what size drum mower

[mike peyerl]

I am looking to buy a drum mower to run behind my Kubota l3130 tractor it is a shuttle shift with 28 hp to the pto, it is what i would consider a very large frame tractor for the amount of hp it has, as far as weight i use a 7ft land plane behind it and it works well little slow up the hill but plenty of ability to lift it. looks like recomendations would be for a 5 ft but i would rather go slower in my rough field with a larger mower than go fast with a small one and get bounced all around does anyone have a similar size tractor that they use a drum mower with

 

[super55]

I have a john deere 4310 32 hp power reverser gear trans and I run a tar river 165 drum mower which is (5'5") cutting width. The PTO hp could easily handle a larger mower because once you get the mower spinning it has so much inertia in the drums it doesn't take much to keep it going.

The big thing is the weight. In transport the mower sticks out a mile behind the 3 point. You get one with hydraulic lift and then it is lateral unstableness. For me the 165 is about all my tractor will handle. Without the bucket attached it will lift the front wheels if I hit a bump in transport position.

I typically can cut about 4-5 acres in about 1.5 hours. Grass height and density doesn't really seem to be an issue. Only downside about them is that they do cut the grass short.

 

[mike peyerl]

I have a john deere 4310 32 hp power reverser gear trans and I run a tar river 165 drum mower which is (5'5") cutting width. The PTO hp could easily handle a larger mower because once you get the mower spinning it has so much inertia in the drums it doesn't take much to keep it going.

The big thing is the weight. In transport the mower sticks out a mile behind the 3 point. You get one with hydraulic lift and then it is lateral unstableness. For me the 165 is about all my tractor will handle. Without the bucket attached it will lift the front wheels if I hit a bump in transport position.

I typically can cut about 4-5 acres in about 1.5 hours. Grass height and density doesn't really seem to be an issue. Only downside about them is that they do cut the grass short.

Thanks for the input I will update next summer with how it works I'm pretty sure I will get the 165 but tempted to go with the 185 and a bunch of suitcases weights or leave my loader on. Also the mower I am looking at has a shim kit available to raise cutting height up a couple inches

 

[super55]

You are definitely going to want to do a shim kit or something to raise the deck a little bit. Without it you might get a 2" cut. To raise mine I went ordered a raising kit from Tractor Tools Direct which is a bottom add-on pan. It didn't fit my brand but with a little drilling and welding I was able to make it work. One other thing that is really nice to have is a hydraulic top link for the 3 point. You can adjust cut height by the angle you run it and it makes it way easier to move it from cut to transport position.