Go BottomFinish Mower Options for 9 Acres
 | Windknot
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2002-10-06 43463
I posted a similar query in the field mowing section, and thought that I should narrow the scope of my quesiton here as well.
I am going to start maintaining 9 acres of grass in an area of homes where "looks are VERY important" where we are finishing up building a home. (also considering buying the 10 acres next to us to ensure "buffer" between us and everyone else) Total of up to 19 acres of finished lawn.
My time is short and admittedly, mowing the lawn has never been high on my list of priorities, unfortunately Fair Wife has made it VERY clear that I SHALL maintain our lawn in excellent form. ANother consideration that is in the back of my mind is that Fair Wife has also indicated that she is expecting the tractor purchase to be something that she can drive (with proper instruction) for mowing and/or stable use. I figure that if she stays comfortable while mowing, the sooner she can get off, the sooner she will be willing to mow again!!!!!
From a time standpoint, it would seem that the larger the mower deck, the shorter the amount of time it should take to mow....for example, Progressive Turf Equipment's Pro-Flex (PF-120") Specifications says that their 10 foot finish mower can mow 2.2 acres/hr at 2 mph, 4.4 acres/hr at 4mph and 6.5 ac/hr @ 6mph. (http://www.progressiveturfequip.com/pfspec.html)
May I assume that if a 10 foot wide mower cuts 4.4 acres/hr at 4mph that a 5 foot wide mower will cut 2.2 acres/hr at 4mph?
I am currently considering purchasing a NH TC45D and a Landpride 11 foot gang/batwing mower. (2.68 ac/hr @ 2mph)
Is this overkill for 9 acres??? My NH dealer quoted me a price of $9300.00 for the Landpride AFM40 11' Mower, but methinks that a traditional 6 or 7 foot finish mower pricewise is much less. (But will I be happy, given the extra time on the job?)
(In the interest of the "WHOLE PICTURE" we are building a big-assed house, 8 stall horse barn and 60x120 indoor riding arena for the horses and the TC45 will be doing double duty with Front end loader as well as mowing)
What way should I go?
I know my questions are vague, and my prose is verbose, but any help, thoughts, or suggestions are openly welcomed
Sean aka Windknot
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 | Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 3034 Northern AL 
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2002-10-06 43465
WingKnut;
I am not sure I would want to maintain 19 acres in finish lawn conditions, but each to his own.
Some I guess to help we would need to know some things.
1) What is the terrain like?
2) How much of the area will be in pasture?
3) Do you plan to finish mow the pasture?
4) How do you plan to mow along the fence lines?
Peters
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| luoisz
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 3 poplarville ms
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2002-10-07 43482
19 acres is a lot of ground to mow with a small finishing mower. To travel at 4.5 mph is going to require a lot of mower overlap so as to not leave a strip of uncut grass. I am a stickler for a quality cut for my lawn as well. I have used a lot of tractors and cut a lot of grass in my day. If you do not enjoy tractor duties and want your wife to do the job I must recommend that you get cab & air in your new tractor. Heat and dust, the two most common inconviences of mowing are eliminated. Also mowing with a front end loader on the tractor is a real pain. Make sure your loader is one that is easily removed and reinstalled. One more tip: Price a John Deere tractor before you buy, nothing runs like a Deere and the resale is phenominal.
Jeff ....
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| Redman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 25 Iowa
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2002-10-07 43485
Like you, I have a wife with a 7 stall barn, indoor 60 x 150 arena and 7 acres of lawn with 30 acres of pasture that must be clipped very nicely and a wife who insists on a HST to do the barn chores. If you get the TC45D, then I suggest you consider the Land Pride FDR3590 (90") finish mower. It is built as solid as they come and gives a finish cut to lawn and pasture and certainly costs less than the batwing LP. We just leave the FEL on the tractor at all times, including mowing, and it poses no problem at all. Depending on where you are, the cab might not be needed. I suggest you just look at a canopy instead. Just my two cents worth based on my similar situation.
Redman ....
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| Windknot
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-10-11 43698
Thank you all for the replies so far...I'll try and answer your questions and respond with a few more of my own....
Peters:
I DONT want to maintain 19 acres....Fair Wife has an "estate" picture in her mind that I will be more than happy to oblige up until a certain point...The "Front 9" will have to have a quality finished look, the rest...well...it can look like a horse farm. As to the rest of your questions:
) What is the terrain like?
2) How much of the area will be in pasture?
3) Do you plan to finish mow the pasture?
4) How do you plan to mow along the fence lines?
Answers: 1. Terrain is completely FLAT. 2. Very little will be set aside for pasture, we will have one large paddock area for the beasties to run and may eventually set aside a small pasture area if Fair Wife decides to start breeding them (NO, NO, NO!!!!) 3. No, no finish mowing the pasture unless she decides to put it at the front of the property (No, NO, NO!!!!!) 4. I plan on using my existing 48" lawn tractor to do the fence lines, up near the house, pole barn and barns.
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| Windknot
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-10-11 43699
Jeff (Louisz)
Actually, the only concerns I had with Fair Wife using the machine was it simplicity and ease uf use and steering...the fewer the knobs/controls...the better it will be. Fair Wife is extremely intelligent, makes huge bucks, but cannot program a VCR or put a swingset together. (SOrry Honey) I think that a cab with air and heat would be cost prohibitive. The tractors that we are looking at all have Quick Disconnect loaders (I tried it, very quick and easy). As for Pricing the Greens, I've tried, but the area of Michigan where I live has just lost MANY Green dealers as they weren't making the grade in sales. Local sales and service is a big selling point for the mechanically disinclined such as myself.
WindKnot ....
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| Windknot
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-10-11 43700
Redman.....BROTHER!!!!!!
I feel your pain. I have a t-shirt that says "The Other Horse"
How long does it take you to mow your 7ac with a 90" finish mower? The canopy is the way we are going to go...if we need the machine to backup my truck for winter time plowing, she can get a little enclosure for the wind and the snow.
Thanks for your input,
Windknot ....
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| Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 3034 Northern AL
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2002-10-11 43718
Windnot;
I have 15 acres but keep most of it in horse pasture and only finish mow maybe 4 acres. I mow the pasture with a 7 ft rotory cutter Bush Hog and the front with a 5 ft finish mower. The 7 ft cutter has the dual wheels so it provides a decent cut. My fields are less than smooth so a finish mower would be stretching it a little.
If you want a good unit at a good price with cab I might look into the Kioti DK65. I think you can get one fully equipt for less than 25K, 28K with loader.
The NH TC45 is a good machine and the price is good. If you go with a larger mower you may need a little more PTO HP.
I have had a Land Pride and like my Bulher better, although I looked at the new ones. I might look into the gang mowers of Bulher, I would suspect they are less than 9K. ....
Link: Bulher
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| Redman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 25 Iowa
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2002-10-12 43729
Windknot,
It still takes a weekend to mow the entire area, but it does a great job. I have found one little accessory that the fair wife really likes. We have both outside and inside riding arenas, and the dirt really gets rutted up from the riding. So I found her a rotary arena groomer (Arena werks from Snodgrass manufacturing) and she just loves to run that thing. And it leaves the arenas in perfect groomed shape. I even used it to work up the lawn and sowed the grass right on top of it. Take care.
Redman ....
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| radman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 9 NE
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2002-10-12 43742
For 9 acres, consider a ZTR mower. 72" models are widely available. They are significantly faster and quicker than a similar sized compact with mower. I recently purchased a Toro Z Master 100 with 52" cut and 23hp motor for $5900. Had planned on getting a 84-100" mower with my Kubota 3710 but this is much faster. A TC45 may be hard on a lawn due to weight and turning especially if you want a manicured look. My ZTR can cut up to 9.5mph if the grass isn't to tall or the ground too rough. These are also great around fences, trees or other obstacles. I would imagine a 72" ZTR may take slightly longer than a 10" batwing mower to cover the same number of acres.(If you have or trees, shrubs, etc the ZTR is probably faster.) ZTR could also be used to pull a small cart, apply fertilizer. Look at all the commercial mower guys who swear by these things. A visit to Lawnsite.com maybe helpful. As them about a ZTR for 9 acres. Get the TC45 for the barn and heavy work. Use the ZTR for the mowing. ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2002-10-12 43749
We sell some 84" and 90" finish mowers that do a real nice job for around 3000. I would think that that might be a little less intimidating for the misses.
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| Pigpen
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5
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2002-10-13 43778
If you have wide open space you could buy a used Toro golf course mower 5-10k with a 25+ ft cut. I manicure 10 acres with TC33 60in mid mount mower + 2 Acre-Ease wing mowers 60in each for a 14ft cut. I drop off 1 or 2 wings as I get to the narrower parts(one hitch pin), and still have a mid deck as wide as my rear tires + supersteer to get the small stuff. I can get the wing right up to pasture fench and only weed wack 3-4X year in Penna. A 15ft batwing PTO weighs Tons and needs alot of pto Hp. I stopped mowing with my loader to keep speed up and not shake the heck out of the loader. I mow in HST II flat out(5-6mph).Will you buy turfs? TC45 with turfs will degrade the big work traction but without you will have to slow way down in your turns to keep from shredding. I cant say enough about my Wings- got commercial model about 2500. ea , yeah I know its another engine to maintain but they use commercial Kohlers, they have been flawless. I just add gas and clean the airfilters. Goodluck ....
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| tom21769
Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 10 Middletown, MD
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2005-06-13 112339
Have you considered turning part of your acreage into something
other than lawn grass? For example, you could put in a pond.
Our neighbors did this. They frequently throw "pond parties", which are a big hit. Or, you could convert some of your lawn into a meadow of warm-season tallgrass & flowers. Once the grass is established, it no longer needs frequent mowing. It also looks magnificent and makes great habitat for quail and other wildlife. You could plant a wood lot. If you're in farm country, you could grow hay and have a farmer bale it. Or fence it in and graze sheep or llamas. There are lots of interesting, more or less productive alternatives to lawn grasses. Maybe one of them would fit your neighborhood style and save a little on maintenance time.
....
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