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Farmall & IHC Tractors Discussion Forum
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Mowing with an A?

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Ludwig

07-17-2003 15:33:59




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Hey gang.

I mow alot of grass every year. The big fields for now get an every third year treatment with the Super M and bushhog, and the area around my camp gets done with the lawn tractor every trip.
That still leaves alot of intermediate areas, stuff like the field road and a large area of lawn that now gets mowed with the lawn tractor but takes forever.
I'd like to find another way to mow these larger areas faster, and I'm always looking for an excuse for a new tractor.
A fellow near my farm has Farmall As that he periodically restores and sells, sometimes he even has a B. These little tractors are fairly uncommon up there, but because they don't have hydralics they're not as expensive as the Super A.
So I was wondering if I could use an A with a mower to cut my mowing time.
This isn't finish mowing, but it'd need to look better than the bushhog on my Super M can do, the big problem with the bushhog is that if I set it as low as I want this grass to be its really dragging the tractor down and working it hard.
Note also that these spaces are generally too small for the Super M to do a good job.

Seems like belly mower would be good but I'm a bit worried because its fairly rough terrain and I'm thinking it would take too much of a beating...

Any advice?

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scotty

07-18-2003 06:53:56




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 Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to Ludwig, 07-17-2003 15:33:59  
Ludwig, I mow 10 acres with my 42 A and a rear mouunt 16A sicklemower.The property is in Vt and quite hilly. Also terrain is rough and uneven because someone at one time plowed the fields and left them that way. I run that tractor in second gear barely above idle and it does a great job of mowing off the property.
scotty



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Ludwig

07-18-2003 10:47:16




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 Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to scotty, 07-18-2003 06:53:56  
I had been considering a sickle mower but heared they were more difficult to maintain. What can you say to that?



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scotty

07-18-2003 12:14:49




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 Re: Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to Ludwig, 07-18-2003 10:47:16  
Ludwig, I managed to make one good mower from two that were missing parts, some would consider scrap. Rather than try to rebuild the knife bar I opted to call Case IH and get a new one for about $80. I also figured that since I spent that much I may as well buy new rockguards from Valu-Bil* fot about $4 @ pc. The mower does a great job mowing the grasses and weeds and I even have mowed some very small sapplings down along the hedge rows 3/8" or smaller. The only thing I do before using is grease the universal joints between the PTO and flywheel and I release the end of the pitman rod at the knifehead ball and grease that also. There is also a grease fitting on the eccentric that I grease. I spray the rockguards and knives with WD40 before I start and once you start cutting your lubrication comes fron the grass. The mower is a pain to install but I only take it on and off once a year. If I can help give me a call. Oh yes, everyonce and awhile you should check the level of 90 wt in the flywheel housing and the eccentric housing.

scotty

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big fred

07-17-2003 19:35:13




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 Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to Ludwig, 07-17-2003 15:33:59  
Ludwig, as often as you get up there, your grass is gonna be too tall for a finish mower on a A, mostly because of the fast first gear on the A. Of course, you might consider getting a nice sickle bar mower, cut first with that, then go back in a couple days (after the "hay" dries a bit so it will cut up easier) with a finish mower. In that way, you'd not only have a reason to get another tractor, but you could justify two mowers.

Or you could also get a hayrake and rake the first cutting, and make a small haystack. Suppose mooses would eat from a haystack?

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Ludwig

07-18-2003 05:48:23




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 Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to big fred, 07-17-2003 19:35:13  
Mooses will eat anything. We saw some up there last trip in a big clover field on the farm next to us. They were just like lawnmowers. You suppose I could train them to clear the field road?



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CNKS

07-17-2003 18:12:49




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 Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to Ludwig, 07-17-2003 15:33:59  
If you mow with an A/Super A, you have to mow more often. Problem with the A in large grass is even 1st gear is too fast, so you have to raise the mower and go over it 2 or 3 times. You didn't say how big a bushhog you have, but if a 6-7 ft mower drags the Super M down, the A won't work either, unless you keep it cut short.



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Ludwig

07-17-2003 19:38:41




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 Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to CNKS, 07-17-2003 18:12:49  
Its a 6' on the Super M but the tractor usually doesn't notice it. It'll hack down poplar trees up to 3" in diameter before it starts to have any trouble at all. Anything I can pull down with a rear wheel will chop up, but the real big stuff is hard on the mower.

The trouble is that it won't cut very short and it leaves all the clippings right behind. For a field road I'd prefer side discharge. I supposed I could get a rake though...
Once the mower is set really short it labors the tractor something awful, like mowing really heavy grass. 'Course my mower is beat, probably one that wasn't so thoroughly thrashed would do a better job. Next time I cut I'm going to spend some quality time sharpening the blades first.

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rustyfarmall

07-17-2003 16:39:30




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 Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to Ludwig, 07-17-2003 15:33:59  
You can put a woods belly mower under the M if you want to, or if the M is a bit large, get an H. A woods mower under an H works really good, I can vouch for that, as I have one. If the H is still too large, a C, B, or one of those A's will work, different types of blades are available for the woods, you can get either finish, or rough cutting blades.I have not had any experience with the rough blades, so don't know how well they work.
If your grass is 2 feet tall or better, you will most likely still need the bush hog first.

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Ludwig

07-17-2003 19:41:51




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 Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to rustyfarmall, 07-17-2003 16:39:30  
I think an H would be too large to get in close with.
Mowing more often really isn't going to happen for awhile, its a 450 mile drive, not exactly a weekend trip.
I've tried before using the bushhog first and then mowing with the lawntractor, but the clippings from the bushhog are too big and actually make it worse. There are only a few places where its 2' most would max out at about 18". I'm thinking with a belly mower I'd just mow twice.

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LanceM

07-17-2003 15:53:34




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 Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to Ludwig, 07-17-2003 15:33:59  
An A would do well but I would have to agree that a finish mower would probably have a short life if the ground is real rough and uneven causing scalping. But if you are mowing it with a riding mower it can't be that rough or you would be killing it too. I would look at something like a Woods 52" mower, I have a 6' woods L306 on mine and it can be a bit too much mower if things get ahead of me. I'm not familure enough with other brands to know if there are belly mount rough mowers available for the A. I can say that it makes a great mowing machine for 5 acres that I mow.

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Ludwig

07-17-2003 16:07:39




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 Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to LanceM, 07-17-2003 15:53:34  
How high grass can you mow?
Lots of time this grass gets pretty high. This year it was up on the hood on the lawn tractor. So say 2 - 2 1/2 feet high...



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LanceM

07-17-2003 16:53:13




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 Re: Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to Ludwig, 07-17-2003 16:07:39  
With my 6' mower once it gets over say 18" it's full throttle 1st gear and that is an overload.



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Ludwig

07-17-2003 19:39:28




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Mowing with an A? in reply to LanceM, 07-17-2003 16:53:13  
Sounds like for me a 5' mower would be much more practical. Maybe even a 5' on a C.



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