Best mower for 10 acres?

[MarkS 122]

Hello,

I am looking for a horse to mow a very huge yard. I think a 60" deck would be needed, but im not sure of any pros or cons to WH 60" decks? As far as a tractor for a 60' deck, I think I would have to be looking at either a 520-h or a D-1(60,80,200). Between the two of those, what would be the better tractor? Also, I'll take any general recommendations on the best possible mowing setup!

Thanks!

[Tractor boy 238]

Well the d would be more powerful while the 500 series would be the weaker option. The d’s are a pain to work on while the 500’s are fairly easy. I don’t think the 500’s have 3 points on them while the d’s do. Personally considering these factors I would choose the 500 series as I don’t need the 3 point and don’t really need the power. I also wouldn’t want to pay the extra dough for that. I would take the 500 for about 1000 dollars or less then add extra for any implements or extras. Also welcome to one of the best forums! -Tractorboy 

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,422]

10 acres! Neither. 

  Sounds like you need a good quality zero-turn.

  A 520H no matter the deck size is only going to be able to go 4ish miles per hour, you’ll be mowing foooorevvvver!

[WHX?? 46,637]

I would go with the 520 and a 60 incher although a 60  is a beast and have been known to rip 520 frames. I was going to suggest  that too @Sparky  but I'm tryin to keep the guy in Red! You could always get a Toro Z and put  decals on it!

[MarkS 122]

15 minutes ago, Sparky said:

10 acres! Neither. 

  Sounds like you need a good quality zero-turn.

  A 520H no matter the deck size is only going to be able to go 4ish miles per hour, you’ll be mowing foooorevvvver!

 

Does the D series go any faster than the 520?

[squonk 38,826]

Farmall Cub, A or Allis B or C with belly mowers.

[MarkS 122]

3 minutes ago, squonk said:

Farmall Cub, A or Allis B or C with belly mowers.

I honestly threw around that idea. They are nice machines, and you can find them at a pretty decent price. It just thought it would be awesome to have a WH with a 60" deck. It makes a good excuse for me! Haha

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,255]

4 minutes ago, squonk said:

Farmall Cub, A or Allis B or C with belly mowers.

 

Agreed...either one of those or a small tractor with a brush beater on the back...used to have a Ford 2n with a beater that I regularly mowed 11 acres with...worked great

[MAD MARK 74]

You can be a wheel horse fanboy all you want, but the answer to mow 10 acres will never be a Wheel Horse. 

 

Unless you're retired and that's all you want to do. 

[MarkS 122]

Okay, the 10 acre lawn for wheel horse is out of the question! I have a few different lawns I mow for people, it usually works out good where they buy me the tractor and I use it to mow for them there. Is 3-5 acres a reasonable amount to handle with a wheel horse?

[Cee245 753]

With the total amount of acres you need to mow, I don't think wheel horse is the best tractor for that. 

My brother has an Exmark commercial mower zero turn for his yard. Works great. I think Exmark is a Toro brand? So it's loosely related to wheelhorse. Hahaha

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

I mowed 2.5-3 acres with a 48" deck on my 520H for 15-17 out of the 20 years I have owned one, with a 60" deck I'm sure mowing would go faster than it did for me, but like others have said a ZTR would be the way to go for faster mowing of large tracts, I have moved on to a sub compact 4x4 with 60" deck and what used to take 3+ hrs now 1.5hr (lots of hills) and use the  for trimming close to the house ect, but a CUB LOW BOY would be a good option also, Jeff.

[Tractor boy 238]

I know the scag turf tiger or patriot is a very nice z turn. 

[lynnmor 6,762]

1 hour ago, MarkS said:

Okay, the 10 acre lawn for wheel horse is out of the question! I have a few different lawns I mow for people, it usually works out good where they buy me the tractor and I use it to mow for them there. Is 3-5 acres a reasonable amount to handle with a wheel horse?

That's what I am mowing with a 520H and a 60" deck.  I am actively seeking a good low hour zero turn.  If all the mowing were clear and straight, the zero would not have a great advantage.  I mowed this week with a disposable 42" Troy-Bilt, because of ignition module and relay socket failures, and with trimming it took me 7 hours which is more than twice as long.

[SPINJIM 1,978]

Zero turns are faster, not because they can move any faster than a 520H, but because the blades rotate almost three times as fast.  That allows the ZT mower to move faster over heavy grass.   If you go with a ZT, get a 'commercial' duty one to handle 10 acres.   The 'homeowner' ones won't hold up as long.

   Good luck,   Jim

[ronhatch 405]

Ford Golden Jubilee preferably with a 72" mower or maybe with a 5 gang reel mower. There was a gentleman farmer across the road from where I grew up in the 50's that had a beautiful massive,15 acre front yard. He pulled a 5 gang mower using a shorten  AA Ford  truck. Everything was removed from the cowling back except for a single seat which was located over the rear axle. Hopefully he had a seat belt because he had to be going 20 MPH with those reel mowers

Edited July 3, 2018 by ronhatch

[ebinmaine 62,902]

My first and biggest question is:

What is the terrain in this field??

 

Here in the Northeast there's a lot of very wavy bumpy land.

That would slow down Any machine.

I like the idea the older machines but the Commercial ZTR is likely your "fastest" way... Though not the way I'd go.

Gotta be a classic.

 

If the ground is reasonable... Gang setups work great.

12 - 15 foot wide cutting path.....

 

[Achto 26,458]

If you like the idea of mowing with a  I would suggest a 520HC and a 9'8" gang set up.

 

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_112395_112395?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Lawn %2B Garden > Lawn Mowers > Gang Reel Mowers&utm_campaign=Pro Mow&utm_content=250033&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoKitvN6C3AIVRYjVCh0h8Qh0EAQYAiABEgKYavD_BwE

 

I like the fact that the picture on their site shows it hooked to a  . Good call Northern Tool !!

 

[clueless 2,898]

Once you go ZT, you'll never go back .

[ebinmaine 62,902]

4 hours ago, clueless said:

Once you go ZT, you'll never go back .

Well, you really don't have to go back. You can just turn in really really small circles.

[CasualObserver 3,406]

 

14 hours ago, SPINJIM said:

Zero turns are faster, not because they can move any faster than a 520H, but because the blades rotate almost three times as fast.  That allows the ZT mower to move faster over heavy grass.   

 

Like the gang mowers above, a zero turn is built to mow... that's it's only real job. The blade speed on an average lawn mower is 3000-4000 fpm... whereas the blade speed on my Gravely zt is running around 17,000 fpm allowing me to mow as fast as I can move forward.  If you're mowing 10 acres... or even just 3-5 of the 10, I think I'd still look for a good Z. 

 

With that kind of ground to cover, you definitely want to look for a commercial grade unit. Homeowner grade models usually run about 7mph same as high gear on any garden tractor.... if you go up to a commercial unit you can get speeds in the 12-16mph range. My family has a commercial 60" Gravely at the Christmas tree farm and that baby mows about 8 acres of grass beautifully at 15 mph.. and with the suspension seat, the ride on that at 15 mph is better than my 7 mph on my homeowner Gravely model.

[Jrblanke 840]

I just sold a cub tractor for $2100 w/ a 60" woods belly mower. I was surprised at how cheap those things were. You can also raise ithe deck higher than a 520 would raise a deck, and even though its rated at 14Hp, there are 4 cylinders and has more gearing and torque. 

 

If you HAD to use a WH I think I would do some research on pull behind/wing mowers and then obviously you would want a 48"+ deck on the 520. To me, though 10 acres is a a lot of property to cut with something smaller than 60". I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend on the mower and how often you want to cut it. 

 

Here is a mowing calculator you can use. AT 4 mph and a 60" cut, you can do 2.18 acres per hour. S0 it would take you around 5 hours to cut not counting refuel time. 

 

https://www.landscapecalculator.com/calculators/mow

 

Interesting question to ponder! I've never had to think about this. 

[FatJackDurham 318]

If its flat, I agree with the zero turn.

 

I believe the old GT-14 is one of the faster models and it can have a 3-pt. 

 

When you say 60", I assume that means a tow behind? I didn't know they made a 60" that goes under the tractor, or if they do, it probably would crack the frame after a while.

[pfrederi 17,114]

This rig mows at least that and a lot of it is not very smooth i think a non commercial Z turn would beat you and itself to death on the areas I mow.  More importantly the tractor cost me 1200 the deck 1500.and i have been using her for 12-13 years now.

 

72 inch New Holland finish mower 1951 Case VAC rate at 21hp on the belt 19 drawbar.

[ebinmaine 62,902]

3 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

72 inch New Holland finish mower 1951 Case VAC

Yeah......