My Big Lawn Mower!

[Shawn T. W.]

My phone has only 2 options 8 MP or 12 MP, I have it set on 8 MP ...

 

[JWR]

Wow - 3900 hours and the condition it's in is amazing. - it has been well cared for over the years.

Yes, that is for sure! With 3900 hours those have to be near-new tires. Rubber looks awfully good.

 

[deezler]

I absolutely love seeing the results of your elbow grease. Every good machine deserves a coat of wax periodically. Nice work!

How come you don't let your neighbor or others hay your fields also? I can't understand mowing 7 acres or more just to look at short grass, when it could feed livestock or be a pollinator meadow, etc. No offense but just curious what motivates you in that regard.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

The rear tires are new ...

I gave up haying after loosing money the first three years that I owned the place ... When I bought it I thought it was just a field in front (a bit over 6 acres) and an overgrown neglected 8 acres pasture out back, and I was just gonna brush hog it all ... My neighbor told me the front was a good hay field, I knew nothing about haying ... I soon learned that it's not just let the grass grow, cut it bale it ... It's soil samples, lime, fertilizer, herbicide ... That all takes time and money ... Not paying myself, and getting the better "half" of a 40/60 split with the other neighbor that cut, raked, and baled it, I sold my 60% and still lost money!

Most of the area farmers aren't nearly as fussy as I am, if I'm gonna sell hay, it's gotta be GRASS, not weeds! But nobody wants to pay for it, cows will eat weeds ...

Plus I don't really like the look of it high, and uneven, not like spraying herbicide either ... And I don't like the patches of different color/texture of the various weeds ... And once the grass/weeds are up over 2' tall I can't see the end of my driveway 850' from my front porch or living room, as there is a slight rise in the ground ... So I'm just gonna cut it down and have a "rough cut" big lawn!

 

[JWR]

Don’t worry about your picture size. It’s kind of a pain to reduce it later. There is a forum I get on once in a while and I have to reduce the size to post pictures and I downloaded a free app that does it but it’s ripe with ads.

Not to dive too far into side issues like photography but... I thought the OP photos were just fine. Easy to see and understand (unlike many of the tiny ones.) MS Office comes with a picture viewer (and some basic version comes with your operating system like Win 11) so if you poke around you already have free software that allows basic editing, cropping and adjusting of pictures. Generally you do not need to download an app or buy anything to do that.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Thank you, as the old saying of "a picture is worth a thousand words" ... Sometimes it's easier for others to understand with a picture, what I'm trying convey.

Only problem is my last version of Windows is 7 ... And my computer is that old ... I pretty much only use my phone now, unless I need to print something, which is very rarely ... But I just remembered something ... But too much of a hassle to take the card out of my phone, down load to my old slow dinosaur of a computer, open the "paint" program, resize, put back on my phones memory card, restart phone ...

I do use the computer to down load my card from either of my dash cameras, but that is also rare.

 

[Tinhack]

Not to drift too far, but my Android phone links to my PC wirelessly. I can see and load pictures from my phone like it was a thumb drive. My dashcam does the same thing with my phone. Cool stuff now days.

Oh yeah, my new truck radio even links to my phone. I can run apps on my phone from my radio, not just make/receive calls. The running of apps is supposed to work only when in Park, but I wired it to look like it's always in Park.

The phone has become a vital part of living. At my age, I just wish I understood it more.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

At my age, I just wish I understood it more.

I wish most of it would just go away!

In 2021 I blew the engine in my 1989 F150, I finally found a RAM 1500, it was quite a culture shock to the "30+ year tech changes" still don't know (or care!) what all the buttons and menus do ... They kept bugging me for quite awhile about registering my LoJack and Sirius radio too, I moved to Missouri a few months later and changed my phone number, no more hassle, and I've never used those things ...

Another reason I wanted an older tractor ... Was reading a review on one of the latest tractor models that is "connected" somehow to the dealership ... Not what I want!

I saw a Tractor Time With Tim video where he had some kind of GPS steering assist to mow his yard ... To me that takes the fun out of mowing ... Mights well get a few robots like the Roomba vacuum cleaners ...

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Back to tractors ... Sorta!

I got home today, and got my binder for the WSM ... For some reason somewhere over the last 20 years they ran out of yellow paper, the one I found in the tractor has yellow pages for the safety area ...

 

[diesel85]

My 2002 BX2200 has only yellow safety pages in the OM. Always found that part interesting. LOL

 

[Shawn T. W.]

A couple of weeks ago I got a new top link, a hydraulic one! To go with the new quick hitch!

After lunch today I hooked up and greased the 5' brush hog again (still saving my pennies for a bigger mower!) then went out back again to cut the ragweed that had shot up, and the Broomsedge that was also going to be causing trouble shortly, I wanted to get that cut before they matured!

Wish the mower was wider, it's narrower than the tires!

The A/C was working fine, didn't need to use a mask like I did out front this morning with the Z-turn!

I'm amazed at how much more stable this is than my SCUT, it also seems to turn sharper, but that may be because it doesn't have a loader sticking way out front?

This one hill with my SCUT with loaded R4's I need to be in 4X4, rear axle locked to make it back up, and usually it's multiple tries! This Kubota pulled up out of here in 2 WD and I didn't need to lock the rear, nor spun a tire!

 

[Shawn T. W.]

it also seems to turn sharper, but that may be because it doesn't have a loader sticking way out front?

Since I'm a “Show-Me” the numbers kinda guy … I decided to just find out this morning!

These are my measurements …

Massey Ferguson GC 1725 MB
Front outside of tires 49” (1.3" wheel spacers)
Center of front axle to center of rear axle 55”
Turning radius, outside 211”

Kubota L5030
Front outside of tires 63”
Center of front axle to center of rear axle 76”
Turning radius, outside 258”

So it seems my perception was off, it does appear to me though that on the Kubota the tires turn sharper, but overall it takes more room to turn, as it's longer and wider …

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Just got home and eating lunch ... Then I gotta get it unloaded.

Hook it up and check the driveshaft length, and grease ... Then cut some grass!

 

[anomad]

Just got home and eating lunch ... Then I gotta get it unloaded.

View attachment 4146329

Hook it up and check the driveshaft length, and grease ... Then cut some grass!

You are going to like that. I have the 6 foot version.

Edit: when I got mine the caster wheels did not rotate or spin freely. I had to grease them within an inch of their lives and exercise them. After a few mowing sessions they freed up nicely.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

This is the commercial version it has swing away style blades similar to a brush hog stump jumper set up ... Three spindles.

The sales lady said the original owner traded it for a brush hog after only using it once, I said I wanted to see the underside before I drove 85 miles to see it ... Other than some missing paint, for a 2019 model, it looks pretty good ... Especially since the guy wanted a brush hog instead, I was worried he had taken on some big rocks and trees with it! He had it behind a JD 5055E.

It was a bit of a challenge getting it off the trailer, I decided to put my scale in the middle of it to see how much it weighed, brochure said 930 Lbs ... I forgot to switch it to pounds, so once I had the chains hooked up and turned it on to "tare", it was reading Kilograms ... I used a come along to pick it up off the trailer ... Scale read 501 KG! 1102 Lbs!

Then I drove the trailer out from under it!

I then had to get it on the ground, I got a step ladder, but it was hard to reach the come along ... So I stuck the forks of my SCUT under one side so it wouldn't swing around when I stepped on it!

As I was lowering it, I heard a strange noise, then saw that the carabineer on the scale was stretching! I quickly grabbed a small chain and bypassed the scale!

Once on the ground, I could see how much more it stretched until the chain tightened up, guess it didn't like me standing on it!

While checking the driveshaft for length, I noticed the u-joint had both a zerk fitting in the yoke, but also on one end cap, you can see both here, I had to go to town to get a PTO extension....

All 14 zerks fittings took a lot of grease, they had been greased before, and weren't dry, but they were hungry!

Check the gear box for oil, it was over full, so I drained it out ...

The belts look great, there are two of them that run side by side, so on a double pulley ...

I adjusted it to 5.5" cut, it goes to 6.5" cut, I did run it over my lawn, but since we haven't had much rain, there really wasn't much to see, will take it out on the field tomorrow to see how it does!

 

[Shawn T. W.]

I pinched my hand in the come along, surprised it doesn't look any worse this morning ... Good thing I had on leather gloves!

Just washed it, gonna go get it dusty once the dew burns off ...

 

[dicktill]

I pinched my hand in the come along, surprised it doesn't look any worse this morning ... Good thing I had on leather gloves!

View attachment 4154641


Just washed it, gonna go get it dusty once the dew burns off ...

View attachment 4154642

Ouch!

 

[Shawn T. W.]

I went out to the front field which use to be a hay field, I use to use my Z960M to mow it which has a 31 HP engine, and 60" deck, it usually takes me 2 - 2.25 hours to mow that 6 acres ...

The grass out front was quite thin, we were in a drought, but got some rain a few weeks ago, most of it was about 8" tall with a bunch of stems with fuzzy dead heads sticking up another 4"-5" in spots, I cut them all down to 5".

After getting the hang of it in a couple of laps, I bumped it up to maximum forward speed in medium range, 7.2 MPH! After about quarter of it was mowed, I was noticing pop-ups of the stalks, I slowed down to 6 MPH, and that took care of the problem.

All done in only 1.7 hours!

I then mowed the side and back bumpy rocky pasture ... The earlier today project of tree trimming seems to be OK!

Because this 90" deck is wider than my tires, it allows me to get closer to the creek!

Some of the places out back were thicker and higher than the front, 12"-13" tall, but still no sign of any clippings!

All done ... total front, side, and back in 4.8 hours ... 14 acres!

Looking the other way from up on the hill behind the clump of trees behind the tractor . . . The first line is the creek, the second line is my west perimeter fence.

To think back just a couple of years ago I bought this place and the pastures were a overgrown neglected mess, I tackled it with My Little Baby Fergie SCUT and a 4' brush hog which only really cut 44" minus any overlap ... Once cut down the first time, it still was a day and half project to cut it all ... And during the hot humid days, I would wrap a wet towel around my neck, and I'd last 1.5-2 hours all while drinking water ... Then go inside my A/C house and jump in a COLD Shower, and dry off in front of a fan ... No more! No more bugs, poison ivy, grass clippings/chaff/dust getting in my eyes/ears/nose, and down my shirt ... Overall I'm very happy with my new to me "Big Lawnmower "!

 

[number two]

That hand looks sore!
How's that going to work with the shift lever on the RoadRanger in the work truck?
Good Luck!

 

[Shawn T. W.]

New truck is a rotten 12 speed automatic! hand is actually doing much better today, probably 95% of use ...

I got to thinking last night just before falling asleep ... While I didn't spend nearly $20K on this "Big Lawnmower" to "save" money ... It does burn less fuel ...

I took a picture of my dash before I started mowing yesterday, and after, as my memory isn't the greatest to keep track of the hours ... But I thought, it also would show the fuel tank level ... Which I was purposely letting get "low" as when I bought the tractor it came with a full tank of fuel, and I added HotShots Diesel Extreme which is a fuel system cleaner, beside the regular dose of there EDT and a half dose of the LX4 ... I wanted to get that tank completely through, before adding more fuel ... Part way through the back pasture the fuel light came on, it was down to one bar, I made a couple more passes, then went up to the garage and added 5 gallons of fuel ...

The fuel tank holds 11.4 gallons, and each bar is an 1/8th of a tank, while I don't know how accurate it is, I didn't run out! (When visibly full, gauge reads "full")

Each bar, if accurate is equal to almost 1.5 gallons ... So I burned roughly 6.5 gallons to mow the whole 14 acres ... Pretty good for a 2.4 liter 4 cylinder 52 HP engine ... Considering the Kawasaki FX921V 31 HP at 999 cc in my Z-turn burns roughly 6 gallons of premium 91 octane 100% gas just to do the front 6 acres! The premium is higher cost per gallon than the off road red died diesel too!

Start.

Finished.