Mower that will mow high?

[Cindyg]

What mower or garden tractor will mow my grass high? I am growing native grasses that need to be high or they’ll choke out. Most of the mowers I see have a maximum height of four inches. I’d like something higher.

I rotate the horses through paddocks. I really just want to nip off the tops of the taller grasses that the horses didn’t eat so the shorter, tastier species have a chance to catch up while the horses are off that section.

I have 1.25 acres, and it’s flat – rough, but flat. Not a lot of trees. Just open horse pasture.

Thanks in advance.

[gumtree]

All the garden tractors (inexpensive ones) I have seen don’t seem to go higher than 4 inches. Most Zero Turns seem to be 5 inches or lower. I bought a Scagg because it had the highest setting that I could find at the time, 6 inches. I mow 5 to 10 acres with it.

[2DogsFarm]

I have an older MTD YardMachine riding mower that has a 6" setting.
If that is high enough for your purposes, check ads for a used machine.
Mine is over 15yo as it came with the place when I bought it.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

I run my zero turn in the pastures at 5 inches. Not all zero turns go that high.

[Cindyg]

This is very bad news.

[msj]

My zero turn mows higher than my riding mower for sure. I’ve got a Ferris zero turn that is 61" wide. Only problem I have with the zero turn is wet ground and getting stuck. A good mower isn’t cheap so plan to spend for one that will last. :eek:

[China_Doll]

typically you would mow a pasture with a tractor and a mower on a 3pt hitch. Then you could raise and lower as needed

[SonnysMom]

My highest setting on my Scag is 5 inches but I am not sure how high it would be if I didn’t put the deck down at all. I will sometime mow uneven areas or areas that may have rocks or sticks.

[lorilu]

@China Doll

typically you would mow a pasture with a tractor and a mower on a 3pt hitch. Then you could raise and lower as needed

well that would be overkill for my 2 acres of pasture…

[China_Doll]

@lorilu

well that would be overkill for my 2 acres of pasture…

i only have about 2 acres that I mow with my 33 horse tractor. I also push snow, gill my arena, haul manure, haul trees and I’ve use it to haul mulch, sand, lime, and I hauled over 200 dump truck loads of dirt. I would never be with out my tractor and accessories.
I have been mower shopping for my yard and they do not suggest a regular mower for a pasture. They can’t handle the taller grass and some get too hit if you mow too long.

[Juliette]

We have a Ferris zero turn that I mow our (very hilly) fields with. It’s wonderful. I leave the deck all the way up which is about 5 1/4 inches.

[LauraKY]

How high is high? There are ATV tow behind mowers…finish mowers as well as brush hogs.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

The higher you mow with a standard deck/blade mower, the less suction you get. When I mow at 5" I need to slow down a bit more and I still get some stingers. What reason do you need to mow higher than this?

[UrbanHennery]

@China Doll

i only have about 2 acres that I mow with my 33 horse tractor. I also push snow, gill my arena, haul manure, haul trees and I’ve use it to haul mulch, sand, lime, and I hauled over 200 dump truck loads of dirt. I would never be with out my tractor and accessories.
I have been mower shopping for my yard and they do not suggest a regular mower for a pasture. They can’t handle the taller grass and some get too hit if you mow too long.

I second this. I mow my pasture with an ancient Kubota B8200 and a brush hog mower deck. I just mowed this week - about 4-5" on the upper pasture where I needed to knock down the blackberry volunteers and 9-10" on the lower pasture with it set as high as I can get it level without having to adjust the 3pt hitch.

We got the tractor off CL for ~$5k 9 years ago and then the mower deck separately for $700(?). Worth it’s weight in gold even if it does look like it came out of Mad Max (clearly stored outside for years and attacked by someone with a hammer…).