Hi everyone,
First, I want to say there are obviously some very experienced mowers on this forum! Professionals who mow more in a week than most mow all season.
As for me, I live in the country and mow about 5 acres. We do most of our mowing with a Husqvarna 54" zero turn. I also have two basic riders... 42" cut, 7 speeds. Your usual Wal-mart/Lowe's special.
It takes about 8 hours to mow our 5 acres. The ditches along the highway take most of the time, but even so, we spend a lot of time on the mower when the rain is good. And that cuts into family time, so I'm looking for a better answer. Something cheap, too. A 72" professional mower or compact tractor with a finish mower is out of the question.
So here's what I want to do: Use the assets I have to mow a much wider swath with each pass. I've got three mowers, why not join them together and get an 11' cut?
I'm experienced enough to make the connecting bars and rods and override the seat cut-out switches.
Option 1:
Zero turn pulls the two basic riders, one on the left and one on the right. Put the riders in neutral and away I go. This would be a great setup because when its time to do the fine cutting (around trees and up close to fences), my wife will only use the zero turn. So I unhook one bar and its ready to go. The concern I have is that the transmissions on the zero turn couldn't handle pulling the two riders for hours at a time. Right, or not a problem?
Option 2:
Four-wheeler (Kawasaki Mule 4x4, 400cc) pulls the zero turn directly behind it and the two basic riders on the left and right as in option 1. The Husky has drivetrain disengaging bars so the mower can roll freely, but I would probably remove the drive handles of the zero turn so they don't bounce around needlessly. This would be a problem if I wanted to use the zero turn to do clean up duty. But I do like this option because I think the 4-wheeler would have no problem pulling all three mowers, and of course its faster than any of the mowers. I can't go at top speed, but I still can go pretty fast.
What does the internet think? Thanks for reading!
cutitall
First, I want to say there are obviously some very experienced mowers on this forum! Professionals who mow more in a week than most mow all season.
As for me, I live in the country and mow about 5 acres. We do most of our mowing with a Husqvarna 54" zero turn. I also have two basic riders... 42" cut, 7 speeds. Your usual Wal-mart/Lowe's special.
It takes about 8 hours to mow our 5 acres. The ditches along the highway take most of the time, but even so, we spend a lot of time on the mower when the rain is good. And that cuts into family time, so I'm looking for a better answer. Something cheap, too. A 72" professional mower or compact tractor with a finish mower is out of the question.
So here's what I want to do: Use the assets I have to mow a much wider swath with each pass. I've got three mowers, why not join them together and get an 11' cut?
I'm experienced enough to make the connecting bars and rods and override the seat cut-out switches.
Option 1:
Zero turn pulls the two basic riders, one on the left and one on the right. Put the riders in neutral and away I go. This would be a great setup because when its time to do the fine cutting (around trees and up close to fences), my wife will only use the zero turn. So I unhook one bar and its ready to go. The concern I have is that the transmissions on the zero turn couldn't handle pulling the two riders for hours at a time. Right, or not a problem?
Option 2:
Four-wheeler (Kawasaki Mule 4x4, 400cc) pulls the zero turn directly behind it and the two basic riders on the left and right as in option 1. The Husky has drivetrain disengaging bars so the mower can roll freely, but I would probably remove the drive handles of the zero turn so they don't bounce around needlessly. This would be a problem if I wanted to use the zero turn to do clean up duty. But I do like this option because I think the 4-wheeler would have no problem pulling all three mowers, and of course its faster than any of the mowers. I can't go at top speed, but I still can go pretty fast.
What does the internet think? Thanks for reading!
cutitall