My Big Lawn Mower!

[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.