Lowest cutting rotary mower?

[jdg]

I will scalp annual fields in spring and fall, and sometimes pastures in the fall for overseeding and am curious if anyone has ever owned/operated a mower that is as durable as a rotary mower, but will cut down to a few inches. I've never ran a finishing mower, but assume that it might not function for my normal, regular height, pasture clipping. I would really like a batwing that would do this, so it would hug the contours better than a wide deck. Presently I use my mower-conditioner to scalp,and it works pretty well, but because its 10' wide i get into a lot of dirt clods, ant beds, etc. and it won't shred like a bush hog.

Any suggestions?

 

[Texasmark]

I think you are right on with a small batwing. I have rolling terrain with numerous "sink holes" and mowing without scalping spots is impossible. When I was working I initially thought that I should keep getting wider and wider rotary mowers since my farming was shared with my city job, but they did what you are attempting to avoid...so after I retired, I back tracked and went with a narrower mower. Going to a small batwing would give you the smoothness of a narrow mower with the speed of 3 in 1.

For what it's worth I bought a Ferris IS700Z , 5' a couple of years ago and worked it over to maximize a smooth ride (added seat springs and changed the rear wheels from 12" to 8", installing 22x10x8, 2 ply soft sidewall, studded snow tires, for hill traction and soft ride) plus added a sun shade. I find that I seldom if ever use my bush hog type mower any more. I can run this little sucker really fast and get an "estate lawn" type cut. I don't let the grass get up very high unless it's in a hay patch.

 

[True Grit Farms]

You need a fairway mower off a golf course.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

You need more cows.

 

[snoopdog]

I apologize ahead of time for the sarcastic answer , but if you can mow pasture with a moco, don't even think about ever buying a place in ar/ok. I know that isn't any help , but I just can't imagine .

 

[jdg]

Sometimes mow my annual fields with a moco....usually in attempt to give my new overseed a chance to compete. Haven't used moco on pasture.

I've used grazing pressure to try and accomplish this, but they aren't as effective against some of the weeds I'm working against (pigweed, sida, marestail, etc).

Herbicides will accomplish this, but my aim is minimum disturbance, from a soil health perspective. I use them only when nothing else works.