Sometimes you just have say no

37chief · Jun 8, 2013

Looked at a 20 plus acre field to mow, a couple days ago. It was full of wild oats about 18 in tall. It was dry and ready to go. This mowing job would be like a vacation with pay for me. Nice slope only a few trees, almost square. The problem is, it has rocks, not many, but rocks. I value my equipment more than I could have got for the job, It would paid quite well. I busted my mower gear box, and bent the blade shaft a few years back on a large rock. I didn't want a repete of that. Stan

RBnSC · Jun 8, 2013

That is why we quit going after mowing or bush hogging around here. Usually lose a rear tire or tear up something worth more than the job. Still bust up stuff on stumps around the farm and hunting club.
Ron

Anonymous-0 · Jun 9, 2013

I've hit hundreds of rocks with my 5' J.D. 516 "bush hog" and it never hurt anything except the shroud is getting dented outward,still made money.
My 135 SIP drum hay mower on the other hand,doesn't even like fist sized or smaller rocks. If I were going to open up a smaller suburban type field of a few acres I would use my older sicle mower for the first year,bounces over rocks and easy and cheap to fix.

Fawteen · Jun 9, 2013

I live on the coast of Maine, the biggest birthing ground for rocks east of the Mississippi. Used to mow commercially but have pretty much quit due to the cost of liability insurance and not needing the aggravation.

Still do an occasional job for friends. Have a working relationship with a local builder where I'll do small jobs like digging waterlines or moving fill in tight places. He asked me to mow a "small area" for him a couple of days ago.

Seeing as it's been a couple of weeks since I fell off the turnip truck, I said I'd have to look at it first.

What a nightmare. What wasn't vertical was full of rocks the size of doghouses, potholes, dropoffs and alder stumps some genius had cut off at a nice, sharp 45º angle.

I referred him to the local undocumented voter population...

37chief · Jun 9, 2013

I see trees cut off at a 45 degrees all the time. I think the cutter is too lazy to bend a little more and make a straight cut near ground level. If they do cut the trees straight they leave about 6 inches sticking up, just enough to grab my mower and make I instant stop, about throwing me over the hood. Another reason I should use my seat belt. Stan

Sometimes you just have say no

37chief

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RBnSC

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Anonymous-0

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Fawteen

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37chief

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