What tractor do I need?

[bill allen]

I live on 10 acres and I keep the entire 10 mowed like a lawn. My wife and I have been doing it with two zero turn mowers but I think I would like to start doing it with a tractor which should be much faster and more comfortable. There are only a handful of trees so there is lots of room for turns and the areas around the house that we fertilize and water I would still continue to use the zero turns on. I am planning on pulling something along the lines of a 10'-14' finish mower. I also need a loader on occasion but 95% of the time the tractor will be used for mowing. I am not very familiar with many tractors but right now I am thinking either Kubota or John Deere and I plan to buy new. What horsepower tractor should I be looking at?

 

[Parkanzky]

My father-in-law pulls a mower that size with a ~90 HP tractor. You can probably get away with a bit less, but my motto is that it's better to have more than you want than less than you need!

 

[bill allen]

I think 90 is good advice but I don't want to go that big so what size would I need if I only go 10' on the mower? Currently, I am mowing the place with a 72" zero turn and it is a rough ride along with taking too long so I want to up the comfort and cutting width. Also, since i will be mainly mowing with this tractor so should I be looking at something with an HST transmission or something else?

 

[Wagtail]

If there's a golf course nearby (and there always seems to be) take a six-pack over to the groundskeeper and ask what he/she recommends.

 

[LD1]

I'd be looking for light + horsepower. Once you go over 50hp a lot of machines get really heavy. I don't think you need 90hp for a 10' mower. Something 50-60hp should pull a 10' mower. The jd4x20/series or the Kubota MX are both high HP for their weight and that's what I'd look at. But I have my doubt's that a 10' mower on a tractor will be much faster than a ztr. Unless you are mowing really slow with the ztr due to the rough ride.

 

[Cherokee140]

One thing to remember is (and this goes very true for your main application) is more is not better. More means more weight, and if you want that yard to still look like a yard a bigger and heavy tractor is going to want to sink in....tear up the grass on turns...bla bla bla.

I would second the suggestion on looking at golf courses....$5 says they are using a pull behind reel mower of some sort....they might even pull them on a ATV or side by side of some kind. I know that is what the local NFL team uses, as well as MU and KU....they all have these huge reel mowers, or at least they did.

If it is really a rough ride going faster might make the cut worse. In my case I can't mow as fast as I could because the ride is so rough....I am currently researching options....Ferris mowers, finish mower for one of the tractors, some kind of self powered mower for the side by side....I just don't know what I am going to do yet....but really not much of a rush....down pour again as I type....I might really need a boat before long.

 

[Wagtail]

Have you considered getting your 10 acres rolled? It'll cut down on the bouncing.

 

[Raincoast]

I agree with the previous post... A heavy tractor is likely to rip up your lawn & leave deep tire tracks. Especially when the ground is a bit wet. Even on the dry areas of our lower field, my 45 HP tractor leaves noticeable tracks. On the damp areas it sinks in 2 or 3 inches... In the WET areas, down to the axles is pretty common. 4 wheel drive & diff lock engaged to crawl out of the hole.
I've been wishing for a zero turn!

 

[StuartDK45SE]

I'd get a 50-60 hp and put a 90" Woods finish mower on it. It's not the 10' cutting swath you're wanting, but I bet you could run it at a pretty good clip (pardon the pun). After doing that with zero turns, I think you'll think you've died and gone to heaven.

 

[DK35vince]

My opinion, if the yard is that rough with a zero turn it is going to be just as rough mowing with a tractor.
Our ZTR w/72" deck will mow circles around our tractor w/84" finish mower . And the tractor is certainly no smoother in the ride. ( with flex forks, suspension seat and 8 PSI in the tires I think the zero turn rides better than the tractor)
Smooth up the yard.

 

[flusher]

Mowed like a lawn? Means different things to different people.

For example, I mowed 7 acres with my Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto) with a 6-ft Hawkline brush hog. No rocks in the field. Field is smooth after several years of discing and cultipacking. Just used my 4-1/2" angle grinder to put a sharp edge on the blades (similar to the edge on riding mower blades). Ran the mower with the rear angled about 2" higher than the front with front just touching ground. Result: 3" tall cut, which is what "lawn" means to me. Mower cost me $1150 new. Mowing: about a 3 hour job.

Good luck

 

[Trillium Farm]

DK35Vince what you said +10

 

[kebo]

My suggestion would be to talk to your nearest JD and Kubota dealers and see if one of them can work out a weekend rental of a used tractor in the 40-45 hp range along with a 90" finish mower. Then you could see how well that set up would work for you. If that's not possible, maybe hire someone with a set up that size to come in and do it for you one time. You could watch him cut and time it to see how long it would take with a tractor. That would at least give you a pretty good idea if going to a tractor would really gain you the time savings you are looking for.

Bear in mind that there are different ways to cut, and every tract/yard is different because of irregularities in overall shape, roughness, obstacles to mow around, hills, etc. so it might take cutting it a time or two to figure out the most efficient way to cut it with a wider mower than how you have been cutting it with your two ZTR's. Good luck.

 

[StuartDK45SE]

I have ten acres, most of it in jigs grass for hay. It it weren't in hay, I can't imagine mowing it with a zero turn, which I also have. Good advice to get it smoothed out somehow. After that, I'd still buy a 50-60 hp tractor with a big mower that I could pull really fast. When my neighbor comes up to cut our hayfield he's done in about an hour. Yes an hour. True, different type of mower and purpose but it can be done quickly.

 

[GManBart]

I ran a 90" finish mower behind my Massey (45hp PTO) and sold it because it wasn't really any faster than the ZTR around the house/yard/trees. It was faster for an open field, but I ordered an 87" flail mower for those duties....I'll be able to let it grow longer between cuts.

 

[bill allen]

This thread certainly has me rethinking my needs. I hadn't thought about how a heavy tractor might tear up the ground and mess things up when it is a bit wet, etc. Having something that would mess up the ground more than my ZTR would not be acceptable to me. My 10 acres isn't really that rough ( to clarify i wasn't referring to how rough my land is but how rough the ZTR ride is) but I would like to smooth the land out more if i could. Over time rain running down the slopes makes it more bumpy. I have never heard of "rolling" the land so i would like to know more about that. I currently have a Kubota ZD331 72" ZTR (1800 lbs) that works pretty well. My wife and I usually mow together so she gets that machine and I use a 48" gas Kubota ZTR which is handy for some areas but mostly just too small to mow with on 10 acres so I need to upgrade my 48" mower to something bigger. Maybe a much lighter and smaller tractor pulling a 72" finish mower? I would like to acquire a tractor for FEL work and maybe some light grading. Being able to also mow with it makes it more practical to fork out the money to acquire one.

My land is mostly open and is bermuda grass that I mow at 3 1/4". There are no rocks or really rough areas to mow. It currently takes the two of us about 4 hours or a little more to do all of the yard work including mowing. I would like to cut that time down if I can. As the summer drags on she sometimes doesn't help and it turns into a pretty big job for one guy.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Maybe a 58hp Kubota MX580 (if you don't want a cab) with turf tires and a 10' articulating finish mower? But that will still put ruts in moist soil.
I mow about 4acre and just switched from a 6' finish mower to a ZTR and can not believe how much better the cut is. Just my experience.
If your primary concern is cut quality and not tearing up the ground i would really look at some of the large articulated ZTRs. Hustler makes one called the Super 104. I'm sure there are others.
Then buy a smaller CUT for you loader work. Probably still come out ahead on cost and get better results.

 

[Wagtail]

I have never heard of "rolling" the land so i would like to know more about that.

G'day Bill. A roller is a 'barrel' shaped implement, typically water filled or made from concrete that compacts the ground.



This is the one that I have (above); it's water filled & has aerating spikes that are on removable bolt-on bands. It fits my Cat 1, 3 point hitch (3PH) that my 41hp tractor, with R4 tyres can handle. Other designs can simply be towed.

Ask around your neighbourhood to see if there's someone who's got one & would be willing to roll your acreage for a negotiated price... or add this type of implement to your wish-list of toys for the tractor you decide on getting.

 

[LD1]

Something that wont do any more damage than the ZTR limits you to a BX or B. And removing the loader when only mowing

 

[ishiboo]

I love the recommendations here sometimes. 90hp for a 10' finish mower? Having low ground pressure is important for a mower. A 90hp tractor is going to cause significant compaction, rutting in any moisture, etc. Forget about it.

I would check Craigslist. There are a lot of interesting mowers which pop up from time to time if you're willing to go used. Golf courses, parks, etc. all use larger mowers you could pick up for a few grand, which will mow better than a tractor and leave you plenty of money for one. Jacobson is a popular brand around here, there is a nice 11' here for sale. It uses 3 regular decks. You could also pick up a reel mower for a few grand (there's a 11.5' for $1150), but I don't know a lot about reel mowers.

A 72" ZTR is a really efficient mower... you're not going to come close to its speed with a 72" mower on a tractor, not a 80", and maybe barely a 90".