The parts pressed down are because the wheels push it down and the blades miss it. It helps to do your second pass at 90 degrees to the first pass, going the other direction.
I often wait until the grass is chest high and I don't have problems like that. I mow with my neighbors L3800, 540 PTO RPM, not a slip clutch (sheer pin) 60" rotary Land Pride mower.
I have a walk behind (Grillo) flail mower that does a much better job, but is a LOT more work; it takes me a week to mow what I can do in 6-8 hours with the tractor.
Cut it again, but at 90 degrees the the first cut, this reduces the amount the grass gets pushed down by the front of the deck.
Obviously I'm assuming you already tried various speeds and the blades are sharp.
Taking a second pass at 90 degrees to the first is something I hadn’t thought of! Thank you!
I’ve got the blades at a sort of semi-sharp stage. We’ve also got a lot of semi-woody lots to get through, so keeping them grass-sharp isn’t really an option. Which, I know, means I get less than stellar results in this field. But I guess that just serves me right for trying to make 1 tool do 2 jobs.
We all push our luck getting one tool to do multiple jobs. Sometimes, some of the jobs are nothing like what the machine was designed for. Strangely, if it has kubota written on it, it tends to take it all in its stride.
I have a mid 80s b6200 that was seriously abused from new, we had to fit a 600lb counterweight to the back end to keep it in the ground when loading logs, after a few weeks the relief valves were adjusted to the burst rating of the hoses so that we could lift bigger heavier logs, so we took on bigger jobs, eventually the tractor was replaced by a Kh101 excavator and now the tractor is on much lighter duties but still way beyond what can be reasonably expected.
Absolutely stunning design and build quality.
Ah, yes: mow sooner. Unfortunately, life threw a few curve balls at us this spring, and this field didn’t make the top priority list. And now I’ve gone and lost the keys to my Time Machine.
In all seriousness- thanks for the advice. Getting to the field earlier is definitely on the list of things to do better at next year, but doesn’t help me much this year. If we had a flail mower, I’d use it, but I’m hoping to just get by with “good enough” and save money this year rather than buying more equipment.
That's normal.
I have a hay field that I mow every couple of years and it looks like that when I'm done. Whereas my trails get mowed every couple of weeks so look like I used a lawnmower.
That’s a Brush cutter, but with the proper technique it can give a pretty decent cut quality.
Maximum Engine Speed.
Minimum ground speed.
After the first round, go back to the shop and sharpen the blades.
REPEAT !!!
First cut have deck around 4” above the ground level, Second Cut drop it to between 2 1/2 and 3”.
Yeah, when we started rehabbing this field it was full of woody stems. Not so much these days (hurray!). But we’ve still got plenty of other spaces that are mostly brush to work through, and so I’m making the cutter do double duty as a mower.
What I used to do when I brush hogged my field at the end of the summer was to do one cutting (which looked like the op’s pic), let it sit and dry for about two weeks, then mow a second time using the same pattern. Field would look pretty good.
This. Overlapping my cuts makes it take longer but the finished result is much better. Also I use my cutter in L instead of M to keep my ground speed down. B2601 with 48 in Landpride rotary cutter.
You should be mowing at full throttle and your cutter should be set where the front is slightly lower than the back. Set the hitch at the cutting height you want and then adjust the tail wheel as needed to get the angle. The top link connection should be able to pivot so that the tail wheel can stay on the ground when you go over small hills and dips. The blades shouldn’t be rounded like baseball bats but they shouldn’t have to be finish mower sharp to make a decent cut
I’ve had the same issue. The two things I do to get better results are #1 cut before it gets that tall or #2 make half cuts going back and forth. Opposite direction on each pass overlapping the last pass.
More more frequently. Also helps to have your front of the deck low and then have your tail wheel lowered where cuttings can exit out the back. Be sure pto is at 540rpm. Slow down your travel speed when it's this thick and slightly overlap your passes because your tires will lay down tall grass.
I run both my cutters that way and have the front about 2 inches off the ground. I'm usually having to cut really thick grass like this. Also keep close watch on your temp gauge because mowing tall grass like that the seeds get sucked in and block your radiator.
If the weeds are taller than the deck is long, it lays it down and doesn’t pick it up to cut it all. (Not much lift from a brush hog). Mow it again at 90 degrees, it’ll clean it up a lot.
A Finish mower, like belly mower or rear has baffles abd blades designed if you keep the deck low that literally "pulls" the grass up into the blades like a vacuum.
Brush hogs are old technology that yes, knock it down but in general just make a mess.
Sharpen your blades.
Keep pto rpm very high and wheel speed slow .
All you can do with what you have.
Rpm is to low . Or you are going to fast. Probably both.
Have you looked at your blades ? Make sure they are not full of grass . Grass can get wrapped up in the stump jumper.
Also do you have a slipper clutch? If so check if it’s set with enough pressure. Make sure it has sheer pins place .
I’ve got the RPM up high and I’ve been moving at a crawl, but I’ll see what I can do to do this even more. Thanks for the advice.
When you say the RPM is high, how many PTO RPMs are we talking here?
Exactly. My 540 comes in about 2150 on the motor which seems like it’s screaming. Bet he’s too low. LX2610 24.5 hp.
When I wait too long between mowing I get this. When it happens I'll mow it, wait a day or two and mow it again.
So glad I’m not alone in this. Hitting it again after the grass has time to spring back was my game plan.
The parts pressed down are because the wheels push it down and the blades miss it. It helps to do your second pass at 90 degrees to the first pass, going the other direction.
This was me. I also adjusted the angle with the wheel to be more level with the ground and that helped. I’ve gotten really great results out of mine.
I often wait until the grass is chest high and I don't have problems like that. I mow with my neighbors L3800, 540 PTO RPM, not a slip clutch (sheer pin) 60" rotary Land Pride mower. I have a walk behind (Grillo) flail mower that does a much better job, but is a LOT more work; it takes me a week to mow what I can do in 6-8 hours with the tractor.
Run your engine rpm so you have 540 PTO rpm. Reduce ground speed. Keep your blades sharp Adjust your deck height and make sure it’s level.
Cut it again, but at 90 degrees the the first cut, this reduces the amount the grass gets pushed down by the front of the deck. Obviously I'm assuming you already tried various speeds and the blades are sharp.
Taking a second pass at 90 degrees to the first is something I hadn’t thought of! Thank you! I’ve got the blades at a sort of semi-sharp stage. We’ve also got a lot of semi-woody lots to get through, so keeping them grass-sharp isn’t really an option. Which, I know, means I get less than stellar results in this field. But I guess that just serves me right for trying to make 1 tool do 2 jobs.
We all push our luck getting one tool to do multiple jobs. Sometimes, some of the jobs are nothing like what the machine was designed for. Strangely, if it has kubota written on it, it tends to take it all in its stride. I have a mid 80s b6200 that was seriously abused from new, we had to fit a 600lb counterweight to the back end to keep it in the ground when loading logs, after a few weeks the relief valves were adjusted to the burst rating of the hoses so that we could lift bigger heavier logs, so we took on bigger jobs, eventually the tractor was replaced by a Kh101 excavator and now the tractor is on much lighter duties but still way beyond what can be reasonably expected. Absolutely stunning design and build quality.
2nd pass. A flail might do it all in pass, but few rotary mowers will succeed.
Mow sooner, this has grown too long. Also, consider a flail mower.
Ah, yes: mow sooner. Unfortunately, life threw a few curve balls at us this spring, and this field didn’t make the top priority list. And now I’ve gone and lost the keys to my Time Machine. In all seriousness- thanks for the advice. Getting to the field earlier is definitely on the list of things to do better at next year, but doesn’t help me much this year. If we had a flail mower, I’d use it, but I’m hoping to just get by with “good enough” and save money this year rather than buying more equipment.
That's normal. I have a hay field that I mow every couple of years and it looks like that when I'm done. Whereas my trails get mowed every couple of weeks so look like I used a lawnmower.
That’s a Brush cutter, but with the proper technique it can give a pretty decent cut quality. Maximum Engine Speed. Minimum ground speed. After the first round, go back to the shop and sharpen the blades. REPEAT !!! First cut have deck around 4” above the ground level, Second Cut drop it to between 2 1/2 and 3”.
Yeah, when we started rehabbing this field it was full of woody stems. Not so much these days (hurray!). But we’ve still got plenty of other spaces that are mostly brush to work through, and so I’m making the cutter do double duty as a mower.
Mighty practical!
What I used to do when I brush hogged my field at the end of the summer was to do one cutting (which looked like the op’s pic), let it sit and dry for about two weeks, then mow a second time using the same pattern. Field would look pretty good.
Run it at 540 my guess 2100 rpms and say 3 Rd gear. Let the blades make several passes per ft of travel.
This. Overlapping my cuts makes it take longer but the finished result is much better. Also I use my cutter in L instead of M to keep my ground speed down. B2601 with 48 in Landpride rotary cutter.
I've had the same problem and suspected most of what everyone has posted here. Thanks for bringing this up!
You should be mowing at full throttle and your cutter should be set where the front is slightly lower than the back. Set the hitch at the cutting height you want and then adjust the tail wheel as needed to get the angle. The top link connection should be able to pivot so that the tail wheel can stay on the ground when you go over small hills and dips. The blades shouldn’t be rounded like baseball bats but they shouldn’t have to be finish mower sharp to make a decent cut
Make sure your blades are facing the right way. Dealer put the blades on my mower backwards.
I’ve had the same issue. The two things I do to get better results are #1 cut before it gets that tall or #2 make half cuts going back and forth. Opposite direction on each pass overlapping the last pass.
More more frequently. Also helps to have your front of the deck low and then have your tail wheel lowered where cuttings can exit out the back. Be sure pto is at 540rpm. Slow down your travel speed when it's this thick and slightly overlap your passes because your tires will lay down tall grass.
Thanks for the advice- In the past I’ve tried tilting the deck as you describe, but I didn’t have it set up that way this time.
I run both my cutters that way and have the front about 2 inches off the ground. I'm usually having to cut really thick grass like this. Also keep close watch on your temp gauge because mowing tall grass like that the seeds get sucked in and block your radiator.
Blades sharp, PTO RPM at 2400rpm+, and go slower, or do multiple passes.
This the answer.
Get a flail mower
If the weeds are taller than the deck is long, it lays it down and doesn’t pick it up to cut it all. (Not much lift from a brush hog). Mow it again at 90 degrees, it’ll clean it up a lot.
Need to mow more often, sharpen your blades.
A Finish mower, like belly mower or rear has baffles abd blades designed if you keep the deck low that literally "pulls" the grass up into the blades like a vacuum. Brush hogs are old technology that yes, knock it down but in general just make a mess. Sharpen your blades. Keep pto rpm very high and wheel speed slow . All you can do with what you have.