F2690 Production Rates

[KidKj65]

Hello, I have a lawn maintenance company, and we are looking at bidding on some of the school board contracts, which are predominantly open fields ranging from 1 to 3 acres in size.

I am considering purchasing an F2690 front mount mower, if we are awarded the contract. I am curious if anyone has an idea of how much grass these things can cut per hour for the 60" and 72" deck models. Assume relatively open areas with some obstacles to maneuver around.

Thanks for any help!

 

[MOOTS]

We have 2 F2690/72” side discharge at work, county parks and recreation. A zero turn will do more acres per hour than an F. The F’s really shine if it’s very damp or you have lots of rolling hilly areas. They just go.
On our Bermuda fields they do a good job if the grass is higher than normal, like you missed a mow due to rain. They put a lot of power to the ground to cut the overgrowth and get back to your desired height.

 

[RCW]

Hello, I have a lawn maintenance company, and we are looking at bidding on some of the school board contracts, which are predominantly open fields ranging from 1 to 3 acres in size.

I am considering purchasing an F2690 front mount mower, if we are awarded the contract. I am curious if anyone has an idea of how much grass these things can cut per hour for the 60" and 72" deck models. Assume relatively open areas with some obstacles to maneuver around.

Thanks for any help!

We have 2 F2690/72” side discharge at work, county parks and recreation. A zero turn will do more acres per hour than an F. The F’s really shine if it’s very damp or you have lots of rolling hilly areas. They just go.
On our Bermuda fields they do a good job if the grass is higher than normal, like you missed a mow due to rain. They put a lot of power to the ground to cut the overgrowth and get back to your desired height.

I would give @MOOTS advice a lot of credence.

He's done that for a lot of time and territory.

 

[MOOTS]

I would give @MOOTS advice a lot of credence.

He's done that for a lot of time and territory.

Thanks for the kind words. I was actually into a deck gearbox today, replacing the spindle from a stripped blade bolt. Easy peasy.

 

[KidKj65]

We have 2 F2690/72” side discharge at work, county parks and recreation. A zero turn will do more acres per hour than an F. The F’s really shine if it’s very damp or you have lots of rolling hilly areas. They just go.
On our Bermuda fields they do a good job if the grass is higher than normal, like you missed a mow due to rain. They put a lot of power to the ground to cut the overgrowth and get back to your desired height.

Thank you for the insight! We currently use a Multiforce as our zero turn. With a 54" deck I can usually get about 1.25 acres per per hour if I had to guess. I would have thought even a 60" deck on an F Series much less a 72" deck would be closer to 1.5-2 acres per hour. Are your estimates based on generally wide open fields?

 

[MOOTS]

Thank you for the insight! We currently use a Multiforce as our zero turn. With a 54" deck I can usually get about 1.25 acres per per hour if I had to guess. I would have thought even a 60" deck on an F Series much less a 72" deck would be closer to 1.5-2 acres per hour. Are your estimates based on generally wide open fields?

Yes, wide open multi purpose fields.
Just did some math on the fields I use to mow, 4.8 ac and I could do it in about an hour or so depending conditions. I always mowed in turtle.

This patch is 2 fields. Large enough for full size soccer on each.

Will mention the height of cut on the F’s is a set it and forget it. It is adjustable, but sorta janky and confusing if you have multiple operators changing things.

 

[PaulL]

I'm always interested in mowing speed. Neil from Messicks (source of all knowledge, or at least of all YouTube videos) says that you mow in medium. But I mow in high with my B2601, and when the ground flatness allows it, I mow full speed. It's quite happy doing it, and you mow an awful lot of ground real fast. Surely the point of an F having gears other than low is that you should use them when mowing?

To be fair, the cut quality suffers quite a bit. But I'm mowing community land, and I do it as my community service. People don't get to complain about cut quality, they're just happy I mow it.

 

[KidKj65]

Yes, wide open multi purpose fields.
Just did some math on the fields I use to mow, 4.8 ac and I could do it in about an hour or so depending conditions. I always mowed in turtle.
View attachment 152597
This patch is 2 fields. Large enough for full size soccer on each.

Will mention the height of cut on the F’s is a set it and forget it. It is adjustable, but sorta janky and confusing if you have multiple operators changing things.

Sorry for the late reply. So this is to say you were getting about 4-5 acres per hour of production out of it? I was only getting 1 to maybe 1.5 out of my zero turn.

 

[KidKj65]

I'm always interested in mowing speed. Neil from Messicks (source of all knowledge, or at least of all YouTube videos) says that you mow in medium. But I mow in high with my B2601, and when the ground flatness allows it, I mow full speed. It's quite happy doing it, and you mow an awful lot of ground real fast. Surely the point of an F having gears other than low is that you should use them when mowing?

To be fair, the cut quality suffers quite a bit. But I'm mowing community land, and I do it as my community service. People don't get to complain about cut quality, they're just happy I mow it.

Makes sense, thanks for the insight!

 

[MOOTS]

Sorry for the late reply. So this is to say you were getting about 4-5 acres per hour of production out of it? I was only getting 1 to maybe 1.5 out of my zero turn.

Maybe. It’s been 5 years since I’ve had to mow, I spin wrenches now. I could be remembering wrong and it was about 45-1 hour per field. That would be 2-2.5 acres an hour, as 4 just seems high.

I’ll ask the crew lead up there her thoughts, as that mower is still there.
Talked with her, they are mowing it with a 60” scag zero turn and it is taking them about an hour per field. So I have no idea what I was remembering now. Lol. I still say that 4.8ac can be done in under 2 hours with the F.

 

[KidKj65]

Tha

Maybe. It’s been 5 years since I’ve had to mow, I spin wrenches now. I could be remembering wrong and it was about 45-1 hour per field. That would be 2-2.5 acres an hour, as 4 just seems high.

I’ll ask the crew lead up there her thoughts, as that mower is still there.
Talked with her, they are mowing it with a 60” scag zero turn and it is taking them about an hour per field. So I have no idea what I was remembering now. Lol. I still say that 4.8ac can be done in under 2 hours with the F.

Thank you for the insight, it is much appreciated! I think I will use a rough production rate of 2 acres per hour using a 60" deck, and maybe 2.5 acres per hour if I run a 72" deck.

 

[PaulL]

AI doesn't really know, but gives some calculations. In theory, without too much mowing around landscaping, you could get to around 4 acres per hour. But user reports are around 2 acres per hour both for the F-series and the similar John Deere's. But no idea what sort of terrain they're mowing, and what tradeoff they're making between speed and cut quality.

https://x.com/i/grok/share/eSM9UYjd0UlHoknz74RRsi3vO

 

[KidKj65]

AI doesn't really know, but gives some calculations. In theory, without too much mowing around landscaping, you could get to around 4 acres per hour. But user reports are around 2 acres per hour both for the F-series and the similar John Deere's. But no idea what sort of terrain they're mowing, and what tradeoff they're making between speed and cut quality.

https://x.com/i/grok/share/eSM9UYjd0UlHoknz74RRsi3vO

Yea, that sounds about right. I can't see getting 3+ acres per hour out of it unless you're not concnerned with cut quality. I think 1.75 to 2 acres per hour would be a reasoanable range. Still more productive than our zero turn so we can obtain cost efficiencies, but we won't be selling ourself short when it comes to constructing the bid.