What’s the recommendations for a mower/tractor for an acre and a half “pasture”? The ground and grass isn’t quite up to a manicured law standard…a little rougher than that but not bad. A few trees, a mild slope, less than 2′ in 50′.
Brands? HP? Size?
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Replies
If you are planning on going all the way up to a small tractor, http://tractorbynet.com/forums/ is a great place for information.
I have a little 4wd kubota with a brush hog. It is in no way a lawn mower. It will rip and chop most anything out of its path but the finished surface is pretty rough.
It is worth deciding if you want to just chop down tall grass to eliminate seeds/fire danger/etc or do you want a nice cosmetic effect.
I would stay away from a tractor if you want cosmetics.
Consumer reports just rated "lawn tractors"
Good luck,
Karl
Back in my old days when I had the big lot, I had a 5' PTO driven flail mower on my Kubota. That got it done fast while looking closer to being manicured.
I can knock out a couple acres of tall grass in a couple of hours with my DR...all it really is is a walk-behind brush hog.
But I've had it for 6 years now....no problems. Much less expensive than a tractor, plus you can work some really steep terrain.
Cloud,
I mow two acres at my house and it's a PITA,definitely something I didn't anticipate when I bought.I realized it was a lot more lawn than our previous home so I bought the biggest garden tractor (beefier than lawn tractors) that Lowe's sells,a 24 HP,46" cut Troy Bilt ($2500).When I was looking at them at the store a stranger came up to me,an older guy who had the millwright/mechanic look,and said " Son,go to a tractor dealer and buy a REAL tractor." He was right.For one thing they are slowwwww.It takes 4 hours to do my 2 acres.That adds up to a LOT of time over a season.My neighbor has a zippy little ZTR mower that flys compared to mine.I have a lot of trees so the first fall we were here I bought a nice Trac-Vac.When I use it while mowing the grass or fill it with leaves my tractor is really straining to pull it.
If you have the money(>$12,000),which I really didn't at the time,the best move is to get a Kubota or New Holland liquid cooled tractor that can really do work.If you don't want a brush hog finish you could get a 60" mid or rear PTO driven mower.All the things if you like to work outside then are available to you with the three pt.hitch:tiller,front end loader,auger,back hoe,etc.Go to EBay and watch the tractor sales for an idea of what they come with and sell for.
When I pay this house off in a few more years a real tractor is the first thing I'm getting.
Just my two cents.
Barry
If you get a tractor, obviously it should be a Massey Ferguson. (-:
I guess I'd want to know what else you want to do with whatever you buy.
Like if you got a compact tractor, you can get all sorts of attachments. Everything from plows to landscape rakes, to blade for plowing snow. And obviously a 5' mower for mowing grass, weeds, and small trees.
I'm thinking compact tractors start at around $12,000 or so. Obviously a big outlay for just mowing. But offers a lot of options for other stuff.
The ZTR mowers that have been mentioned are great for mowing, but can't do anything else. And they're pricey - I think they start at around $7,500 new?
You can probably get a high quality 12 HP riding mower for something like 3,500 or so. With a 52" deck, you could cover a lot of ground fairly quickly. You can also get small attachments for plowing snow, or pull a garden cart around. But not much serious stuff.
If it's just rough grass, and doesn't need mowed every week, have you thought about hiring it done? I go out with my tractor and mower and mow 5 or 6 times a year and mow places like you mentioned. It's cheaper for me to mow for the folks I mow for - They can pay me $300 a year to mow a lot cheaper than they can buy and maintain equipment.
All very good points.Thanks, Ron and others.
Then there is always the 2-wheel option. In Italy this IS a tractor, with their narrow, steep terraced farmland. Till the ground, mow the weeds, spray the crops, then hook up the cart and drive into town to the farmer's market with your produce. I had a BCS 8 HP and the only issue was the motor - Acme made in Italy. Now they come with Briggs, Honda or Kohler, which solves that little problem.
I had a sickle bar cutter and mowed hill sides I'd never take a tractor on - easily 30 degree slopes. It could cut saplings up to around 1½", including black locust, without evening slowing down. Used the tiller to turn some nasty worn-out tobacco land into the richest garden soil, in a couple of years.
http://www.earthtoolsbcs.com/index.html
Cloud,
If you want to do more than just mow, you might also check out http://www.power-trac.com . All wheel hydraulic drive articulating tractors with *very* quick attach front mounted implements. Once you add a few attachments, like mowers, loader buckets, etc., you get a lot of bang for your buck.
They're derived from and built alongside mining machinery in Tazewell, VA. Really more like a miniature Michigan loader/tool carrier than an ag tractor. Built pretty much like a small tank, both in construction and level of finish. There's no plastic or sheet metal - they're welded up from plate steel. Everything is hydraulic.
They offer 40+ proprietary implements, or they will happily sell you attachment plates so you can make or adapt your own.
I've got a PT-425 and I don't think there's a machine on the market that would be better for my purposes here in the rocky hills of SW VA. It's much safer on slopes and has a tighter turning radius than a standard compact tractor (or an ATV, for that matter). It has a lot more lift capacity than anything else I've seen in it's price range.
OTOH, there are NO dealers. They are best for people who like to work on their own machinery, or at least have a reliable hydraulic shop nearby. The manufacturer will overnight parts & talk you through repairs on the phone, or you can get it back to the factory and let them fix it. (To be fair, the machines are pretty much brutally simple and easy to work on. They are also NOT fragile).
Also, they won't pull a plow as well as an ag tractor, using standard 3 pt attachments requires creative adaptation, and they look funny.
Dave
Look at Northern Equipment's web site for a trail mower. It's a self-powered pull behind you can pull with a 4-wheeler.
I can see Andy on one right now! You, well, I don't know what you look like.
People's dreams are made out of what they do all day. The same way a dog that runs rabbits will dream of rabbits. It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.
- Barbara Kingsolver
One more thought - Whatever you buy, make sure you can get parts and service locally. It really stinks having to drive a long ways to get parts for something that's broken down when you have a job half finished..BTW - Did you go to that baptism for your neighbors ???(-:
If you don’t think every day is a good day, just try missing one.
Ron
I'm scoring me a ride on in the next week or two.
Whatya think of Troy-bilt?
I gots me about 2 acres or less to mow. Need to plow snow in the winter as well.
The one I'm lookin' at is 18.5 HP for about $1300 (no plow on it )
Troy-bilt J609g
Thanks
BE well
a...The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
I don't have any experience with Troy-built. Maybe someone else will chime in who has.But as always - Make sure you have dealer support if ya buy it.
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy [Norman Schwartzkopf]
Andy-
I think that model number is one of the OLD troy built units which were nice machines. You have to be careful with those Troy Builts as MTD bought them out a few years ago. MTD also owns CUb Cadet, White, Bolens, and makes lots of store brands. There is nothing inherently wrong with MTD machines (I own several), but the new ones that MTD builds are not anything at all like the old ones that TROY BILT used to build. If it was made prior to 2000 or so, it's one of the older ones and a nice heavy unit.
Cloud- for just mowing and some light blade work, a GARDEN tractor (NOT a yard tractor or lawn tractor) is what you need. A ZTR is fast for mowing, but it mows only. A GARDEN tractor will take a tiller, blade, snowblower, . . . . Look at the JD GT series and LX series or the Cub Cadet 2000 series or the Simplicity broadmoor. Stay away from anything <$3000. Like tools, this is an area where you gets what ya pay for. I personally LOVE Cub Cadet and wouldn't own a green machine. I think Deere is overpriced compared to the competition. (the competitiion being Cub Cadet, Simplicity, Kubota, husqvarna). You've got to go out and see them, work on deals and see what's best for you. Be careful though, attachements for these little tractors are MUCHO expensive and proprietary. If you're going to get too many attachements, move on up to a compact or subcompact real tractor that will take generic (and CHEAPER) category 1 implements for the 3 point hitch. Bottom line- its all good, JD, Cub, Simplicity, Kubota, and will all serve you well. A lot of the choice is brand loyalty and dealer support. A machine is no good to you if you cannot get dealer support. And please whatever you do, DO NOT buy a Deere from HD or a cub from Lowes. Go to a dealer. But I think I'm prachng to the choir on that one.
Don't be afraid to look at used either. The gas engines in these things will easily go 1000-1500 hours with proper maintenance. I've got a used cub cadet with 48" deck, 16HP twin cylinder, Hydrualic implement lift and a snow blade and I've got $2700 in it./ To replace it all new from any brand would be $5500 minimum. Deere holds value INCREDIBLY well- as it should- solid equipment with a great reputation and great dealer support. I like Cub Cadet, the old stuff is super heavy duty and can be found for a song a lot of times. Parts still available for most anything. Good dealer network in my area. A lot Depends on your mechanical ability. Definitley go with Hydrostatic transmission and large deck. All the big guys have websites where you can look and get specs and MSRP.
Give me a holler with questions, I am addicted to these little machines.
Andy, I'd be askin' here as well.http://www.tractorbynet.com/ (You'll have to register. No biggie.)I've heard Troy-Bilt ain't all it once was. P-poor service for one. Maybe, maybe not. Don't know.Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Edited 4/26/2005 10:30 pm ET by GOLDHILLER
I have the 420 with a 60 " deck for home and a 430 diesel with a 60" deck for the farm . I got a used 850 with a 72" mid mount that cuts grass at six mph .
shaved a half hour off my mowing time . If it was a hydro I think it would save an hour. Get a mower with 20+ hp and a deep mower deck . Deep deck =speed. I use green and yellow mowers ,keep my red and silver parked.
Gold
DW looked it up in Consumer Reports and they said there were no complaints about the Troy-bilt for whatever thats worth.Be well
a...The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
Cloud: I have a 18hp liquid cooled 48" John Deere for mowing 3 acres with lots of trees. The bumps need to be flattened first or you will hit them with the mower. I level my yard where i drive across the lawn in the spring by using a piece of h beam about 4' long towed by my lawn tractor. Every second week i weed whack around the trees & it takes about 1 1/2 hours to do each.
How about a couple of goats, a bag of corn and a deep freeze? Before dad bought the farm he had a smaller place with a big mower with a pull behind seat. After he started raising cattle he said that dealing with the mower was dumb.
I bought a Husquvarna 25 hp, 48 inch last year to mow three acres. I have some pretty steep hills, and it won't cover one particularly steep area, but it does well on the rest of it. Biggest drawback on hills is two wheel drive setup without a limited slip differential. End up rocking back on forth to put my weight over the spinning wheel.
I mow the yard part weekly, one acre or so with the house and driveway, takes about a 45 minutes. Every second or third week I mow the "field" part, takes about two hours.
It's not a tractor, but it does good enough for not paying tractor prices.
This mower replaced a Wally World special that came with the house, a 14 hp/40 inch mower. Took me almost six hours to do three acres. I would recommend at least 20 hp/45", and as other have said, you can get it done much faster with a bigger tractor. But you pay more.
I used to sell lawn and garden equipment (Cub Cated and Kubota). If you don't need to use any other attachements, like loaders, plows, blades, or need to tow heavy trailers... a small tractor is way more than you need. If you just need to mow ALOT of grass in a short time, I'd recommend the pairing of a small garden tractor with an Acre Ease wing mower. This mower is self powered, and all you have to do is pull it around with something. When you attach it to a regular mower, it augments that mowers cutting swath. So instead of 48" cut per pass, you have 102" or 8'6" per pass. The wing mower is designed in such a way that it actually angles forward a bit, so the corner is easily viewed while you mow. You can place that corner at the edge of an obsticle, like a tree or fence or rock, and easily trim right up to the edge... if you get too close, the mower just slides around it due to the caster wheels on the front. It's hard to describe without actually seeing it. This product is better with trees than a ZTM, in my opinion.
Odd but nice feature, you can stagger multiple decks in a line. We once used a 12.5HP Belt driven lawn tractor to pull three of them - two on one side and one on the other. Those things pull so easy (one finger around the hitch pin pulled it through grass) that a litter mower handled them easily.
The place I worked at was only a few miles from where they are made, so I got to meet Mr. Kunz a few times. He was VERY customer friendly, and very keen on improving his product. This is one product that to this day, I cannot rave enough about.
This article, while being ATV oritnted, really shows off the capabilities of this product:
http://www.atvillustrated.com/industry_news/press_releases/kunz_engineering/acrease.html
CONTACT INFORMATION
For further information, contact Kunz Engineering Inc., 2100 Welland Rd., Mendota, IL 61342; 815/539-6954
Specs of the Rough Cut 57" (Rear Discharge) MR55K Model
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I've seen those mowers, but never had a chance to try them. Looks like they'd be real handy. At one point in time, I had a "redneck rig" of a riding mower with 2 push mowers pulled behind it and off to the side. Worked pretty slick most of the time. I could mow a 60" swath, but only had $15 invested in the setup. Trouble was, it was harder to keep 3 engines running. Just more stuff to maintain.
Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in [Napoleon]
I hate to rile up BH but my GREEN JD 425 has made me a believer. 20HP 54" deck, depending on your ground, it will mow almost anything. If all you need is to mow the grass, don't get more than you need. If you intend to till, plow your neighbor's drive (G,D,R), or other jobs too, then the tractors that others mentioned are the way to go.
Little brother just got a Toro zero radius mower, the one with the handlebars, he loves it and says its faster than my Deere. He used the Deere for 2 seasons and almost got one. Just one more option to consider.
Lefty - Lurker without an attitude or a clue
You're one SICK puppy, ya know that ???
Can you believe Monica is now 28 years old?
Seems like just yesterday she was crawling around the White House on her hands and knees.
I have really been rethinking the 'tractor' type lawn mower idea. I am just about ready to buy another mower and have been looking around also.
Right now I am leaning more toward the ZTR type mowers. Probably a commercial grade because they say the manuf. can increase the blade speed on the commercial models which will let you cut quicker and the ZTR design lets you turn quicker. They also have a faster ground speed.
So, if you are just mowing a large area and want it to look better than a bush hog would then that might be the right way to go. Just MHO.
My problem is that I have several places I mow and need something big but also something easy to trailer and load/unload.
Cub Cadet has a commercial model where the mower deck folds up and will allow it to go thru a gate or load into a small trailer. Really pretty neat the way it works. But it's right at 5G's. Little too commercial for my needs.
"Tell me again, Mr. Ledbetter. What's a Mississippi Flush and how's it beat this hand?
It's a small revolver and any five cards."
i've got a $3000. ztr 20hp.it will mow my 1.5 acre yard [decent grass lots of trees 45 minutes. plus you will have to fight the dw to mow. larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Sorry Boss. I almost got kicked out of the family when I got the green lawn tractor. The family farm has 4 blue tractors, 2 red tractors, and 1 prussian orange shed ornament. They are for the real work. Dad still keeps a couple Snappers around for his mowing. <g>
Lefty - Lurker without an attitude or a clue