Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: A12]
#2915043
04/26/21 08:40 AM
04/26/21 08:40 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,721 North Dakota
6PakBee
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I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,721
North Dakota
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Four acres? If you are looking to save time you may want to consider a flail mower rather than a finishing mower. Not as nice a job but way faster.
"We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended".
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Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: tboomer]
#2915076
04/26/21 09:46 AM
04/26/21 09:46 AM
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RWG75
Unregistered
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RWG75
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Haven't looked lately but I think the only option is Swisher. They've been building them for decades. When I was shopping for one, I went with Craftsman (built by Ag-Fab). While spell checking Swisher I noticed they seem to be still making a nearly identical deck. The deciding factor for me was tow hitch config and overall width. I needed to be able to fit it through a 6' double door and adjust the offset on the fly. I'm running (2) identical decks behind my garden tractor, both 44", 8hp B/S, manual start, manual clutch.
They both have always started 1st or 2nd pull so no real upside to keeping 2 more batteries charged over the winter. Generally get about 10 yrs out of the drive belt and last one that died early was when I failed to lube up the linkages and one bent while being clutched in. The biggest hassle I've had with them is the safety interlocks. Mostly the switch inside the deck housing to detect when the blades are engaged. Eventually I ripped all that noise out and rewired it with a simple kill switch.
I built a custom hitch adapter for the garden tractor so I could run them side by side. Later added a hitch point for the sweeper. Took me way too many years to realize that I could use that method to run them both kicked off to the same side and make the steep side of the sand mound a lot easier. It takes me 2 hrs flat to gas em up, roll em out, cut 4 acres and put the whole train back in the basement.
New in the box today they go about $2-4k each. If you're up for some redneck engineering, surf you tube. There's more than a few videos about hooking up a gang of left for dead push mowers the same way. Some other posts about recycling sickle mowers in to big gangs like they use on golf courses. One pic below is one pass with the 50" tractor, the other is one pass with the 130" gang. I overlap them a couple inches because the down hill one will track away from tractor when going across slopes.
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Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: A12]
#2915531
04/27/21 07:35 AM
04/27/21 07:35 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,027 MN
JERICOGTX
I Live Here
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I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,027
MN
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Just a small part of what needs mowed twice a week........if I miss a mowing I need to borrow a combine to catch back up as the little 322 is huffing and puffing Buy yourself a X750, with a 60" High Cut deck. Won't even slow it down... I have a X748 that I use on my lawn. 2.5 acres of grass to cut, and lots of trees, but it only takes me a hour and a half. My yard is 90% hills, so I love the 4x4, and the diesel uses 1/3 fuel a gasser does. My Dad has a X750, and loves it. Here is my X748 with a 62" deck.
Last edited by JERICOGTX; 04/27/21 07:44 AM.
69 GTX
68 Road Runner
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Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: JERICOGTX]
#2915617
04/27/21 11:14 AM
04/27/21 11:14 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,513 N.E. OHIO, USA
A12
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Too Many Posts
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OP
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,513
N.E. OHIO, USA
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Just a small part of what needs mowed twice a week........if I miss a mowing I need to borrow a combine to catch back up as the little 322 is huffing and puffing Buy yourself a X750, with a 60" High Cut deck. Won't even slow it down... I have a X748 that I use on my lawn. 2.5 acres of grass to cut, and lots of trees, but it only takes me a hour and a half. My yard is 90% hills, so I love the 4x4, and the diesel uses 1/3 fuel a gasser does. My Dad has a X750, and loves it. Here is my X748 with a 62" deck. Considered the X7 series but at the most I only gain 12" of mowing and I want to cut down the mowing time as much as possible. Even three hours twice a week is more time than I want to spend after doing 4+ hours for over 30-years with the 322 (been a great mower ) Thought about even getting a bigger series JD with a drive over deck but still the largest deck is 72". The tow behind finishing decks at this point seems to be the best option without upgrading to a $16k+ new John Deere tractor. Mike
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Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: A12]
#2915695
04/27/21 01:44 PM
04/27/21 01:44 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,027 MN
JERICOGTX
I Live Here
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I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,027
MN
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Just a small part of what needs mowed twice a week........if I miss a mowing I need to borrow a combine to catch back up as the little 322 is huffing and puffing Buy yourself a X750, with a 60" High Cut deck. Won't even slow it down... I have a X748 that I use on my lawn. 2.5 acres of grass to cut, and lots of trees, but it only takes me a hour and a half. My yard is 90% hills, so I love the 4x4, and the diesel uses 1/3 fuel a gasser does. My Dad has a X750, and loves it. Here is my X748 with a 62" deck. Considered the X7 series but at the most I only gain 12" of mowing and I want to cut down the mowing time as much as possible. Even three hours twice a week is more time than I want to spend after doing 4+ hours for over 30-years with the 322 (been a great mower ) Thought about even getting a bigger series JD with a drive over deck but still the largest deck is 72". The tow behind finishing decks at this point seems to be the best option without upgrading to a $16k+ new John Deere tractor. Mike With the X7 series stuff, the blades on the deck spin faster, and allow you to cut at a faster rate as well. I have a coworker that has a JD Diesel Zero Turn. He said he can cut 2' high grass at full speed, and it finishes it off nice. Blade speed is key.
69 GTX
68 Road Runner
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Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: A12]
#2936591
06/25/21 12:43 AM
06/25/21 12:43 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,513 N.E. OHIO, USA
A12
OP
Too Many Posts
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OP
Too Many Posts
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,513
N.E. OHIO, USA
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After lots of research I found a quality Made in USA 60" Finish mower from a company in Mendota, Illinois : KUNZ Engineering, https://kunzeng.com/product-category/finish-cut-mowers/ I bought the top of the line professional grade model the Pro60K. Has a 60" cut, 25 HP Kohler Commercial Grade Twin Cylinder Engine, 4 Tire Design with 13" front caster type smooth tread tires, and 15" rear tires, Quick 2 Crank Deck Height Adjust System, the blade spindles are heavy duty welded steel hubs, The main deck is built out of 10 GA (.135") thick steel with a 7 GA (.179") thick steel top plate for reinforcement. The 25HP Kohler Confidant commercial grade twin cylinder engine is electric start with a pressure feed oil system with spin on filter. The deck blade engagement is by an electric clutch. Also has a 3-1/4 gallon gas tank and six anti-scalping deck wheels. This has cut (pun intended) my mowing time by nearly 2/3rd the time so far as I need to modify my 30-year mowing pattern so it will most likely reduce the time a little more. I wish I would have done this years ago...make that decades ago. The first time I mowed with it I did a section that normally took 4 - 4-1/2 hours and did it, while still learning a new pattern, in an hour and forty-five minutes. My wife and son couldn't believe that I was finished but I was. It's like someone handing me nearly two and a half hours to do something else instead of sitting on a mower. I'll take that once or twice a week anytime Mike
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Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: A12]
#2936872
06/26/21 08:37 AM
06/26/21 08:37 AM
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RWG75
Unregistered
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RWG75
Unregistered
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That looks like one serious case of over kill on the metal thickness - nice.
Ya likely noticed that when turning in the direction of the deck that it misses a spot where the tow behind tracks away from the mower. I generally do the big open spaces up/dn, back/forth or diagonally and then come back for a pass or two along the edges to finish off the turn arounds. Sometimes the other way around just to break up the routine. The only real down side is when ya get in to a small side section. I've got a couple places where it would be a lot more efficient to drop one or both of the tow behinds but of course I don't. Depending on design, they're also great for getting under evergreens.
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Re: 60"-72" pull/tow behind finishing mower, any suggestions?
[Re: A12]
#2936916
06/26/21 11:04 AM
06/26/21 11:04 AM
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Joined: May 2019
Posts: 6,261 nowhere
Sniper
master
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master
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 6,261
nowhere
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After lots of research I found a quality Made in USA 60" Finish mower from a company in Mendota, Illinois : KUNZ Engineering, https://kunzeng.com/product-category/finish-cut-mowers/ I bought the top of the line professional grade model the Pro60K. Has a 60" cut, 25 HP Kohler Commercial Grade Twin Cylinder Engine, 4 Tire Design with 13" front caster type smooth tread tires, and 15" rear tires, Quick 2 Crank Deck Height Adjust System, the blade spindles are heavy duty welded steel hubs, The main deck is built out of 10 GA (.135") thick steel with a 7 GA (.179") thick steel top plate for reinforcement. The 25HP Kohler Confidant commercial grade twin cylinder engine is electric start with a pressure feed oil system with spin on filter. The deck blade engagement is by an electric clutch. Also has a 3-1/4 gallon gas tank and six anti-scalping deck wheels. This has cut (pun intended) my mowing time by nearly 2/3rd the time so far as I need to modify my 30-year mowing pattern so it will most likely reduce the time a little more. I wish I would have done this years ago...make that decades ago. The first time I mowed with it I did a section that normally took 4 - 4-1/2 hours and did it, while still learning a new pattern, in an hour and forty-five minutes. My wife and son couldn't believe that I was finished but I was. It's like someone handing me nearly two and a half hours to do something else instead of sitting on a mower. I'll take that once or twice a week anytime Mike All that new found time means is that you can now mow even more lol, it's a snowball rolling at you. Nice lawn, btw.
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