"You'll never regret going bigger" Does that apply to mowing?

[tgmind]

Hi All, Total noob here wanting to buy my first SCUT or CUT. As I read this forum (thanks for all the awesome info) I see this same statement over and over "You'll never regret going bigger". Please tell me if there are any downsides to going bigger as it pertains to mowing. I have a little over 2 acre lawn to mow. I'm leaning towards sub compact (eMax 25s, cs2510, 1025r) thinking the heavier tractors would cause depressions in the lawn. However I like the capability of something like CK2510 Kioti which has longer reach and 180 degree swing on backhoe vs 140 or 150 swing on any SCUT. I will mostly be using for mowing but want a loader and backhoe because why not have a loader and backhoe.

Thanks for any info.

 

[teg]

You will not see me saying bigger is better. Bigger is more expensive. There are reasons why smaller tractors are built, just have to know what their limitations are and see if they fit what YOU want from a tractor.

 

[riptides]

Your talking backhoe, loader and mowing? And the keyword "lawn". I'd say you are looking at two machines. A dedicated lawn mower and a dedicated tractor for FEL and hoe work. Your looking for a sweet spot for time and speed, ease of maneuvering and comfort.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Tractorable]

Personally, I would not want to mow the lawn with a loader and backhoe. Gets in the way and weighs too much. Get yourself a dedicated lawn mower or garden tractor and then the machine to do your loader work and back hoe'ing.

 

[oosik]

Like the man said - "you've got to know your limitations". I mow my lawns with a riding lawnmower - I do tractor work with my tractor.

 

[oldballs]

I could name at least a dozen reasons why my B2620 CUT is preferred over the BX SCUT at my 3 acre place. It mows the "lawn" and side fields to my satisfaction and does ground engaging work as well. No backhoe needed however. Ground clearance for work and maintenance are some of my favorite reasons. Turf tires are best for mowing, but my R4's work nearly as well for mowing. It's just enough "bigger" in dimensions to do what i want, but not a detriment to performance.

Welcome to TBN tgmind.....from Bucyrus....fellow Kansan.:welcome:

 

[EddieWalker]

I also have a riding law mower for mowing my yard and a tractor for mowing/bush hogging my pastures and trails. I have both a six foot rotary cutter for bush hogging the saplings and over grown areas, and a 7 foot finish mower for making certain areas look pretty. The finish mower gives me a lot nicer look then the rotary cutter, but the riding mower is night and day better at cutting the grass then the finish mower.

Other then just wanting a backhoe, what do you plan on using it for? It's an expensive on, and for what you can do with one on a compact tractor, it's not the best choice very many projects. For what it costs, you would be money and time ahead renting a mini excavator or trencher for specific jobs. You'll also find that a backhoe for a compact tractor takes up a lot of room when storing it. You do not want to keep it attached all the time, so finding a place to put it where you can get to it, and not have it in the way all the time also becomes an issue.

To address your original question, a five foot "60 inch" wide mower will scalp the ground every now and then if it's not perfectly flat. Bigger would cause more issues. 48 to 52 is probably the ideal size for most lawns to get the very best results. Smaller just takes longer to mow, but you will get a nicer looking lawn.

 

[Dadnatron]

My neighbor bought one of the Kubota Diesel Zero-turns and he loves it. He has just shy of 5 acres of "lawn" and cuts it every Sunday Morning. Takes him about 2 hours total. For only 2 acres primarily I would stick with a dedicated Lawn mower.

 

[CajunRider]

It depends largely on your needs. Years ago I came on to TBN and asked for advice. I only have 6.5 acre yard and was told that for such a small yard a SCUT would be fine. Since then I've discovered that my wet land and swamp grass rendered the SCUT ineffective. I borrowed a SCUT several time and had a hard time mowing. Going over a clump of wiregrass gave the SCUT fits and I got tired of mowing in first gear. So for my yard I wound up with a 45hp tractor and a rotary cutter with enough mass to not slow down too much when I'm going over the wire grass. For my yard the R4 tires works OK. To be honest, the grass cut is not as smooth, even with a flail mower but out here in the sticks, no body care so long as the grass is cut low enough so the skeeters won't hang around.

If you have a beautiful lawn then a larger tractor may not be what you want but the CK2510 is really not that big either. It it was me I'd go for it. My thinking is that if the CK2510 is too big for the area closest to the house, I'd get a small zero turn for the half acre around the flowers & bushes and what not and use the tractor for the rest of the yard. BTW, once I get my yard established with the trees I want, I will do exactly that.

 

[FatTire]

Other then just wanting a backhoe, what do you plan on using it for? It's an expensive on, and for what you can do with one on a compact tractor, it's not the best choice very many projects. For what it costs, you would be money and time ahead renting a mini excavator or trencher for specific jobs. You'll also find that a backhoe for a compact tractor takes up a lot of room when storing it. You do not want to keep it attached all the time, so finding a place to put it where you can get to it, and not have it in the way all the time also becomes an issue.

The storage issue isn't trivial. We have 40 acres, half meadow and half forest. You'd think that'd be enough space to store everything, but we don't want a bunch of stuff out in the meadow, and it isn't feasible to put stuff back in the trees, so we have 3 trailers, dirt and snow blades, wood chipper, wood splitter, forks, backhoe, etc all get stored right along the edge of the trees. And you don't want to move the backhoe once you've dropped it somewhere.

Agreed that you should think carefully about buying a BH for a small tractor. We wouldn't want to be without ours, but it seems most people would do well renting a mini-ex once in a while, especially if you can transport it yourself.