Anyone running an ATV mower?

I know, I know, I'm not the first guy who's tried to sell this to the wife but I am looking into this option. I have a 5 acre farm with approx. 1 ac in lawn, 2ac in pasture (grass/weeds) and 2ac hay. I have a farm tractor for the hay but need to replace my old Husqvarna lawn tractor for the rest. The pastures were a little much for the little 18hp Husky but it lasted me 5-6 years and I bought it used! Will it finish mow (lawns) as well as a riding tractor. What brands/models should I look for and what should I avoid? What should I look for in an ATV for this primary purpose? (with the occasional trail ride/hunting trip). Low geared? Reverse? Turning radius?

 

That is bad ass. I never saw that set up before

 

Unfortunately "Bad Ass" is not an effective selling point to wifey!

 

For my dad's and brother's land we use this

5 acres with this guy still takes me a few hours

 

have her mow the yard with a push mower then ask her if she wants one of those

 

this.

for the atv you want 4x4 and reverse for sure. the rest is up to you. Auto atv's will have reverse, N, H, and low.

manual will be R, N, 1,2,3,4, ect...

some have 2wd and 4wd select.

They also make pull behind options for the ATV. Ive used one before for mowing paths on our deer lease. It worked great cutting down 12" plus grass and weeds and small mesquite trees.

the thing you posted looks pretty difficult to put on and off if you are doing it frequently

 

the thing you posted looks pretty difficult to put on and off if you are doing it frequently[/QUOTE]

This is just a random pic from the interweb. I just thought this style would be easier to manouver in the yard than the pull type.

 

Holy cow that thing looks like too much fun. I would end up mowing over hedges

 

They do not do as well in finish mowing. Field mowing works fine. The tires can tear up a good lawn fairly easily as well.

 

If you could find one with selectable lockers, that would be best to prevent the damage mentioned above. My 2003 Kawasaki Prairie has a selectable front locker; not sure if they make them with both front and rear selectable, though.

I do like the setup you pictured - that's pretty sweet.

My parents have 15 acres (90% pasture) and they use a Swisher pull behind mower to do about 5 acres up around the house. Works well for getting the big stuff cut - not for finishing, as you can imagine.

Here is a crappy pic thanks to Google...



It's nice because you set the offset to whatever angle you want and it's got a great motor on it.

Just my $.02.

Fink

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQwc7QFxJys

Looks pretty straight forward to me.

 

$3000 for this mower! + Minimum $3000 for a used atv. No an easy sell.

 

f that.

 

That guy defiantly needs that helmet!

 

i know this is kinda a old post. but thought i would say this. because you will want to thank me later...

we also have 5 acres. maybe 1 is grass. rest is some woods a barn and a little pound. but we used a pull behind on our 04 rancher 350ES 4wd. and i say that after like 30 you REALLY NEED to stop for like maybe 10 or 15 min. we over heated our rancher by doing it all and not stoping. over time it cased damage to motor. had to have new piston and everything. over $800 in labor and parts.

edit: the reason it over heated is. we only went like 2nd gear or so. and their is not anuff air flow over/thru the oil cooler to keep it cool. (pulling a mower puts more strain on motor causing it to work more making more heat) maybe going faster will help. dad always went kinda slow. and to do all of what we did it took like 2 hours or so.

 

Not worth the money!!!!

If you want a mower to use with your ATV.......get the Swisher 60" pull behind.......

Its alot easier to go back and forth from Mowing to ATV .......Its cheaper to buy, and maintain

 

Yes very well could over heat but now they do make water cooled ATV's that don't need that much air flow to keep cool. I'm not sure how the old ranchers are but I have an 09 rancher that is the same as cars/trucks takes 50/50 anti-freeze.