Have you checked on the small brush mowers that are towed behind an ATV? I’m sure they cost more than $2k new but it’s a possibility that’s more up to the task than a lawn mower.

quote:

Originally posted by Captain Morgan:
I have four acres. Before I gat a zero turn, I was using an ATV with a Swisher that had a 60 inch deck.
You could use a tractor and tow the Swisher behind it and get 8-9ft if you have a 48 inch cutting deck on the tractor.

Or tandem, triple swishers.

Why do you have to mow 10 acres?

I used a 60" Bobcat ZTR with a 1000cc fuel injected Kawasaki to mow this 2 acres of weeds. I'd do it 4 times a year and it was hard on the mower even cutting slow in transport position. Burned up a wheel motor early - was it the abuse of using it like a bush hog? I'm sure it contributed.

I sold the mower and hire it done. Pay $225 per and have it cut twice a year.

quote:

Originally posted by Expat:
Why do you have to mow 10 acres?

Grandpa has passed away, Granny is 90, Mama is 70 and suffered a stroke, brother is 4 hours away, and the only family left around there is in his 80s and no longer able to do it.
So that leaves me and I am more than glad to do it. I was out there in the rain for 4 hours with a push mower Monday.

Certainly, not the best option for the job but it needs to get done for us to enjoy the property and $2k is what I can afford at the moment.
Hopefully only be 2 summers like this before I have the tractor up and running maybe even this summer but likely time won’t allow.
But we’ll see.

Find someone that is willing to cut it for the hay. 10 acres is too much to maintain without the right equipment.

Your only viable option would be to get that Ford 3600 tractor running and use that. Using a push mower is not a viable option for the long term, and you're not always going to have the time to do it.

quote:

Originally posted by Jupiter:
Find someone that is willing to cut it for the hay. 10 acres is too much to maintain without the right equipment.

This.^^^^^^

Or goats… See both happen around here.

I will echo the hay idea. There are always farmers looking for hay. You could invest your $2000 in a good used rider and cut around the house, buildings and pond. The other acreage would be cut once or twice a season. If you are lucky, they'll pay you to cut your hay. It's a win/win.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by Expat:
Why do you have to mow 10 acres?

Grandpa has passed away, Granny is 90, Mama is 70 and suffered a stroke, brother is 4 hours away, and the only family left around there is in his 80s and no longer able to do it.
So that leaves me and I am more than glad to do it. I was out there in the rain for 4 hours with a push mower Monday.

Certainly, not the best option for the job but it needs to get done for us to enjoy the property and $2k is what I can afford at the moment.
Hopefully only be 2 summers like this before I have the tractor up and running maybe even this summer but likely time won’t allow.
But we’ll see.

I myself was wondering why mow 10 acres? At least conventionally as in every 1-3 weeks.

A neighbor did this. He lived a couple hours away but used this property for his weekend getaway, coming up Friday evenings and leaving Sunday afternoon. He spent almost the entire Saturday on his 5' zero turn mowing the 9-10 acres. Sundays he would alternate either weed eating or mowing their trails.

He decided to sell his property so I bought it as it adjoins mine but there was no way I'd add that 10 acres of mowing to the 1 1/2 I already had. What I did was let most of that 10 acres grow to support ground nesting birds, deer, and other wildlife and only regularly mow about 2 of it now. The other 8 gets mowed down once in Fall with a cutter or flail mower.

Maybe you could do something like this on that property. Mow an acre or 2 with a riding mower and let the other 8 grow. Then hire someone with a cutter once a year to mow it down.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
So that leaves me and I am more than glad to do it. I was out there in the rain for 4 hours with a push mower Monday.

Certainly, not the best option for the job but it needs to get done for us to enjoy the property and $2k is what I can afford at the moment.

That's admirable, Black. But... you're gonna have to get help. You aren't there enough.

Said earlier, take the $2K and get the tractor fixed, factor in a used bush hog for $500 to $1000. The one I posted was $500 ish.

or as others mentioned, and a good idea.

A) Post a wanted ad, facebook marketplace for someone with the equipment to mow it a few times a year. Imagine someone there would be able to do it, or,

b) Get a used mower, like that JD 318 and mow around the cabin and the sides of the road, let the rest grow and someone bail it in the fall until you get the Ford going and then bring it down to work the farm.

What happens to the dead grass if you mow it and leave it lay. Fire hazard ?

Do you have a four wheeler that you could tow a brush mower behind?

You have a couple of boys IIRC, if they are old enough, get enough scythe's for you and them.

Take the boys with you for a weekend at the cabin, cutting grass, working hard, take plenty of cold drinks and grill up burgers, make it a dad son bonding event once a month.

Maybe get a $500 lawn tractor they can drive to keep the area around the cabin mowed tight.

No ipads, no phones, just bonding, camp fires, smore's and good memories.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

Maybe get a $500 lawn tractor they can drive to keep the area around the cabin mowed tight.

Spend the remaining $1500 on some Round-Up/Glyphosate and a pull behind sprayer.

I think your best bet is to keep an acre or two where you're going to hang out mowed, and let the rest grow up. You could pretty easily keep a few perimeter trails mowed as well.

Then find someone that can bushhog the rest for the hay, and put your profit from that toward purchasing the right equipment to maintain it yourself.

I just don't see a way to get it done for $2,000.

We have the 5 acre pasture at our farm mowed once a year, in September. We don't use the place a ton during the summer, as it is primarily for hunting. But if it is cut in early September it does not really need it again til about now. Obviously, it is waist high in september and is cut with a tractor/bush hog. If we also cut it in late May, that would cover the vast majority of the year.

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
What happens to the dead grass if you mow it and leave it lay. Fire hazard ?

No fire hazard here from grass/weeds, it just rots into the ground.

I found an online acreage calculator where it uses Google maps you draw an outline and it estimates acreage.
So I did that and it looks like it’s between 7.5 and 8 acres of what I would like mowed.
The main reason I want to keep it mowed is because people don’t really get nosey when the grass is kept and it looks like people are there frequently. Going on 100 years with no issues it’s been 20 years since someone lived there.
Start to let it go and folks get a bit nosey.
Nothing to steal inside really but don’t want any damage.
Using that calculator I think I can trim that to under 4 acres that really need mowed that one can see from the road to keep appearances up.
I should be able to get down there every three weeks instead of 4.

In a turn of events I was up at my Mom and Granny’s place doing a bunch of work for them. They live on 2 acres and have a John Deere zero turn. A friend from church uses the zero turn and mows there place each week.
While I was up there Mom mentioned that the mower was at the John Deere dealer for annual maintenance and in need $1900 in repairs.
They’ve been wanting to switch to a lawn service anyway because the friend is busy and can’t always get there.
Also I thought he was doing the maintenance turns out Mom has been sending it off to the John Deere dealer each year and paying $150 on top for pick up and delivery making annual maintenance $500.
I had no idea this was occurring! I could have been doing this for $50 the cost the John Deere maintenance kit.
So they’ll be getting a lawn service for the house. I’ll spend a few hundred dollars on the John Deere and take it to the cabin and mow 3-4 acres.
Take the money saved toss it at the Ford 3600 and then save for something a little more stout than the John Deere.

Problem appears to be solved for the most part.