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pull behind atv mowers

Started by Robert R, March 21, 2007, 06:48:40 PM

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Robert R

Anyone use one.  I was looking at a Swisher today.  A bit high price-wise, I thought but I think everything is.  This had a 60 inch cut and a 14.5 hp motor.  I need a new lawn mower.  Actually, I just need a lawn mower.  I have been using my sickle mower and the horses but I have to let it get a bit long before it cuts well and that shocks the grass to much.  It is starting to look pretty poor.  So I am thinking about getting one of these to pull with the horses.  How well do they work and most importantly, how often do they toss debris forwards!?!  I have looked into the gang reel mowers but have been told you have to have a really flat lawn and can't let the grass get very high or it mashes rather than cuts.  I am not real hung up on lawn maintenance so I know it would occassionally get to tall (like about every time).  My yard is really to big for a fat boy to use a push mower on and for the same money I could get a small rider, I can get one of these and keep the horses involved which means I am that much more likely to actually mow it.
chaplain robert
little farm/BIG GOD

PawNature

I have been looking at the pull behinds myself, but can't seem to make up my mind. Thought about getting some sheep or goats. but wife doesn't want the front yard fenced in.
GOVERMENT HAS WAY TO MUCH CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES!!!!

treebucker

Robert,
I remember the sickle bar mowers cutting very well indeed. When they didn't it was time to replace the plates in the guards (a.k.a. finger-plates). When these are worn, tough short grasses wouldn't cut cleanly.  Simply replacing the section knives wouldn't do the job. Also correct any verticle slop (play) you find in the bar.

You're right about the rotary mowers...they are a commitment.

I see the tow-behinds as being maintenance and cost intensive compared to sickle bar mowers. I also think you would lose the enjoyment factor when you hear the noise. But hey, it may be easier on you and you are worth more than your wallet.
Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and
I thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?!" - Anon

sawguy21

They work reasonably well, gives the owner an excuse to buy an ATV to tow it with when the household CFO balks :D but are not for everybody.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

mike_van

I worked at a lawnmower shop a loooooong time ago, we sharpened the gang reel mowers for the schools here. It was quite a job, they got mounted on a large bed to grind the knives, then had to be adjusted & lapped in to the bar. When done, they cut a strip of paper like a razor.  If you could find a place with the equipment to do them, the price would probably scare you away, it took quite a while for a set of 3.
I was the smartest 16 year old I ever knew.

Robert R

This one was labelled as a finish mower and had a wheel at all four corners.  They had some cheaper ones with only two wheels but I imagine they are a bit more prone to scalping.

I agree with the comments about the sickle mower.  Mine has all new blades and guards two years ago and it does cut really, really well.  In fact, I even had some "modern" neighbors stop and admire a couple acre hay patch down by the road cause they can't get theirs that clean and even with their disc mowers.  

Part of the problem with the horses is that to keep a hayfield from getting all squirrelly when cutting, I need them to make neat, sharp 90 degree turns at each corner.  It makes for better raking and baling cause the mower doesn't drag and bunch up hay.  In the yard, that isn't a big deal but I tried letting them get lazy on corners in the yard and they thought that should be ok everywhere.  I have a fairly big yard but certainly not hayfield size so those corners come often and quickly and I just wind up in their mouths more than I like.  I was thinking with one of these, I could let them make sloppy arcs that are easier on all involved.

I have been known to put electric fence around my yard and mow it with horses that way but I am also usually traffic breaking a young one at the same time.  The propane man gets mad having to climb under the fence with his big hose!  Sheep are great lawn mowers, I have used them too.  Goats aren't.  At least not until they have killed every bush and tree in the yard first.  I have even thought of training one of my horses to tying out on a picket line and moving them around throughout the day but we have to many free roaming dogs and I think that would be an invitation to disaster.

I'll probably wind up getting a push and sweating and whining and losing some much needed weight or hiring it out which is what I did a couple years ago but they wanted $75 a pop then and didn't do the trimming.  Twenty uses and the Swisher would be paid for but I am not sure that will be good enough reasoning to hold up in budget court.
chaplain robert
little farm/BIG GOD

Bro. Noble

We have an old 3pt. finish mower that we bought new about 30 years ago.  We mow three large, fairly rough yards with it.  With what it has saved in lawnmowers, it has paid for the tractor we use it on.  If it ever gives out,  I will replace it with a flail mower.  They are easier to maintain and do a better job.

What you really need if you can find one, Robert, is a horsedrawn flail mower.  A neighbor had one many years ago.  He used it to train new teams to harness.  If they got to thinking about running away, he would head for tall weeds :D :D   On short grass like a lawn,  it pulled fairly easy and did a good job.  Maybe your Amish friends could help you locate one.
milking and logging and sawing and milking

PineNut

When I built my house over 25 years ago, I kept plenty of shade around it. Grass doesn't grow too good under all the trees. My idea of mowing the lawn is to mow it once a year whether it needs it or not. I do trim a small area next to the house more often than that but most of it is on the once a year rotation.

Murf

We have one, it's a knock off of the Swisher, we use it at the airport for cutting places the big machine wont go.

For us it's a real time saver, the offset hitch means we can drive next to a plane, but the mower goes under the wing, nose or tail while the ATV stays back a safe distance.

It also means we can really move between sites since the ATV is a rocket compared to a lawn tractor.

In hindsight though, it's not as robust as I would like, nor as cheap to buy as it should be IMHO, and I've already started accumulating the necessary 'inventory' to fabricate my own to replace it. Some of the changes will be, bigger, pneumatic tires (the little hard ones beat the daylights out of it), a much more substantial frame, a hitch and a remote control panel that sits on the ATV handle bars, not the hitch, and finally, as Bro. Noble pointed out, it will be a flail not a rotary, the smaller the footprint the mower has, the better it can follow terrain changes too.
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

bottlefed89

So, what did you end up getting??

Robert R

Price-wise, I just couldn't get the pull behind but I did pony up for a self-propelled push mower.  It is a Toro.  Does a decent job and has a bag for catching clippings to use as garden mulch.  We will see how I feel about it when I am not wearing a stocking cap and winter coat to mow like I was yesterday!!
chaplain robert
little farm/BIG GOD

jbeat

Robert, You made the right decision. I've mowed for seven years with a Swisher like you were considering. I've seen rocks and sticks thrown from under all sides of the deck. Only if you were riding a sulky pulling the mower would it be reasonably safe. It would be extremely unsafe for you to walk behind the mower and have no protection for the horses to the front. The Swisher is a good machine but the Toro will do a better job. Good Luck
John B

bottlefed89

well, i was gonna offer to mow cheap for you in trade for being present while your doing some horse powered skidding.  If i remember, you live close to me??  I am in kingsville mo....

Robert R

That's me just down the highway.  I don't have a truck to haul to a skidding site right now and am not doing much with them.  If you have something your needing skidded and a truck with a gooseneck hitch, I'd be happy to come over and play!
chaplain robert
little farm/BIG GOD

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