gang mower

[digger]

Thinking about getting something like this. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_112395_112395

Anybody got one?
Just bought a 23hp mower, http://www.usa.husqvarna.com/?url=/node1519.asp?cid=60&frames=false Should pull it?
Most of it is level. Says 12 to 15hp and mine is 23hp?
Got an old Ford farm tractor. Keep it and buy a finish mower?

What do ya think?

 

[Buggyracer28]

I would! Thats almost like cheating lol. If i had a big enough lawn i would dream of having that.

 

[Lessen]

very cool... reel mowers are supposed to be great for your lawn.

 

[bentover]

They are better for the grass health due to the grass getting cut from the top down whereas traditional rotary mower blades easily dull down and tend to "beat" the blades until they eventually cut, but the gang reels need alot more maintenance due to having to keep the knives almost razor sharp, so there are better gang reels out there.
Look for the reels that have a magnetic bed knife, they just snap on and off with no nuts or bolts and cut down on the wrenching time.

As far as the "little tractor" although Husqvarna is practically a house hold name now, their transmissions are weak, even the hydrostatic drives, my neighbour has one and you can see the heat coming off it like it's from hell or something, I strongly recommend a John Deere, their trannys are all cast iron and steel, you want heavy, compare the weights of all brands.

 

[Buggyracer28]

I had to use one of those old fashioned reel mower for this one day fixing up this guys house for my dads company, but this one was all rusted down and squeaky.... it wasn't pretty lol.

 

[vbgagnon]

The only thing I saw that I didn't like about it was that you can only got 2.5 in max. I cut at 3-3.5, seems to give me the best cut.

 

[digger]

Guess that is pretty short VB. Have to raise the deck up in a few places now. Mostly towards the woods. But I could take the gang mower off and finish up with the deck?

Been real dry here this year, so I'm not mowing as much. Mowed for 4hrs Sunday though. Have to finish it tommorow.

Bentover, already got the Husky, so far no problems. Has the hydrostatic drive. But ya got me worried now.
Maybe I need to keep the tractor and get a finish mower?

Not going to do anything right now. Won't be able to afford it till next year. But I need to start looking.

 

[bentover]

Bentover, already got the Husky, so far no problems. Has the hydrostatic drive. But ya got me worried now.
Maybe I need to keep the tractor and get a finish mower?

QUOTE]

Here's what you do, a simple test, pull the gang reel around for 30 minutes, don't female pee pee foot around with it, run it hard, after the 30 minutes, get off and put your hand on the transmission, if it's too hot to touch, the tranny is not capable of handling that chore, and if it will take you more than 30 minutes to get the job done, you're really screwed.
Hydrostatic trannys have 1 enemy-HEAT, as the oil heats up, the components heat up and allow the oil to slide through, rather than get squeezed through, and the tolerances break down after awhile and after a few years of heavy pulling you'll notice a major difference in power, not speed, when you're cruising around.
My John Deere 275 has an all cast iron housing with steel internals and the big difference from the other manufacturers was the fact that it doesn't have a wimpy ass cooling fan over the tranny to keep it cool, if a tranny has a fan above it to keep it cool, it's garbage.

GOOD LUCK!!