mowing a fence line and a 16 acres of field tractor suggestions?

[David9723]

What do you guys use to mow along a fence line? All i have is a belly mower and a bush hog. I can not get close enough to the fence to get it all even with the bush hog so the weeds are 6 feet tall if not more and the grass in the field is 5 feet tall.

I let another guy make hay from the field but there are a few places he can not get because of trees and i have another 3 acres down the road to mow. I've been thinking about upgrading from a B2650 to the LX3310 but then i seen a L4701 and it's not much more $$ but it's missing the deluxe seat and tilt steering wheel the two things i use most! The grand is out of my price range.

It's main purpose will be mowing around the house, field i would like to get a rear finish mower for yard mowing. Hoping a larger tractor would not tear up the yard, i never have a issue with the B2650 R4 tires.

I already have a 6 ft bush hog that is to big for a B2650 that the front end gets light when trying to mow the fence line as there is a ditch. I also have a 72" front blade for snow and a 3 pt snow blower.

What is with the dealers selling implements to big for the tractor?

I also wanted to get a pto generator down the road for when the power went off the L4701 has a lot of pto HP another reason why i want it.

In some ways i feel like a L4701 is to much tractor for mowing a yard but i want a do it all machine.

 

[Bmyers]

Cutting along a fence line can be challenging. You didn't say what type of fence, which could make a big difference on your options.

We have an old sickle mower that works great getting under fences. An offset flail mower is another option, but it will depend on how much room you have under your fence.

Depending on what equipment you decide to use to mower, you may need rear remotes, so consider that when you are purchasing your tractor. I don't know if the L4701 has a front/mid PTO that would allow you to use the snow blower. I know the LX3310 can be purchased with that option. The other thing I don't know is the compatibility of the model of snow blower you have with the two tractors you are looking at.

Tractor Time with Tim has several good videos showing mowing options and he recently purchased a LX3310.

Tractor Time with Tim

John Deere 1025R, Gardening, and other videos of our family "doing life together" Lots of channels have "how to" videos. We intend to provide an entertaining...

www.youtube.com

 

[David9723]

Cutting along a fence line can be challenging. You didn't say what type of fence, which could make a big difference on your options.

We have an old sickle mower that works great getting under fences. An offset flail mower is another option, but it will depend on how much room you have under your fence.

Depending on what equipment you decide to use to mower, you may need rear remotes, so consider that when you are purchasing your tractor. I don't know if the L4701 has a front/mid PTO that would allow you to use the snow blower. I know the LX3310 can be purchased with that option. The other thing I don't know is the compatibility of the model of snow blower you have with the two tractors you are looking at.

Tractor Time with Tim has several good videos showing mowing options and he recently purchased a LX3310.

Tractor Time with Tim

John Deere 1025R, Gardening, and other videos of our family "doing life together" Lots of channels have "how to" videos. We intend to provide an entertaining...

www.youtube.com

I like the LX just wish it had more PTO HP, The snow blower is a rear mount land pride i have to find the model #.

The fence line is barbed wire.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

any chance you could use some kind of 'offset' mower? I know ther's real $$$$ fancy machines,but a small( 4') bushhog style mower, offset should work ??

 

[Motion]

I have a little over 2,500 feet of 3 strand barbed wire (bottom open) on "t" posts, I run a 6' Gravely ZTR and swerve in and out which only leaves grass around the "t" posts which I catch with a weed eater. It takes practice and getting a rhythm going. That gets me roughly 6 foot out, then I run a 7 foot finishing mower. I keep 16' round-up circles around 135 pecan trees. I run a 7' sickle mower around ponds and ditches. Anything below the tree lines to the river is done with the 6' or 4' Gravely ZTR's, the Cub with a 42" belly or the 30" Gravely Convertibles and a 6' cutter as a back up. I purposely don't have any trees, shrubs, vines, etc. along fence rows because once you have it under control, it's easy to maintain, unless maintenance is easy to do it won't get done. I believe the more equipment you have the better which allows you to select the correct piece of equipment for the task at hand. All the above is just for grass maintenance, dirt work involves way more pieces of equipment.

 

[jimh406]

Buy a fence mower. It will go right round the t-posts.

Of course, you could also buy an offset flail mower or wider rotary cutter.

As others have noted on other threads lately, sickle mowers are for experts due to the danger and the learning curve is dangerous, so I wouldn’t got that route.

 

[Ikc1990]

Fence line trimmer they make them self contained or 3pt hitch with use of pto.. dr makes them as well as others.

 

[kubotter]

Fence line trimmer they make them self contained or 3pt hitch with use of pto.. dr makes them as well as others.

Yep, check this video out. It's on my future watch list for after we put a fence up. Pricey, but I can already tell it would get me to keep that fence looking niiiiice.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

hmm, you don't say how long this fence is but... could you spray a 'kills-all' spray,carefully along the fenceline ? Something like Atrizine,banned of course.... spray once ,good for 5-6 years....

 

[NCL4701]

The 4701 is a nice machine. Love mine. But… it is a basic tractor. If you really want the niceties of tilt steering, stall guard, precise electronic cruise (which for some ag uses is a requirement) you ain’t getting them on a 4701. It also doesn’t have a front/mid-PTO. What it does have is a good bit of HP which was one of the things I definitely wanted for a chipper and possibly generator, both of which I now have. The loader capacity isn’t stellar for a 47hp machine. The seat definitely isn’t air ride comfy.

However, with loaded rears and 4WD it has pretty good drawbar pull, enough PTO HP to run a 4” chipper, 16kW generator, 6’ rotary cutter, etc. Loader has done everything I need. It’s a basic machine with enough grunt to do some real work in an efficient manner with mostly 6’ implements.

I’m aware there are many who would say move on up to a MX for not much more $, which is a legitimate consideration for some. For our property, the MX was just to big physically to fit in some places.

If you really want some nice options such as found on 60 series, probably not the right machine. If you want a basic machine that has the grunt to get things done, maybe it is a good fit. I was going from a Farmall H and 9N Ford so as basic as the 4701 is it still was like going from a 60’s Beetle to a Z71 Chevy. Not a Rolls but worlds better than the Farmall and Ford.

 

[PaulL]

The tractor line trimmer thing is nice. That could do a bunch of things on my wish list potentially - things I currently use a manual line trimmer for.

Not sure why you'd go from a B2650 to a LX3310. Same tractor with a bit more HP. Sounds like your main problem is ability to lift the bush hog, not ability to spin it?

What is your current issue with getting close to your fence line? I don't really understand why a belly mower couldn't do it. Unless you're talking about mowing under the fence - in which case that tractor line trimmer thing looked like the right tool.

 

[bcp]

What kind of fence, and why do you have a fence?

In the Southwest irrigation-farming area, fences are rare. Almost non-existent unless enclosing livestock. Too expensive to build and maintain. In the photo below there probably isn't one fence.

Bruce

 

[PaulL]

On the generator - what's your use there? Is it just when the power goes off, or is it other use as well (having power out on the farm, or similar)?

In my part of the world, a PTO generator costs mostly the same as a proper standalone generator. And whenever I look into it I sort of decide that actually a solar setup with some batteries would be a better idea - a generator helps me when the power's off, but it's a fair bit of messing around to get running. A solar setup would save me power bills all year round, as well as helping me when the power's off (so long as you have batteries). But then it all gets too hard and I do nothing about it anyway - our power doesn't really go off all that often.

 

[JimmyJazz]

I have been contemplating planting a large apple orchard for years. Google or YouTube; Perfect mower. Imported and expensive (what isn't?) . Several models available with automatically retracting hydraulically controlled offset mowing heads. Worth a look. Top of my list if I get to planting my orchard it in this lifetime. Good luck.

 

[aaluck]

What do you guys use to mow along a fence line?

Round up. I spray the fence line about 2 feet (you may not need that much) and it makes life easy. I also do this around our huge trees.

 

[David9723]

Round up. I spray the fence line about 2 feet (you may not need that much) and it makes life easy. I also do this around our huge trees.

I do use it but this crap is tall. There is a fence in this picture!

It's to thick for a weed eater to cut.

I'm still undecided on a tractor to get as i am thinking about buying a rear finish mower to use before i jump to another tractor to see how good of a job they do.

Thing is i want a 72" and i'm not sure if a B2650 has enough HP to run it.

 

[David9723]

On the generator - what's your use there? Is it just when the power goes off, or is it other use as well (having power out on the farm, or similar)?

In my part of the world, a PTO generator costs mostly the same as a proper standalone generator. And whenever I look into it I sort of decide that actually a solar setup with some batteries would be a better idea - a generator helps me when the power's off, but it's a fair bit of messing around to get running. A solar setup would save me power bills all year round, as well as helping me when the power's off (so long as you have batteries). But then it all gets too hard and I do nothing about it anyway - our power doesn't really go off all that often.

It would only be for the house when the power goes off, i do have a portable generator but they do not provide enough watts to power a house, i have a well so when there is no power you have no water.

I was looking at a 16kw pto generator it's around $2,400 with a AVR less without one.

A home standby generator is double that. Plus i have no gas, propane etc for it to run off of so that would be another cost plus maintenance.

It's not something that would get used a lot but on a hot summer days when a storm hit it would be great.

 

[sheepfarmer]

That looks like THISTLE along your fence line! If it is the kind I am guessing from the picture, it puts another face on things. The plants are biennial and will die after blooming, but the seed will blow everywhere. Repeated mowing to keep it from reseeding will control it. If another kind with underground runners, it never dies, and i have not even had great luck with roundup. Get some help from county extension about type, and try to eradicate or mow this year even if you have to rent something to get it cut down before it goes to seed. Even one of those walk behind push string trimmers. An offset flail on any size tractor would work.

Thistle will ruin a field, but it has a harder time infesting fields that are not overgrazed and have a good thick mowed grass cover.

I got thistle in one of my pastures from some hay i fed my horses, and have spent the last 20 years cutting off the flower heads of the dozen or so plants that still pop up and escape mowing.

 

[D2Cat]

Those tall purple flowered plants are musk thistle, as sheepfarmer mentioned. I'd suggest putting on some leather gloves, grab an empty feed sack, and pick off every purple flower and put in the sack. If you neglect removing the flowers and let them go to seed you will be fighting a greater battle for years. From the time you see the large purple flowers until they blow in the wind might be two weeks. When they open up they will be like a dandelion and blow and give you a new plant!

The seeds can lay dormant for like 7 years. You can spray them with 2-4-D when they are the size of a dinner plate.

I pull the heads and then spray them, or if the soil has some moisture they can be pulled up like carrots (might take a shovel to spade the soil a few inches away and leverage them up a bit.)

Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Musk thistle

 

[David9723]

Those tall purple flowered plants are musk thistle, as sheepfarmer mentioned. I'd suggest putting on some leather gloves, grab an empty feed sack, and pick off every purple flower and put in the sack. If you neglect removing the flowers and let them go to seed you will be fighting a greater battle for years. From the time you see the large purple flowers until they blow in the wind might be two weeks. When they open up they will be like a dandelion and blow and give you a new plant!

The seeds can lay dormant for like 7 years. You can spray them with 2-4-D when they are the size of a dinner plate.

I pull the heads and then spray them, or if the soil has some moisture they can be pulled up like carrots (might take a shovel to spade the soil a few inches away and leverage them up a bit.)

Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Musk thistle

I was wondering what they where called....they are nasty.

Thanks for the link!