Need to cut down (yes pun) on the bi-weekly mowing time and figure the least expensive at this point would be to add a pull/tow behind finishing 3-blade deck with its own engine. Was told that it's best to get one with an electric clutch for better belt life and more constant belt tension. Why not add electric start to the engine while I'm looking and getting older. Minimum 60" but a 72" would add nicely to the 50" deck already on my John Deere 322. I'm up to just under 4 acres and most of it open but it will be easy to drop the tow behind and do the tight stuff near the house and around a few trees. What's out there that worth looking at..........yeah price is something but when I bought the JD 322 decades ago that was down the list as it is now with a good quality product. The local farm stores sell 44" tow behinds starting around $3500 so I'm sure I'll be in the $4k-$5.5K for something of good quality Made in USA (or Canada) with electric start and electric blade engagement clutch. Thanks in advance.

Mike

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

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.

I use a deere 455 diesel with a 60" deck on about that much. Looks like a lot of clover in there?

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.

I cut seven acres every week with my 60 inch zero turn mower. Takes me 4 hours. I have a good commercial grade zero turn not one of the $3000 junk ones the box stores sell.

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.

The speed at which it will cut is not going to reduce the number of times I need to go back and forth and if you saw in the first photo the two large JD tractors they turn in parts of the yard and make a nice set of motocross whoops that you wouldn't be able to go across at full speed on a zero turn or most any lawn care mower. Then add in the big grain 10 wheel trucks and the farmers pick up trucks and there's no smooth sailing. Just tired of the time on the tractor not the speed at which it will mow. Kind of like if you could plow at full speed with a 6' wide plow or at half the speed with a 24' wide plow which would get you finished in less seat time?

JERICOGTX thanks for the feedback and that X750 and X748 of yours are really nice

Mike

Find a good used Toro groundsmaster 72 no towing all in one unit.

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

Not much more than the (IMO) lesser brands. Talked with the owner Matt and told him I was hoping to reduce my mowing time by half and he said it should reduce your mowing time by 2/3rd's as it reduces the number of 180 degree turns at the end of each cut rows and it sure did work out to about that in just a couple of times trying to get a more efficient pattern.

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.

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.