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 acre.
$100 per acre where I live in SC. To me that is way too high. To put the cost into an equine setting, one acre is approximately three 20x60 meter dressage arenas, placed side by side.
But to be fair, many of these mowing folks are making tractor payments, trailer payments, and truck payments on top of other living expenses. That plus the time to load up the equipment, chain it down, and tow it to your property and unload later can add up to as much time as spent actually mowing.
If I were in your shoes, I’d be on the lookout for someone close by to hire who will use your tractor and rotary cutter and hopefully save some money. But as there is always a down side, you’d have to fuel the tractor and cover any repairs and keep the tractor serviced.
I think your best bet is to offer it up for someone to round bale it and take the roundbales for free.
I did that when I bought my farm. The farmer refused to take them for free and traded me some good quality hay, then we worked out a lease where he kept the pasture weeded and either I kept bales or he paid me for the lease.
I’m so sorry about your loss. I totally get not feeling up to doing the task of learning the ropes just yet.
Ask at the feedstore or tractor place nearby, for just 6 acres there’s a good chance they know somebody with a spare teenager or the like who knows how to bushhog (it’s not hard or complicated) and they can knock it out a couple of times this summer, then show you how it works when you’re ready, whether that’s this year or next, it doesn’t matter. That timeline is yours. You have the equipment, you only need an operator, so it’s not like someone has to bring equipment to you, just themselves. I would expect a minimum cost of 25/hr.
This sounds like a good idea in theory, but it would all depend on the person you get to do it. Our new neighbors have this arrangement with a local farmer. Last year it was almost August before he got around to cutting and baling the hay, which is way too late for a first cut. Then he let the round bales sit on the field for almost a year before he finally took them off. And the neighbor told me that there were still round bales on the field from the previous year. The neighbor is now looking for a better solution for maintaining the property and is considering buying a tractor and attachments so he can do it himself.
For custom field work my husband charges $125/hr from the time he leaves our lane till he is pulling back in. This rate is pretty standard in our area.
Should a neighbor who has experienced the loss of her husband ask for his help, it would be free.
You have my sympathy for your loss. Mowing pastures is a very satisfying thing to do. It also gives you several hours for thought and contemplation. That’s where I think out any problems. Put your big girl panties on and give it a try. You will be rewarded with some problems solved and a terrific looking pasture, along with the satisfaction of having done it yourself.
This phrasing seems condescending and unkind to someone who has recently lost a partner. They are grappling with far more important and impactful issues than learning to mow, and have already stated they are overwhelmed with other things.
Grey
110% agreed. I bristled.
Like I mentioned on another thread - sometimes it isn’t “the thing” or the money - it’s the TIME. I’m able to do all the things, but I don’t have the time to do all the things - so I hire some out. Dealing with an estate has the potential to be all consuming, even without the grief aspect.
Me, too…. And personally, I need a whole new vocabulary to hook up a bush hog by myself. After my DH died (21 years ago) I bought a tractor for the spreader, the bush hog, and the arena drag because it took more time to change equipment out than to actually do the task.
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