What mower would you buy for this?

[Harvster]

This is my back field. It is almost 2 acres and there is no brush, only grass and some weeds. It's a little bumpy but not to bad to travel over at slow-medium speed. I want to keep it cut fairly often so I was thinking finish mower. But, if it goes for a few weeks and the grass is a foot high or damp will a finish mower handle it? Finish mowers are also 50-100% more expensive than rotary cutters.

 

[Thomas]

If the grass grows that fast plus being damp plus weather which could cause you getting behind in mowing I would lean towards rotary cutter....but if you like the looks of carpet cut that's a different story....more clumps of grass double mowing) and seat time.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I cut about 7-1/2 acres of "grass" around my house. Most of it was hay field 2 years prior. It's not rough, but it's not finished lawn either. I cut it with a 6' Bush Hog (286) I keep the blades in decent shape. It doesn't give a golf course grade finish, but from the house, it looks mighty fine. I cut at approx. 3". For what you're looking at, a light duty mower would be MORE than enough. Just keep the blades touched up. (Maybe even slightly "sharper" than a bush hog blade would normally be sharpened)

 

[DMF]

I agree with Farmwithjunk. I use a rotary cutter for all my mowing except the "manicured" lawn directly around my house. With reasonably sharp blades the cut is fine.

 

[PBinWA]

You can get a pretty good cut with a rotary cutter. I had a cheapo Howse cutter before I got my used flail mower and with a good floating top link set up the rotary cutter did a great job.

I do notice that you are planting some trees. The one thing I hated about my rotary cutter was that it sticks way out the back and that big tail is hard to control when cutting around trees and fences. You can stick it under trees and even wag it around trees but sooner or later you will take something out with it. That is the only thing that bothered me about using my rotary cutter to mow with. I planted a lot of trees so I needed a shorter rear-end on my tractor.

 

[Soundguy]

My vote is also for a rotary cutter.. perhap s 4'

Soundguy

 

[Nuru]

I second the rotary cutter recommendation.

 

[Harvster]

Thanks everyone. I was leaning toward the rotary cutter and I guess I just needed a little push. The trees there are various fruit trees. 3 apple, 5 cherry, 2 pear, 1 nectarine, 2 peach, 1 plum, 1 apricot, and 3 fig trees were planted two weeks ago.

 

[Nuru]

Good luck on that project.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I'll be the contrarian and say that I wouldn't use a rotary cutter on a regular basis there, for safety reasons - they throw stuff farther and faster than anything else. If you get one anyway, you absolutely must get safety chains, and disengage the pto whenever a person or pet gets close.

The best option, IMHO, would be a flail mower - less tendency to throw stuff and a finer cut, but still able to tackle tall grass and brush. I don't know prices but I think they are $$$. I would be inclined to get a finish mower if the flail was too expensive. A sickle bar mower might be an option too, though they can also be expensive.

 

[bigdeer2000]

i think you should buy a good used finish mower and a good used rotary cutter, and see what works best. sell the one you don't want. only problem is you'll probably want to keep both.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Good advice here but don't discount that a good finish mower won't cut that area. I used a 5' LandPride for 14 years over rougher ground than that. Approximately 5 acres per week at 34 weeks per year. If I had to choose only one unit then yes I would get the rotary cutter.

 

[mjarrels]

I like flail mowers... sort of a cross between finish and rough cut. Only drawback is price.

mark

 

[IslandTractor]

I just when through the same decision for a similar plot of land. I got tired of having my rotary mower periodically and unpredicably gouge out chunks of sod so looked into finish and flail options. The cheapest decent flail I found was by Caroni (Italian, very good quality, medium to light duty) as 59" version is about $1580 shipped from Agri Supply in NC. The other option I looked at was a 60" decent quality rotary mower. New ones by Woods, Landpride and Rhino go for about $1800 this year.

I ended up winning an ebay auction for a 2-3 year old 60" Rhino FM60 for less than half the price of new and with shipping will end up costing me about $1100.

I was very tempted to get the flail.

 

[mx125]

I just when through the same decision for a similar plot of land. I got tired of having my rotary mower periodically and unpredicably gouge out chunks of sod so looked into finish and flail options. The cheapest decent flail I found was by Caroni (Italian, very good quality, medium to light duty) as 59" version is about $1580 shipped from Agri Supply in NC. The other option I looked at was a 60" decent quality rotary mower. New ones by Woods, Landpride and Rhino go for about $1800 this year.

I ended up winning an ebay auction for a 2-3 year old 60" Rhino FM60 for less than half the price of new and with shipping will end up costing me about $1100.

I was very tempted to get the flail.

Can I ask . .what is it about a lower quality rotary cutter that might hack the sod . . that a better quality one won't? I have some uneven fields I will be cutting when my tractor arrives, but wasn't aware some cutters would handle that better than others.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Can I ask . .what is it about a lower quality rotary cutter that might hack the sod . . that a better quality one won't? I have some uneven fields I will be cutting when my tractor arrives, but wasn't aware some cutters would handle that better than others.

FRom my experiences, it isn't so much price or "quality" as much as basic design that effects scalping or gouging. Shape and design of the skids play in to the issue. Also, a mower that extends beyond the wheels on each side will be proned to gouge on turns.

I've got a Woods BB840 that will gouge and scalp on the flattest of land, a Bush Hog 286 that NEVER gouges or scalps, and a Woods MD172 that tends to drag the tail wheel sideways on sharp turns. All three are what would be considered "better" mowers according to price.

In MOST cases, bush hogs aren't intended to cut much closer than 3" to 4" above the ground. Cutting closer is almost a guarantee you'll gouge the skids on turns with a lot of mowers.

 

[mx125]

That's interesting. I'm getting a JD LX5 and my tractor is approx 52" wide. I'll have to see how it makes out. Thanks!

 

[IslandTractor]

Can I ask . .what is it about a lower quality rotary cutter that might hack the sod . . that a better quality one won't? I have some uneven fields I will be cutting when my tractor arrives, but wasn't aware some cutters would handle that better than others.

Actually my rotary cutter is a good quality Bush Hog SQ480 but despite tightening up the check chains on the 3PT and even installing a second set of check chains directly to the mower, it manages to dig one of the forward shoulders into the turf periodically. Once it does that it plows and unless I am looking backwards all the time I can plow up 10-15 feet before I start to sense the extra drag. It is more likely to occur on turns and I should point out that the land is not exactly Kansas flat but the "plowing" occurs even on very flat areas.

I think the Bush Hog is great for rough cutting but I just haven't been able to control the gouging. Also, I wanted a wider mower to make things go faster and thought a 60" finish mower would be easier on my 21hp tractor than a 60" "bush hog". I toyed with the idea of getting a cheap rotary cutter like a KK and then adding extra stablizing wheels but in the end went with the used finish mower for this season. If it doesn't work out I'll sell it and go for the Caroni flail.

 

[zzvyb6]

I'd buy the biggest finish mower you can get home ( and i did). I run the exact same field conditions. I'm currently using a 72" mower sometimes and a 9ft haybine the rest of the time. Actually, you can raise up the ront of the finish deck if it bogs a little in the deep grass. The haybine can be set to disperse or to windrow. When I windrow, I bale it up 2 days later and sell it to the neighbors for their horses. It pays the taxes, fuel and keeps the field looking like a park. I originally started with a smaler mower but it took too much time, fuel and looked crappy afterwards. Also, instead of cutting in a rectangular path, I start out in the middle and cut in crop circle fashion. Looks great from the air and from Google Earth.

 

[keving]

I use a Woods RM990. It can cut a finish cut, wet or dry, and it's a rear discharge, no clogging. It has swing blades. Downside is HP requirement (40+) and cost, but worth it in my case.