Tow Behind Mower for an ATV

[Uncle Nicky]

Im looking for a tow-behind finish mower to use with my ATV. About an acre of grass to cut with my new home, and the ATV is already paid for. I'm looking at a DR Power (possibly re-conditioned), the reviews on Swisher aren't real good. Any other suggestions, or comments yay or nay on DR Power?

[UpStateRedNeck]

I have a 44 inch swisher that I cut my 3 acres of lawn with in about 2 hours flat. 

Specific to the Swisher: It has its ups and downs, can't say I'd highly recommend it.  The belt is a pain in the ass.  Like, a huge one.  And it goes alot.  I've had it fixed twice in 10 years, though neither was expensive, still annoying.  

Changing the oil is a pain in the ass. 

 

The concept of using a standalone engine + w blades is a great one.  Much rather use it than a 0 turn.  The motor is a Briggs and Stratton, that part has been solid.  

[land 1]

i have a DR brush mower that im happy with seems very heavy duty and takes a beating only issue is that i had to replace the belt but simple fix, not sure about finish mower

[Robhuntandfish]

Been looking at the same thing. The reviews I have seen on the 14.5 hp rough cut trail mower from swisher that I have seen are pretty good.  I was planning on one in March myself. 

[stubborn1VT]

I have brush-hogged MANY acres with a DR walk-behind.  I worked for the company for about a year.  I am not totally sold on the ATV mower.  It falls in between a tractor brush-hog and a walk-behind and doesn't do the job as well as either one.  

I have a 15 year old walk-behind and it has been an amazing machine.  It is only 13hp, but can mow down 7' tall reed canary grass and 1" saplings.  It works on steep and uneven terrain and in very wet areas.  It's a workout to run but it does a great job.  It will do things that the tow-behind never could for less money.  I drive it up a set of ramps into the back of a pickup.  Depending on terrain and vegetation, I can mow 1/4-1/3 of an acre per hour.  It really shines on trails, fence lines and on mound systems.  

Just my .02.

I will even come to NY and demonstrate this machine in trade for hunting permission!

[WNYBuckHunter]

14 hours ago, Uncle Nicky said:

Im looking for a tow-behind finish mower to use with my ATV. About an acre of grass to cut with my new home, and the ATV is already paid for. I'm looking at a DR Power (possibly re-conditioned), the reviews on Swisher aren't real good. Any other suggestions, or comments yay or nay on DR Power?

We use a DR for trail mowing at one of the farms I hunt. Its great for narrow areas or trails that are too wet for the tractor. That being said, it is not a brush hog by any means. It will cut the same size stuff as a comparably powered push mower. The advantage to it, is you dont have to walk, which makes it great for wet areas, and getting things done faster than if you had a walk behind.

[Uncle Nicky]

2 hours ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

We use a DR for trail mowing at one of the farms I hunt. Its great for narrow areas or trails that are too wet for the tractor. That being said, it is not a brush hog by any means. It will cut the same size stuff as a comparably powered push mower. The advantage to it, is you dont have to walk, which makes it great for wet areas, and getting things done faster than if you had a walk behind.

Thanks. An acre pushed by hand isn't what I call fun. I already own the quad, I'm sure a regular garden tractor could handle it (very flat and the grass doesn't look to be all that thick). But might just be more cost effective to buy a tow behind mower and a ATV snow plow (already have a winch on it) than spending for a garden tractor & snow blower which I probably won't use much anyway (moving to southern Delaware).

[moog5050]

Flail mower Attachment would be awesome.  But seems like they are only available in uk. 
 

 

[WNYBuckHunter]

20 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

Flail mower Attachment would be awesome.  But seems like they are only available in uk. 
 

 

That looks pretty sweet. I wonder why you cant get them here? I know there are tow behind flail mowers available in the US.

[grampy]

53 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

Flail mower Attachment would be awesome.  But seems like they are only available in uk. 
 

 

That looks really sweet! Would work perfect for a couple places we have. 

Wish we had those available here!

[airedale]

Ebay has a Chinese self powered tow behind flail mower for a couple of grand shipped free. I purchased a 6ft wide Titan 3 point flail mower to use behind my tractor a few years ago to do my pastures and trails. I went with a flail over a brush hog type because of the smoother cut and the flail will not send rocks a couple of hundred yards to parts unknown like the brush hog type. Also a flail is up close to the rear of the tractor and not out way behind like a brush hog making for better maneuverability. If mowing brushy cover go with the hammer blades over the Y blades, they will pulverize brush and branches and still do a nice job mowing grass.

Al

Edited January 21, 2020 by airedale

[stubborn1VT]

DR walk-behind is self-propelled, but it's still work to turn it.  A pull type would probably work for many people.  The key would be to mow before stuff got too tall.  My BIL tried mowing an overgrown field with a Swisher and it wouldn't do it.  I had to come with the Kubota and real brush hog.  

[hueyjazz]

Not a tow behind but I refer to my Jari and the "Path to Mass Destruction"

Samplings two inches and down are gone with little effort.  Jari is like a mini tractor that has a powered sickle bar cutter on front.  The company was still in business until a couple years ago.  I put a new blade in it and replaced engine with Honda clone.  Old engine was fine except gas tank leaked and I didn't need a fire in the field.  When I first got it I didn't have manual.  I started it, engage blades and then the drive.  well unit took off for the races with me chasing behind it taking out everything in it's path.  it turn out you only turn it on full throttle when you are in dense stuff.

[DDT]

I am on my second Swisher it's a 66" finish cut. Yes it takes 2 belts a summer but I mow 6 acres. Bogging down on tall grass accelerates the belt wear. My first was a 60" trail mower. It ate bearings, a set a year.  I stopped that by installing grease zerks to the bearing towers and bearings that were only sealed only on the outside so they would take grease. Once that is done it never had another bearing fail. The finish mower has only burned 1 bearing in two years. They are a little high maintenance but I do it myself. Adding a remote oil drain hose this winter to make oil changes easier. I change the oil twice a year and only use Amsoil.

Looking to buy a new zero turn to add to the arsenal this year though.

[nyslowhand]

Oh yeah, as enticing as the lower cost of Swisher mower products appears, they should come with a disclaimer about requiring continual repairs. Just not built to take a beating! Maybe this is why they have such an extensive online parts source? Paid my dues with a Swisher walk-behind brush hog doing R&Rs routinely.

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 1/22/2020 at 12:09 PM, hueyjazz said:

Not a tow behind but I refer to my Jari and the "Path to Mass Destruction"

Samplings two inches and down are gone with little effort.  Jari is like a mini tractor that has a powered sickle bar cutter on front.  The company was still in business until a couple years ago.  I put a new blade in it and replaced engine with Honda clone.  Old engine was fine except gas tank leaked and I didn't need a fire in the field.  When I first got it I didn't have manual.  I started it, engage blades and then the drive.  well unit took off for the races with me chasing behind it taking out everything in it's path.  it turn out you only turn it on full throttle when you are in dense stuff.

Doesnt that just knock stuff down same as a sickle bar? Not the same as a mower or brush hog, which chop stuff up into smaller pieces. With that, if you use it in a field that has 4 ft tall weeds in it, you are just going to snip each weed off near the ground and the whole length would be laying on the ground, like creating a mat of cut down vegetation.

[hueyjazz]

Advantage of Jari is it can work on rough terrain even with some rocks and uneven ground.  It can cut down saplings.  I have done and maintain fields with it but you are correct it does leave a lot more debris doing first pass on tall stuff.  I have marched this through my woods to make paths.  I discovered that when I make a path through dense stuff the deer also like to use it.

[goosifer]

You guys mind if I jump in with a different question? Is there a way to "brush cut" three feet off the ground? I've seen sickle mowers cutting along the highway that would seem to be able to do that, but haven't found anything. My fields have become way too overgrown; I can't see anything. I'm thinking I will have to just brush cut and replant (or maybe brushcut with the three or hitch raised and let it regrow).

[UpStateRedNeck]

11 hours ago, goosifer said:

You guys mind if I jump in with a different question? Is there a way to "brush cut" three feet off the ground? I've seen sickle mowers cutting along the highway that would seem to be able to do that, but haven't found anything. My fields have become way too overgrown; I can't see anything. I'm thinking I will have to just brush cut and replant (or maybe brushcut with the three or hitch raised and let it regrow).

Not that I'm aware of.  Brush hog with the 3 point hydraulic as far off the ground as you can, and do it in stages?  Cut stripes/shooting lanes, let it grow, rinse and repeat?

[phade]

Short of the big saplings, I'm now of the mindset of just buying cheap mowers on C-list or Marketplace and beating the absolute snot out of them and replacing every third or fourth season.

You can find pretty well built used riders for 2-300 with prudent shopping. Run it til she dies and if its not an easy fix, turn her around for $50 and pick up a new (used) one. Repeat.

We do alot of mowing for trails but also for plots using the spray, seed/fert/lime, mow method. We accomplish some stuff with a very basic mower this year that amazed me.

From a cost basis and time basis perspective, it's about as cheap as it gets.

[WNYBuckHunter]

11 hours ago, goosifer said:

You guys mind if I jump in with a different question? Is there a way to "brush cut" three feet off the ground? I've seen sickle mowers cutting along the highway that would seem to be able to do that, but haven't found anything. My fields have become way too overgrown; I can't see anything. I'm thinking I will have to just brush cut and replant (or maybe brushcut with the three or hitch raised and let it regrow).

Sure, a tractor with a brush hog raised up. When Im knocking down brush, Ill raise the cutter up as high as I can and back it into the brush slowly. Just make sure theres noone around when you are doing it, as stuff tends to fly everywhere. Theres also an attachment now that mounts on the front loader, you can have it twisted to different angles for trimming the sides of trails, etc. Im sure it isnt cheap though.

[WNYBuckHunter]

https://lanesharkusa.com/

 

[XGX7PM]

Not mine, seen it before and thought it was a cool idea.

[The Engineer]

I just picked up a Haban 61 inch tow behind with a 21 hp Briggs and Stratton. I have 48 inch walk behind Troy built sickle mower works great on 3' grass /brush up to an inch. I was just getting tired of doing the hills. So I went to Pa and grabbed the mower for 700 and 3 point 72"  box scraper for the tractor. The pull behind needs a good time up and fresh fuel and 3 new blades. I'm going to start growing more clover on the hills over looking the pond. With the pull behind I'll be able to maintain the clover better. Plus more toys I'm tools honey to use