Catfish4058
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- Mar 17, 2017
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I just bought a 60 acre farm as a country retreat for my family to use on weekends. I will mow at least 5 acres around the house as well as keep some trails cut low for easy walking access to other areas of the farm which has hills with hay 3' high and thick forest areas.
I test rode a few mowers and read all I could find for large estate owners like myself. Lots of reviews pointed to Ferris as the most comfortable and that is priority one for me so I bought a new 2016 Is3200 35 hp Kawasaki 61" with a sun shade.
It's early in the season so there isn't any grass to cut yet but my property was bush hogged while it was on the market vacant and there was quite a bit of thatch that I rode over with the Ferris set on the highest deck height and it cut huge clouds of thatch without the slightest bogging down.
Likewise, wide swaths of tall but thin hay through the hills and valleys gave way with ease. I was surprised at the tremendous power available for climbing the steep hills. A free app for iPhone called "Angle" helped me check the slope of my hills. According to the app, I've cut 10-12 degree hills with no problem. I have more hills on the far side of the pond that are 15-17 degrees that I may leave in a natural state and hire a bush hog a couple of times a year. I believe I read somewhere that 15 degrees is the max.
I'm sure I'll be flying across the property once I get a few holes filled and get better acquainted with the mower. Right now, though, I cruise around the property slowly and enjoy the ride. I just ordered a hitch from the dealer so I can get a little more work from this expensive machine and hopefully save the price of a 4 wheeler to pull a small trailer of firewood, etc.
Hope this helps those in search of ideas for a large estate owner vs a commercial lawn crew.
I test rode a few mowers and read all I could find for large estate owners like myself. Lots of reviews pointed to Ferris as the most comfortable and that is priority one for me so I bought a new 2016 Is3200 35 hp Kawasaki 61" with a sun shade.
It's early in the season so there isn't any grass to cut yet but my property was bush hogged while it was on the market vacant and there was quite a bit of thatch that I rode over with the Ferris set on the highest deck height and it cut huge clouds of thatch without the slightest bogging down.
Likewise, wide swaths of tall but thin hay through the hills and valleys gave way with ease. I was surprised at the tremendous power available for climbing the steep hills. A free app for iPhone called "Angle" helped me check the slope of my hills. According to the app, I've cut 10-12 degree hills with no problem. I have more hills on the far side of the pond that are 15-17 degrees that I may leave in a natural state and hire a bush hog a couple of times a year. I believe I read somewhere that 15 degrees is the max.
I'm sure I'll be flying across the property once I get a few holes filled and get better acquainted with the mower. Right now, though, I cruise around the property slowly and enjoy the ride. I just ordered a hitch from the dealer so I can get a little more work from this expensive machine and hopefully save the price of a 4 wheeler to pull a small trailer of firewood, etc.
Hope this helps those in search of ideas for a large estate owner vs a commercial lawn crew.