an order of magnitude worse than that with a full-sized utility tractor on ag tires that weighs 6-8 times as much as a zero turn does.
- You will actually mow at a noticeably slower speed with most 3 point finish mowers than you will a decent zero turn. In my experience 3 point mower decks don't discharge nearly as well as a good zero turn's deck does, so you will just plug up if you go very fast. Having a bunch of power will just result in burning up the belts when you plug up the mower, you will not be able to mow any faster.
- A 100 HP utility tractor will ride more smoothly over bumps and divots than a zero turn at first as it has larger tires that roll over them and the extra weight smashes the bumps and cuts ruts. Once you rut things up and later the ruts dry up and harden, different story.

If you wanted to use the tractor, I would get high flotation turf tires for it, take the loader off it you have one, and pull a big flex-deck mower. That way you won't rut things up so badly and and at least would be cutting a wide swath for the lack of maneuverability you'd have to deal with. However, it would be cheaper and quicker just to get a very good zero turn. It sounds like that is out of the budget, so I would personally fix up your current zero-turn or get a better higher-end used one.

I had a small Ford 4000 gas with yard tires. It was good for mowing but not much else. I had chains for snow plowing and got by. I now have a Mahindra 2565 , 65 HO with a utility tire. There are some big ruts so once again I have tilled the yard and scooped off the turf. I have a 8’ drag and harrow rake that have helped smooth it. Stone picking is also a help to pretty it up. MI has so much water there are long periods one cannot get on to mow. When working with wet ground smaller and lighter are key. If you don’t care that ruts are there go for a 6’ or 8’ rotary mower. I have had 40 years of dealing with the mud. I have tiled, pumped and set aside an area for water discharge and mud. Sometimes the choices are imperfect. Small light equipment prevents ruts, large equipment rides better but can cause you more work in the end. Good luck as you weigh the options.

 

[dbritt]

A bit expensive, but this one would cut your mowing time by a LOT:

Lazer Z Diesel Commercial Zero-Turn Mowers

Discover the Lazer Z Diesel, the most efficient and largest zero-turn mower on the market. Learn how the Lazer Z Diesel mower can transform your business today!

www.exmark.com

 

[Hay Dude]

Looks great.

What speed are you running to get that nice of a cut?

We will only do quality cuts. No mohawks. All fields will have same cut height.
I run 2.75-3.25 MPH.
Takes longer, but we retain customers forever and get new ones every year.
I mow about 1,000 acres of fields per year.

 

[Hay Dude]

I will tell you right now there is NO comparison between a high end ZT with suspension seat and a heavier tractor, the tractors will win everytime. I bought a high end ExMark 2 years ago with the best suspension available at the time because of my back and neck surgeries and while it does ride better than most my tractor and its BIG tires will gently roll over bumps and drips instead of bouncing over or through them. The size of the tire is what makes the difference.

The best ride would be a mow where I sit on the porch and control it remotely but those are not that dependable, yet, or in the budget.

Lots of truth in that.
I always encourage tractor buyers to buy a tractor with the largest possible tire diameter and the heaviest weight possible over horsepower or bells & whistles.

This MX-270 tractor has no suspension other than an air ride seat and it rides better than the Challenger MT535B which has air seat, air cab suspension, front suspension and loader suspension!

Don’t get me wrong, the Challenger rides real nice, but the sheer weight of the MX-270 @ 24,000lbs won’t allow the tractor to lift up on one side if the other side goes into a hole. The Challenger will still rock side to side a bit even @ 15,000lbs.

 

[LightningCamaroGuy]

I will tell you right now there is NO comparison between a high end ZT with suspension seat and a heavier tractor, the tractors will win everytime. I bought a high end ExMark 2 years ago with the best suspension available at the time because of my back and neck surgeries and while it does ride better than most my tractor and its BIG tires will gently roll over bumps and drips instead of bouncing over or through them. The size of the tire is what makes the difference.

The best ride would be a mow where I sit on the porch and control it remotely but those are not that dependable, yet, or in the budget.

IDK, both my LaserZ and 5075E will about throw you out the seat if you hit big bumps or holes you don't see while going too fast. Also I'm not talking about suspension seats. Many of these newer highend ZT's have gone to a 4 wheel coilover suspension setup, or having the operator platform suspended separately from the mower chassis. I was ZT shopping recently and quite a few brands were using them, and the ones that weren't from what I was being led to believe by salesmen were in the process of eventually adopting a suspension system on their highend equipment to stay competitive in the highend ZT market. I believe Ferris is the company that got this trend rolling. Ferris, Husqvarna, Stihl, Exmark, Simplicity, Toro, etc all offer suspension setups seperate from just a seat suspension.

For example:

ISX™ 3300 Zero Turn Mowers

Featuring next-generation suspension technology – ForeFront™ Suspension, a 2-belt iCD™ cutting system, heavy-duty dual commercial Hydro-Gear^® ZT-5400 drive system, and travel speeds up to 12 mph. Plus, select models feature EFI-ETC technology for fuel savings, easy starting, and...

www.ferrismowers.com

Lazer Z Suspension Mowers - Suspension Zero Turns

Discover Lazer Z Suspension platform mowers. Get your legendary Lazer Z zero turn with suspension seating. View models and specs.

www.exmark.com

MyRIDE® Suspension System | Toro

www.toro.com

Zero Turn Mowers | Simplicity

Simplicity offers premium zero turn lawn mowers for home landscape enthusiasts who want to make short work out of big yards.

www.simplicitymfg.com

Pro-Turn 600 Zero Turn Lawn Mower | Gravely

Welded into the DNA of every Gravely zero-turn mower is the power and performance you need to do the job right.

www.gravely.com

https://www.stihlusa.com/products/zero-turn-mowers/#pro