Finish Mower Selection ?

[George R. Hoelzeman]

For the usual reasons, I'm looking for a decent finish mower.

Tractor specs:

John Deere 2150, approx 45hp. Ag tires, loader on front end. The ag tires do leave some marks in the yard, but I'm not sure how much I am bothered by that. Moles, dogs, armadillos, etc. do worse (see below).

Lawn situation:

Several acres, not flat, partially terraced (old cotton field). Some sandy dirt areas and the occasional rock. This is very rural and Arkansas so no golf course manicured green this yard. I guess it would qualify as short cut weeds, wildflowers, former hay field, some bermuda. Dogs like to dig under the trees, moles and armadillos are regular disruptions of the smooth surface.

Yes, its rough, but once mowed (I keep it about 1 1/2" with a Massey Furgeson lawn tractor) it doesn't look too bad. The problem is that even with a 42" deck on the MFerg it takes a fair amount of time to cover the several acres. . .

Oh, did I mention, trees (at least on part)?

My thoughts:

84" deck finish mower on back of tractor. This would make short work of the hiking trail and ball field (flat patch in pasture). I also figure it would knock out the treeless part of the yard and finish up with the MFergi. . . and weed wacker.

Brands:

I've been very tempted by the low end Condi sold be AGRI Supply. Cheap enough. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions. . .

and warnings.

Thanks for anything.

George

 

[keh]

I have had a couple of finish mowers. Look for thickness of deck material. A light thin decked mower does not do too well IME. I reccomend a rear discharge mower, side discharge will leave windrows. The cheaper mowers don't seem to cut as fast as the better brands. When I went from a cheaper one to a better built one I could cut a gear faster. The JD tractor should have no trouble with the mower unless the mower is heavy enough to make the front end light, which I doubt.

KEH

 

[RobMD]

woods RM990 finish mower is a heavy duty 8 foot mower. It is a grat mower all on wheels, make sure the tires have ballast in them, or the mower will throw it everywhere. i think they have a 7 foot too

 

[Mike in Ohio]

As far as horsepower I have a 6' landpride finish mower we use a wd 45 and the tractor doesn't even know the mower is back there. The ca (28 hp I think) ran it all right but wanted to bog down a little on the hills, I think it is a little tired though.The landpride does a prettygood job. My lawn is one of our old hay fields and is pretty rough also. Good luck, Mike

 

[Anonymous-0]

HI George,

I run a RM990 Woods finish mower and would recommend it. It is a 90 inch rear discharge mower with six blades (3 spindles). I pull mine behind a 53 pto hp tractor and it does fine. This mower is a gearbox over belt drive. The belt is a double B, kevlar reinforced. I paid around $3k in 2000, so they have probably gone up since then, but if you want a well built unit, in my opinion, this is a good one.

-Vinnie

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have had a Farm King (Allied) 85" rear discharge for almost 10 years and it has been excellent. I run it with a JD2350 which loafs with it. Your 2150 will have no problems handling it.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I couldn't have said it better myself, Vinnie. I used an RM990 at my old job and that thing was a tank and laid the grass down ever so nicely. Start looking for a Woods.

 

[George R. Hoelzeman]

Holy shoot! $3K?

Going to be hard to justify that unless I can start renting it out. . . course, with fuel prices as they are it might pay for itself in a week.

Thanks for the information - now I know what to watch for in the want ads.

George