SH belly mower

I bought a home on 3 acres. It had sat abandoned for about 3 years after the owners passed and the family fought over the estate. Previous to that the owner lost his ability to maintain it or his equipment so it's been probably 10 years with out being kept up.

Needless to say it was a mess.

Over the course of the last year I have run my chainsaw and shredder and have it in good enough shape to mow with my 60" Zero Turn Mower. It looks good when I'm done, very slow, it's so rough the ZTM beats me up if I go too fast. I used my 300 with a 6' shredder and it rode like a Cadillac. The shredder, however doesn't leave a very good finish. I want a finish mower.

I'm not to crazy about a 3PH finish mower as I have a lot of trees to mow around and I don't like the way the rear wheels mash the grass down before it's cut. This is a minor issue with the shredder as it's a rough cut anyway. The finish mower may have enough lift and I'lll be cutting short enough grass maybe it's not an issue. I think I would still prefer the belly mower as I can look down and see it

I have an 54 stage 2 SH looking for work and wanted some pictures and opinions on putting a 7'or8' belly mounted finish mower on it.

I also have a Super C in the rebuild process. It might be easier to mount a 6' on it. But I think I want more HP

Thanks in advance for your help.

A 7-8 ft belly mower will be hard to leave a nice cut. If you have any unevenness it'll ground out and leave other areas high. A super C will have more then enough power for a 6ft mower. They are more readily available for a c/super c. I'm sure others will chime in. You are mowing a pretty good chunk of land though so you might want the extra cutting width. Just my 2 cents.

Yes the SC with a 6ft would make a fine mower. With the belley mower on the SC you still have a tractor to use as the drawbar is useable. The newer mounts for the SC dont use the heavy set-up and make the drawbar not nice. They are also driven from the belt pulley instead of the PTO.

I agree the large mower will be hard to get a even cut on rough ground I have a 6' artsway mower on my 350 diesel and that works great. In tall or thick grass 6' is enough mower i would want it any bigger. I started out with the mower on an H but after the first year went to the 350 for the live power since the mower stops with the tractor on the H it is much nicer for getting around trees and buildings with live power. But if you have a large open area and something else to do the close up trimming the SH will work fine. Now for my $.02 worth on mowers there are a couple different options out there I looked at both a Woods and Artsway mowers and I think the artsway was built heavier and it uses two shorter drive belts instead of one really long one like the woods which makes for cheaper replacement if you have trouble with the belt. Also the long one on the woods makes lots of twists and turns by the time it goes around the pto and to the deck and around all 3 blade spindels. if I remember right the artsway was a little more expensive, I have had mine since 2003 and about all I have had to do is replace the blades a few times. The best thing for a good cut is to keep the blades sharp it cuts nicer and pulls easier. these are all just my oponions giving you something to think about. email me if you have any more ??'s

I have a 6" arts way on a 47 H and I love it. I have a fairly flat area to mow that is 11 acres. I have some kind of rolling areas where I think it was terraced at one time and I have to take it at a little bit of an angle so as not to scalp it. My neighbors have zero turn mowers and they are a little faster than me and get closer to stuff but they all say my yard looks better when its all done. Time spent on my old mower is my therapy time.
Paul Shuler

Paul, that outfit almost looks like mine, except my mower is a Woods L306, and my H is a 1940.

I do my 2+ acres with a 7 ft IH1100 sickle mower. Trim up with CC 26 hp 52 " cut.

yes Paul,I have a 47 H with a Arts way 6 ft mower too. I put p.steering on my H ,sure made a difference in turning in tight places.

Oh that would be nice. First time or two I mow I have a stiff neck and sore arms from the many turns I have to make going back and forth. I sure enjoy it though.

A flail mower might work for you.

Depending on how rough the soil is and how the grass is, you may want to run a disc harrow over that lawn and follow with a spike tooth harrow to make it a little smoother. You may need or want to reseed after that.