Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Should i buy a zero turn, a flail mower, or a finish mower

Any type of mower that hooks up to your 3 point hitch will skip areas like that.

The only way to avoid it if to get the zero turn mower, or get a drawbar hitch pulled mower.

But the drawbar hitch cutters make your tractor even longer than what you mentioned.

What are you doing to make a finish mower pop up in the air?If your hills are so steep and ground rough that a tractor isn't working a zero turn might not be the answer.

Bristoe is giving good advice.
The mower he is recommending, I don't know.
However, and this is important, components make a ZTR.
Not a brand name. They all use shelf engines and drives.
All they build is the frame and deck. And some, suspensions.

You want the 3100 transmissions, or, pump and motor.
Look into any engine you buy with regards to series.
Every manufacturer makes an engine you don't want.
Every one. (Except, maybe, Honda)

And if you are going to cut high weeds and grass, 23hp isn't enough.
It will got down. If you how it often, it will do fine.

Have a coworker that has a commercial mowing business on the side, I think he is running 3 new Deere's right now. Saturday, he found out they don't make very good boats. He was mowing (not his workers) at an apartment complex. Going up a 'hill' by their water feature pond. It shifted in some mud on a bump, slid down hill, said as soon as the tires hit water it started floating out to sea. Got it shut off before it sank. I've got a picture of him standing on the seat with only his head out of the water. Ran to Home Depot for some chains to pull it out. Haven't heard the prognosis on getting it dried out yet. Said it had 35 hours on it....

The very nature of how it's mounted in the rear causes that.

NO place is completely level.

As you go over the terrain, if the front of the tractor dips down, the rear, where the mower is hooked up will raise up.

Thus the advantage of the belly attachment mower on the front facing PTO. Turn that compact tractor into an over sized lawn mower/garden tractor.

Have you ever seen a slack chain used in place of the third link. That allows the back of the implement to float.

Or a hydraulic cylinder with the control set to float. My 3 point cement mixer uses a hydraulic 3'rd link.

There are different flail mowers.
One has a larger number of more delicate
blades for a finer cut, and one that has a
lesser number of more rugged heavier blades
to cut heavier brushy weeds and light brush.


I'll say here and I don't know the particulars
of the poster, that many people tend to try
and mow too fast. You don't get as good of
a cut and your mower/ tractor will bounce
around and not cut evenly or as well as it
would if one would drop down a gear and
back off the throttle a bit.
I have a neighbor that rushes through and
bounces his tractor and shredder all over
the place and has clumps sticking up here
and there all over where his machine was
slightly airborne

Hustler Super Z with a 60" deck (minimum) 66" or 72" preferably.

Next question.

I made the mistake of buying a flail mower . . . . . .once.

Never again.

I'm on my third season of mowing 4 acres with a residential grade, EZT transmission Hustler Raptor Limited. It takes about 4.5 hours to mow the whole place, but about a third of my yard is a zero turn obstacle course.

4 acres is pushing it for an EZT equipped residential grade mower. But it's held up well. It's got a 52" deck and the 23 HP Kawasaki motor. I'm content with its ability to mow 4 acres and I plan on keeping it going as long as possible.

There's not much on it that's expensive to replace other than the motor and the transmissions and I expect that one of the transmissions will die before the motor. A new transmission is about $600, so when one of those goes it'll be time to think about replacing it or the whole mower. It will depend on how many hours it has on it when a transmission goes.

Depending on how much rain we get, I'll have about 220-235 hours on it at the end of its 3rd season. If I can that much more out of it with nothing major going wrong with it, I'll call it good. In fact, if I get 6 seasons out of it I'll buy another just like it.

But 6 seasons is a pretty big "if". We'll see.

I have a 32HP Kubota loader series tractor with a bucket on the front, and a 72 inch woods 3 point finish mower. Since it is hyro transmission, it it easy to reverse and dilly around. I have 4 acres, and I get it done in 2 hours. I do hit things like trees and the shed if I am not careful. I think it is a good solution, and even if I hit the lotto I still like the idea of less equipment to maintain. If you let things sit, that leads to problems, so less is more
I do lust for a zero turn and have the money, but resist the urge.

Been using finish mover for over 20 years,gets the job done,then haul hay with tractor in winter time,switch to bushhog when need to mow pasture,,zero turn only can mow,and probley cost more then a tractor

Finish mower be best!

While having the zero turn is another motor to maintain, you don't have to monkey with anything like you might have to do with a tractor that is used for mulitiple purposes. Before I had my current combo of a a 45 hp tractor and a zero turn, I had a Kubota BX with a MM mower deck. It did a decent job of mowing, but it was a pain to take the mower deck off if I needed to so something back in the woods were I need the ground clearance.

I would go with the zero turn mower.

Used a regular for years and my back would really hurt and it took a long time because it was ruff.

Now with my Kubota mower it takes me about 35 minutes to mow the same places.

They cost more but the ones with a welded deck will last a long time.

No matter what brand you get make sure there is a good dealer that you can turn to if you have problems or need parts.

Id get a push mower and hire Renegade50's wife. Looks like she does a hell of a job.

Irving D: I don't care what anyone else says the huge John Deere "zero turn" extra wide deck with power clipping pick-up attachment was the best tool/implement I have ever invested in!
PERIOD!
Used it today in fact and only curse myself for not getting one earlier in my life (had it 2 1/2 seasons now!).
Buy American.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Off topic but funny - I bought a Craftsman pusher around 18 years ago for 199.00. Got it home, assumed it had oil, started it up and made about 2.5 passes and it stalled. No oil. Oops. Put oil in it, turned it a few times via the blade, pulled the rope and it started. Still using it and it starts on the first pull and no, ive never changed the oil.

Most of my customers are using higher end or commercial zero turn. The other option for a tow mower is a rough cut mower instead of a finish cut. An upper or top height adjusting position is your best bet unless you enjoy repairing your mower deck.