So where is the line where mowers get too big?

Yep, size matters.. All depends on how much your mowing. :thThumbsU

I tried 44", then 60", I wasn't happy 'til I got a 72".



Also I got progressively older and less willing to spend hours mowing!!

:drunkie:

I am happy now, but, should I even get lazier I do have a 102" flail mower!!

:dunno:

If your yard is really flat, 60" may not scalp, but my experience in my yard was that anything over 50" is where you find the high spots. My big back & side yards, I really just want mowed, but the front yard, I keep it down to 50".
I'm afraid 72" might be digging in a few places. Of course everything hits mole hills & crawdad holes.

How big is "too big"?

I guess that it depends on how much you have to mow.

I belong to a Sailplane Club, and we have two (one is for parts) of those big Jake mowers.

Here is an aerial view of the field. The main runway is listed on the sectional charts as being 2800' long. We also use the short part to the left on this pic as well. You sure wouldn't want to mow that with an 18" push mower

attorney_barnabas_collins said:

If your yard is really flat, 60" may not scalp, but my experience in my yard was that anything over 50" is where you find the high spots. My big back & side yards, I really just want mowed, but the front yard, I keep it down to 50".
I'm afraid 72" might be digging in a few places. Of course everything hits mole hills & crawdad holes.

Click to expand...

Actually, my experience is just the opposite. The 72" has the wheels as well as front and rear anti-scalp rollers, that deck has never scalped anything like the 44" used to.

The 44" had wheels and rollers, but the small size let it get into trouble while the 72" stays on top.

I have had the 72" over 6 years, I would never go back!!

Ken in NJ said:

This thread made me think of the movie "Moving"

Randy Quad played the crazy neighbor with the V-8 powdered big walk-behind.

Click to expand...

That's what I thought of, too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beXPpObKWFo

Probably depends on what your yard is made up of. Of course that big Jake wouldn't fit tight places or under trees, but the individual reels follow the contours. It it had a 14ft wide rotary deck, if the left was low and the center roller went over a rise, the right side might be cutting a foot high off the ground. that exaggerated is what I've experienced with my 60" decks, not to mentioned getting high centered in a ditch with the back tires off the ground.

The only place I draw the line on if a mower is to big is this. If I have to rearrange my shop so I can park it. Also if it takes up the place of two garden tractors with out decks, it might be a little to big. I will admit though I will use a extra large mower and enjoy every minute of it. Its just when it comes time to park it I complain.

With this said though, there is a list of garden tractors I want that use a 60'' or bigger mower. If I get one I don't think I will complain to much, just that my seat time is not as long as it use to be.

attorney_barnabas_collins said:

If your yard is really flat, 60" may not scalp, but my experience in my yard was that anything over 50" is where you find the high spots. My big back & side yards, I really just want mowed, but the front yard, I keep it down to 50".
I'm afraid 72" might be digging in a few places. Of course everything hits mole hills & crawdad holes.

Click to expand...

John Deere V-flex deck: :fing32::fing32::fing32:

3.5 M Love to have one....

Are they ever TOO big? This company doesn't think so. It's the German-made Claas Cougar 1400 RC.

Specs:
Powerplant: 480hp Mercedes 6cyl Diesel
Cutting width: 46'
Speed: up to 13mph mowing, 25mph for road transport
Weight: ~41,000lbs
Fuel capacity: 250gal
Working capacity: 54 acres/hr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5977EoHPk8

Its too big when the ground is saturated and you leave ruts.
When I had my lawn service some customers would fuss over me using a riding mower and it leaving ruts. I said the ground pressure from the tires was not a huge amount. I would tell them it would take me longer to do it with a walk behind and my knees can't take that much walking anymore. I did a test: lift up one front and one rear tire on my Wheel Horse 252-H and drop it down on a piece of paper to leave a tire outline and lift up tire. I then weighed each end of it. Then I calculated the square inches of all 4 tires inprint. Then I did the same for myself walking in my shoes. The ground pressure per square inch of the four tires of my WH 252-H was appoximately twice what my 160 pounds in size 10 shoes was.