504

Well-known Member
I have a 5ft Woods finish mower with all 4 wheels on it. The question is how many horse power would it take to run it as a pull behind. I could put an offset hitch on it, 10ft at a time would speed up the lawn care this summer. I know I need to get a 3600 rpm motor to a 540pto speed. And as they say on the radio "what say you" :)
 
I just bought an older Bush Hog TH60 finish mower last weekend for use behind my Ferguson TO20. My neighbor down the road has a 5' Woods behind his TE20 that he seems to pull just fine and the guy I bought the mower from had been using it with some kind of little New Holland tractor he said was around 30hp. The Fergusons are, depending who you ask, rated in the neighborhood of 25hp. I wouldn't let the grass get too tall with that setup, but expect things would work out fine if you stay after it.
 
I'm guessing that the horsepower needed operate the mower would depend heavily on how you power the unit.

There are a number of pull behind mowers on the market. The 60" ones that I found seemed to use engines between 14.5 and 19 horsepower.

https://www.mowersdirect.com/lawn/60-inch-finish-mowers.html

The finish mower gearboxes speed up the PTO speed to the speed needed for the drive pulley in the mower. A parts diagram seems to show that the woods RM600 mower gearbox had a 1.76 to 1 ratio.

https://www.messicks.com/wo/94758

Other replacement gearboxes show 2.5 to 1 or 2.8 to 1 ratios.

https://www.brooksagparts.com/product-page/replacement-servis-rhino-finish-mower-gearbox-fits-br48-code-00763623

I'm guessing that you could save a lot horsepower by eliminating the gearbox (use some sort of jackshaft to transmit power from a pulley on the engine shaft to the drive pulley on the mower)
 
My worn out 8n pulls a 6' Landpride with no problem. I would think 18hp would be enough. Unless you have everything you need to do the project, it might be cheaper to sell the Woods and buy a used pull behind ready to go. Either way, you would have to make the offset hitch.
cvphoto6687.jpg
 
I should have been more clear,I will pull it with my garden tractor. It has a 60' belly mower,I want to add another 60" to the off set. My 22hp mower pulls the mower and a deck,I just need to power the woods.(pto for the JD is about $900.00 and then I would be way under powered.
 
3-5 hp per foot depending on what you are cutting. If you cut your lawn with say 1-2 inch of growth then 3 hp will do it. I run a 7 foot behind my Ford 3000 and that is over 5 hp per foot. More than enough power.
 

Sounds like you need to talk to the local hay guy about cutting it for hay. Or maybe plant Christmas trees.
 
Good question, I've wondered the same thing. Dad (deceased) used a Woods mower that mounted under a tractor but takes way too long to hook up and unhook and ties up the tractor so it's sitting unused. I think getting a big enough engine (new) and the work getting it mounted to work right makes the idea impractical.
 
Unless you already have the mowers or you can get engines for free, I would look into buying pull type mowers with their own engines.
 
Mowing HP needed is all about what you are cutting. If you cut the grass 3 times a week it won't take much HP. If you cut it 3 times a year, it will take a lot of HP. I finish mower sucks up HP because it is designed to do light clipping, not bush hogging.
 


Correct//!!

My JD 520 in 3rd gear, cutting 8" grass down to 2"... (cutting 6" of good thick waterway grasses) with my 72" 3-point Woods is a fair load//but I keep the blades sharp..

Any "Air-Cooled" engine under 20-25 HP will have serious trouble in my mowing...they do not have the Torque a tractor has..
 

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