rotary mower - rear or front discharge. What works best.

[Green Acres Homestead]

I am looking at purchasing a rotary cutter. I will be mostly mowing high grass about 23 acres so would like to drive forward. If the cut grass is shooting in front of the mower you would have to mow it again. Would that not make it harder and heavier to mow. Just a thought... Having said that would a rear discharge not be better in this case? Can anybody shed some light on this.

 

[TractorGuy]

Never heard of a front discharge mower. They only make side or rear as far as I know.

I did have a Craftsman zero turn that shot dirt out the front but it shouldn't have.

I prefer a rear discharge.

 

[jeff9366]

A Three Point Hitch mounted Rotary Cutter, with Bush Hog being the trademark of inventing company, is designed primarily for mowing fields.

A Kubota L4740 can power a 72" Rotary Cutter in grass to about 40" tall at five mph if the blades are sharp. May be a rough ride. Taller grass will require slower tractor speed.

General purpose Rotary Cutters are rear discharge.


Here is a mowing calculator: Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

 

[leonz]

It all depends on the cut you want to see after your done. if your mule is a hydro you are losing 9 horse power+ to the drive system if its a gear drive you will have plenty of power for a 5 foot rotary cutter. Your going to have a lot of dead mowed brush that will not break up until its brittle from the heat.

In saying that an 7 foot finish flail mower like the JD25A/JD290 will work for you mowing at a 6 inch height but keep in mind that you will have to drive slow with either type of mower mounted on the rear of your mule.The finish flail mower will shred up the mowed tall brush and clippings on the second pass and they will dissolve faster into the soil where the rotary cutter will not do that for you until the dead cut up brush is brittle but it will settle down into the sod and create a lot of dead grass and weeds in the plot you are mowing.

My father used his Ford Jubilee and a JD25A finish flail mower to knock down 15 foot goldenrod and other brush in 12 acres of pasture that he reclaimed and after that he mowed 4 acres every 2 weeks to keep it the way he wanted it.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

A Three Point Hitch mounted Rotary Cutter, with Bush Hog being the trademark of inventing company, is designed primarily for mowing fields.

A Kubota L4740 can power a 72" Rotary Cutter in grass to about 40" tall at five mph if the blades are sharp. May be a rough ride. Taller grass will require slower tractor speed.

General purpose Rotary Cutters are rear discharge.


Here is a mowing calculator: Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

Thanks. I have about 15 acres I have to mow. In places it is a bit ruff so 2 or 3 mph hour is all I will be traveling. Thanks for the info.

 

[LD1]

For slow going in a pasture, I wouldn't be afraid to try a 7' or 8' twin . But......they are alot more expensive and don't sound like a good move for your mowing.

6' would be perfect.

I cannot fathom why someone would be inclined to think that 5' mower would be a good match:laughing:

 

[4570Man]

For slow going in a pasture, I wouldn't be afraid to try a 7' or 8' twin . But......they are alot more expensive and don't sound like a good move for your mowing.

6' would be perfect.

I cannot fathom why someone would be inclined to think that 5' mower would be a good match:laughing:

I’d agree with the 8’ if price wasn’t too big of a setback. I’ve mowed a lot of grass with a 5’ cutter with a 25 hp tractor. It would be dumb to put it behind a nearly 50 hp tractor. On some occasions I have to slow down in heavy materials but usually rough ground is the limiting speed factor.

 

[RSKY]

I will repeat what I always say when somebody asks about mower size for a particular tractor. Wider and slower is better than narrower and faster. Your back and kidneys will thank you.

All rough cut mowers I have ever seen are designed to throw the cuttings out the back but any rotary mower will throw some of the cut grass out in front. That is just a result of having a rotary blade. Make sure you have the front of the mower lower that the back by a couple inches or you will end up cutting everything twice in one pass.

I just realized somebody suggested a 5' for a 47-hp tractor???????? I use a 5' behind my Kioti which is 22-hp.

A 47-hp should pull a ten footer with ease but with only 23 acres of grass to mow I would get a cheaper six footer. Most brands have a big jump in price between six foot and anything bigger. Why spend a large amount of money for something that will save you twenty or thirty minutes of time. Also don't let people tell you to get a heavy duty mower to mow grass. The heavy duty ones are designed to take 2" diameter trees in stride. With my light duty Howse five footer I can chop up anything my little tractor will push over.

RSKY

 

[4570Man]

It all depends on the cut you want to see after your done. if your mule is a hydro you are losing 9 horse power+ to the drive system if its a gear drive you will have plenty of power for a 5 foot rotary cutter. Your going to have a lot of dead mowed brush that will not break up until its brittle from the heat.

In saying that an 7 foot finish flail mower like the JD25A/JD290 will work for you mowing at a 6 inch height but keep in mind that you will have to drive slow with either type of mower mounted on the rear of your mule.The finish flail mower will shred up the mowed tall brush and clippings on the second pass and they will dissolve faster into the soil where the rotary cutter will not do that for you until the dead cut up brush is brittle but it will settle down into the sod and create a lot of dead grass and weeds in the plot you are mowing.

My father used his Ford Jubilee and a JD25A finish flail mower to knock down 15 foot goldenrod and other brush in 12 acres of pasture that he reclaimed and after that he mowed 4 acres every 2 weeks to keep it the way he wanted it.

I’d like to see the proof of that. Pulling a disk and using max engine hp available the HST might cost 20 percent. Driving around in a field doing very little work with the wheels I’d have to see proof to believe it.

 

[TractorGuy]

I am looking at purchasing a rotary cutter. I will be mostly mowing high grass about 23 acres so would like to drive forward. If the cut grass is shooting in front of the mower you would have to mow it again. Would that not make it harder and heavier to mow. Just a thought... Having said that would a rear discharge not be better in this case? Can anybody shed some light on this.

A lot depends on how high the grass will be, what quality cut you want, and how often you want to mow.

Your tractor should be able to pull a small batwing if you had one.

I have a small HST with 19 PTO HP. I can pull a 4' brush mower or a 6' finish mower with ease. Both of my mowers are rear discharge. Rear discharge is the only way to go IMO.