Which LoBoy is best for me

[jbrown006]

Hi All

I need a new tractor and I think a LoBoy is the right tractor for me, but I wanted to ask about which one is best for my situation.

I have a 7 acre horse ranch in California which is very hilly. I mainly have to mow, mostly on hills, The other main duty is to haul things around the ranch, usually via a small trailer. I haul dirt, hay, mulch, firewood, and the weekly trash which is a third mile away. Im not doing any farming, but a box blade might be useful on occasion.

The ground is fairly loose sandstone,

I was thinking of having a LoBoy with a belly mower and the large balloon tires. I mainly wanted to ask about horsepower ratings due to the hills and the grass can get a couple of feet tall before I mow it.

Will I be OK with a 154, 10 or 11 HP?
And is t possible to lower a LoBoy? I was wanting the lowest center of gravity possible.

thanks for listening

[RaymondDurban]

Welcome to the board!
The numbered series line are great mowers and utility machines for pulling a trailer around the yard. When you mention the grass getting a couple feet tall before mowing it, having a loboy being able to successfully take care of the cutting without overwhelming the engine would depend on how thick the grass is and if its dry before you mow it.
A properly tuned 154 will have around 15 engine HP, with the 185 and 184 having a bit more. It is not feasibly possible to lower a numbered series loboy. You can however extend the rear wheels out to give you a wider footprint.
A good idea of the extend of the slopes would be necessary before I could recommend one of these tractors for you.

[Eugene]

Numbered Cub Low-Boys will cut reasonably tall grass. But as Raymond states, if the grass is thick, heavy, stringy, the tractor may not be able to handle the task.

Creeper gear is almost required for cutting tall grass. My 154 with creeper gear, 1st gear creeper engaged, will sometimes struggle cutting 2 foot tall fescue pasture grass.

The mower deck will have about a 6 inch variance between full down and full up positions.

How steep is steep?????? I use my 154 for mower and trailer work in the steep Missouri Ozarks. Vertically up and down the hills but no side hill work.

[jbrown006]

I currently am using a sears riding mower gt5000 with a kohler 26hp engine and a 54 inch deck
it handles the mowing fine, however ive essntially wore it out, the construction just isnt beefy enough. for example the trailer hitch is just a hole in sheet steel and its really oblong now.
I have replaced the tires with ATV off road tires and so I have no real traction issues, although it does sometimes get stuck when it gets muddy.
I go thru a lot of blades, they wear out fast as Im not mowing golf course like grass, but weeds and grass with an occasional rock.

maybe an underbelly flail mower would be better.

Sears makes a 9500 series garden tractor, but its almost 10k in cost. Thats a lot of money for a sears garden tractor.

Ive borrowed my neighbors kaboda tractor with 11hp and a bushhog. That works fine but looking backwards the whole time is bad for my neck.
Buying a new mini tractor from new holland, kaboda, or john deer costs 12k and up.

so in summary, I cant really give you a set of degrees for the hills, but tried to say that these other tractors work in this environment.

thanks again

[Eugene]

Flail mowers work great. The roller will role over an occasional rock. Biggest problem with flail mowers is, stringy grass gets wound up in the cutter bar.

If you currently mow across the slope, just about any tractor will do the job.

For a work tractor I suggest a Standard Cub, or one of the slightly larger farm type tractors. Initial purchase price will be in the same range as a Numbered Cub.

Brush hogging. I set the mower to the approximate mowing level. Make one round without looking backwards. Check the height of and condition of the cut. Make adjustments if necessary. Make second round without looking back. Every once in a while look back to check the mower's condition. No need to keep an eye on the mower, just check the mower cut from the previous round.

[Mortgaged]

IMO, for that much "rough" mowing, I think I would look for a 40+hp farm tractor and put a PTO driven 6-7' brush hog on the back. It will easily handle what you're asking it to do and they are typically less than $5k on Craigs ready to go. Use it like Eugene said and you're good to go. You'll find that you don't need to look back once you get a feel for doing it and learn where the cut line is relative to your front wheel. The big (medium) tractors ride much smoother on rough ground and will easily handle the hills and rough stuff. Pick up a few 3-pt implements and you'll be able to do a lot more work with the tractor too.

For comparison, I think your GT5000 will probably cut much faster than any of the cub's but as you noted, it is not made to last. With a little normal maintenance the cub will still be cutting long after your next 5000 dies.

If you're hitting rocks, sand, etc. you'll wear out blades no matter what you're using. A big heavy brush hog blade will last much longer than a "grass" cutting blade but it won't give you a nice finished cut.

[SONNY]

Not even a chance of doing THAT kind of mowing! thanks; sonny

[Boss Hog]

buy a ford 600 series with a 5 foot bush hog That is more of what you need , you would do better with a 3000 or 3600 but they will run mucho denaro and the 3 point hitch will be nice too for the box blade
No way will a 154 185 or 184 do what you want
Boss

[Eugene]

Pretty much agree with BossHog. I have 2 each WD Allis Chalmers. I brush hog about 16 acres with the tractors. Also use the Allis' for heavy trailer hauling, such as fire wood. Actually, the tractors are locally priced cheaper than Cubs.

I mow the steep Ozark side hills with the WDs.

I own two Cubs so I'm not one to run down their capabilities. But, there are other tractors in the same price range, or perhaps a bit less, with a lot more usable features. Also, newer tractors with 3-point, have a lot more equipment available, new and used than for a Cub or a Numbered Cub Low-boy.

Edit: I have a standard Cub and a Numbered Cub. They are primarily mower tractors with some light duty trailer work. Neither Cub will handle the task of mowing 16 acres of pasture. The WD's are use for brush hogging and logging fire wood.

[outdoors4evr]

I'm kinda leaning toward the recommendation of others. While a loboy might be able to complete the tasks listed, you would probably be much more comfortable with a few more horses and a 3-point hitch and a brush hog. See what is commonly available in your area, but a Ferguson or a Ford (popular for small farms) would probably accomplish the task with less stress (and faster). Look for something around 30-45 hp.

[mjr46]

you need something other than a low-boy.........they are finish mowers and that's about it, grew up on 17 acres, the low boy never mowed the fields and yes they were hilly, very well...expecially when the grass got tall and lots of weeds.......we mainly used a ford NAA golden jubile model with a bush hogg. If you're wearing a big lawn tractor out then getting a low boy with less hp , isn't gonna be a solution. Currently I own a 184 with all the options.. It works great for finish mowing and pulling carts. I hooked up a landscape rack and it works it, more so than I want it too....so I mainly pull the landscape rake with a new holland tc25d model.........The 184 will pull a flat blade to grade gravel quite well, and I just acuired the Original plow for the front of these low boys, I have wheel spacer and chains so we'll see how that works this winter....after of course I get the motor back in it..lol...rebuilding it now

[BigBill]

A farmall super A with a brush hog or even a nice Ford 8n. Get a bigger tractor then either cub with grass that tall.

[danovercash]

Get Boss Hogg to sell you that LCG Ford he has. Drove one for 20 years pulling both ford flail and RM 600 Woods. Tall grass will smoke the belts!

[SONNY]

I use two ac WD-45"s and two WD tractors for heavy work also use the 650-g on the big tiller!-----big weeds mean big hp. to knock them down!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks; sonny

[Boss Hog]

Get Boss Hogg to sell you that LCG Ford he has. Drove one for 20 years pulling both ford flail and RM 600 Woods. Tall grass will smoke the belts!

It is now a regular Ford and belongs to someone else Those LCG Fords are like lo-boys I have no use for them at all