Quickest way to mow 5 acres?

fpappal · May 6, 2019

I have been mowing a five acre field with a MF135 and a 6ft finish mower, takes me between 3 and 3.5 hours. It started out as a field I was just brush hogging a few times a year to one that is now a pretty nice looking lawn. I see the professionals are all using the zero turns and I was wondering how much time that would shave off my 3 hour mowing? The nice thing about the tractor is that you do not feel any bumps, pretty smooth ride. I have a zero turn (no suspension) to use around my house and every little bump just about knocks you out of the seat so I am mowing much slower than it technically can mow at. The six foot finish mower seems like a nice fit for my MF135, not sure if it could handle a larger mower. So what do you think? Would a zero turn with a suspension mow a somewhat bumpy 5 acre field faster than my tractor?

ericlb · May 6, 2019

no, on that 3 acres a zero turn would beat you to pieces, those machines can mow fast mechanically, but thats on a perfectly smooth lawn under ideal conditions, most people dont have anything close to that for a lawn, my ford jubilee runs a 6 foot finish mower with no problems at all, your 135 has around 10 hp more, so it should just play with it, now with a finish mower you cant let the grass get real tall, that will burn the belt off the mower, but it will make it look nicer than a brush hog, the only was to dramaticly speed the mowing up is to spend a lot and get a much larger tractor and a big mower , that's not worth it

ss55 · May 6, 2019

A 7 foot sickle mower would be a great match for your MF135, that combo should cut about 3 acres per hour. Cut it about monthly with the sickle mower. After the downed weeds and grass are dry follow it up with the rotary finish mower to shatter it all into small pieces. You should be able to mow much faster with the finish mower in dry cut grass than in wet tough grass.

Kid Shileen · May 6, 2019

Get someone else to do it.

warbaby · May 6, 2019

Quickest way to mow 5 acres?

Top gear & full throttle!

DR. EVIL · May 6, 2019

Quickest way to mow 5 acres is turn 6-8 sheep into the area.

rusty6 · May 6, 2019

Around here I'd just cut and bale it for feed. If not for myself there would be someone else looking for hay. But just to chop it up I'd stick with the tractor powered rough cut. Does a nice enough job and keeps the trees from coming back.

GordoSD · May 6, 2019

7 or 9 foot sickle mower.

Adirondack case guy · May 6, 2019

It's your money. If you like the area looking like lawn, swap off your present Z turn for a bigger Ferris with 4 wheel suspension and a 60 or 72" cutting deck. Real fast and nice ride.
Loren

Geo-TH,In · May 6, 2019

I know a few men who can't use a ZTR, back problems. They let their wife do the mowing.

I have to use a tractor. Even a riding mower kills my back. So when it comes to comfort vs a speedy,
I'll take comfort.

Also you are sitting on a tractor you are higher and farther away from all the crap a mower stirs up.

I know a person has converted part of his yard into a hay field. He documents that his yard is producing hay. He claims he gets a break on his property taxes. You may want to check into that. Find someone who wants make hay. It may be a win win.

showcrop · May 6, 2019

Krone Big M. It will keep you out of the sun, no need for ear protection, air conditioned comfort, filtered air, ultra smooth ride, adjust cut height on the fly, will take maybe ten minutes. Another choice is a Ferris with independent suspension at all four corners.

David G · May 6, 2019

I would put it in CRP and let the government pay me or put it in hay.

That is a big lawn.

johnofnewhaven · May 6, 2019

I run a 7 foot finish mower behind my 70 Ford 3000. The Ford 3000 and MF 135 are identical PTO horsepower I believe. So that is a little over 5hp per foot. If you are mowing not to tall "lawn" grass your MF 135 will handle a 7 foot finish mower just fine. My yard is 4 acres plus I mow a little bit of my back field with it. A big smooth rideing ZTR cost a lot of money plus I would rather drive a tractor. Also you can do so much more with the tractor.

Hobo,NC · May 6, 2019

I mow around 3.5 acres with a exmark lazer z 60 with a platform seat in about 1:40... Al-tho it looks great the yard is rough... I use to do it with a Gravely 260Z but it beat me to death I like the platform seat on the exmart..

Why I can get'er done so fast is I just about can mow it all in a circle....

oldtanker · May 6, 2019

On smooth ground I get the same mow time with a 48" Zero turn as I did with a 60" 3 point mount finish mower. That's pretty smooth ground. Were the time savings comes in is around obstacles. We have a lot of trees to mow around. So I'll take the Zero turn for my needs. Ruff ground? I'd go back to mowing with a tractor.

Rick

Case Nutty 1660 · May 7, 2019

5 acres does not even warm up my "mower" LOL seriously though I do mow 3-4 acres of grass around the buildings and use this to cut the 300-500 or so acres I cut every year for hay,, a zero turn will speed up your cutting chores sold lots of them up to a 72" liquid cooled Dixon ZTR's when they were still being made,,

Spook · May 7, 2019

Your wife would enjoy a zero turn....

BarnyardEngineering · May 7, 2019

Nothing that won't cost you a bunch of money... A big commercial zero turn (they make them up to 96" cut now) with a suspension will cost tens of thousands. You don't have enough power to go much wider with the finish mower, and when you get over 72" even they start getting expensive.

RobCons · May 7, 2019

You could change to a zero turn with a suspension seat and probably cut it quicker. Look at your travel pattern using your current set up. Depending on how the acreage is laid out I can cut 5 acres in 2.5 hours or so with a 6 foot cutter. Try to minimize circling in already cut grass.

kyhayman · May 7, 2019

Get a roughs and fairways mower... I use a Toro 580D, I see them used on ebay anywhere 5000 to 7000. 85 hp mitsubishi diesel, 14.5 foot cut, rated for 15 acres per hour if you can sit on it. I average about half that at comfortable (to me) mowing speed. Takes about 20 minutes to do the 3 acre front yard.

fpappal · May 7, 2019

Thanks for all the suggestions. Maybe my old tractor is not so bad after all. Some of you gave me a lot to think about though, maybe the wife would like a new mower for mother's day?

Texasmark1 · May 7, 2019

I bought a Ferris 61" ZT. Mows circles around anything else on the place if I keep the area mowed, keeping heights within reason. None of the wasted time in corners and row ends. I guess a MMM on a tractor would work pretty fast if a hydro since you could make fairly fast reversals with that too.

Goose · May 7, 2019

Yeah.

We have a couple of acres we used to mow along with our house yard. Now we just let it grow and let one of our neighbors cut it and bale it. He got 53 small square bales last fall. I probably ought to charge him, but he's a good neighbor.

Married2Allis · May 7, 2019

Woods RM990 is a great mower, almost 8 feet wide (93"). Mows as a finish mower or can use as a field mower (blades operate like a bush hog). You're MF135 would handle it fine, would just need to go slow in tall stuff. Mower hp range is 35-65hp. Great for when the grass gets ahead of you because of rain and you need a quick job or grass gets too high. I picked up one for $650 from a John Deere dealer and just needed a gearbox seal.

Quickest way to mow 5 acres?

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads