I live in a rural area in Colorado and have six acres that need mowed. Wondering what the going rate to mow a mixture of grass hay, alfalfa and some weeds. No baling just need to keep it from becoming overgrown. Not interested in having horses, goats or cows graze it down.
My husband always took care of mowing with our tractor and brush hog but he recently passed away and never had a chance to teach me. Maybe next year I’ll be up to tackling it but not right now.
I would pay hourly. How long exactly does it take historically and add on a premium for hauling over a tractor and mower.
The guy we use for brush hogging charges $95/hour, but he has a monster brush hog and can mow 6 acres in 1-1 1/2 hours. That includes everything–travel, towing his equipment, and mowing.
I paid $300 for 10 acres mowed and trimmed the fence line.
I have no going rate suggestions, just wanted to say I’m sorry for your loss. 
Sorry for your loss.
Could you find someone that could come and show you how to use your tractor and brush hog? It’s not that hard and then you will know how to use the tractor for other jobs. If you don’t know anyone you could call a dealer for the brand you have.
@Christa_P has a great suggestion.
FWIW, if I’m mowing for neighbors or helping with haying, I charge $60 an hour; $30 for me and $30 for the tractor.
That does not include hauling the tractor and bushhog to the site; that adds both to the time and expense.
Another alternative might be to pay someone to service your tractor and bushhog, and then just pay someone for their time to do the job on your equipment.
Very sorry for your loss. I have struggled to find local folks willing to come mow my 5 acres but was able to teach my teenager neighbor to mow which has been giant relief. Do you have a neighbor that can teach you to hook it up? My neighbor loves to help me. Given your recent loss hopefully you have a supportive community that would be very pleased to offer this support.
Sorry for your loss. I’m another one who would encourage you to learn how to do this yourself, if you can. You HAVE the equipment… that’s the main thing. If you don’t need the tractor for a lot of other things, the mower can be left on the tractor (they can be tough to hook up and unhook), so that you can mow again later in the season. If you can get this done, it’s a good feeling of accomplishment. If it is impossible for you to do this yourself, it shouldn’t be too expensive to hire someone local to use your equipment to do this job for you. But if I was going to pay someone to do this, instead I’d pay them to show ME how. You can do it!
I know you said it doesn’t need to be baled, but another option would be for a local farmer to come in and make hay if the field is good enough. If this is a possibility you might be able to find somebody to do it free in exchange for the hay, or maybe pay you a few dollars.
Very sorry for your loss.
In Georgia, I see people post “tractor work available” for anywhere from $65-150/hour bringing their equipment. If you can find a local farmer, or farmer’s kid, that can use your equipment, it’d probably be $20-30/hour. Then when you’re ready, I’m sure they’d be happy to show you how to use the tractor.
How long 10 acres takes to mow will depend on the size of the brush hog. With a 60" deck, I think it’s usually about 30-45 minutes per acres.
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