Anyone Have a Gang/Reel Mower?

[Brandon Webb]

Always wondered how well they would work with a cub. Anyone have a working one? Thanks Brandon.

[Rudi]

Brandon:

Have a look at the Ad's and Brochures section of the Cub Manual Server and at the Brochures at TM Tractor Part's website. Coldwell, Ideal, LawnShear, Philadelphia and Sunflower all made Reel Mowers for the Cub. I think even Fairway had a set for the Cub...

Here is an example, which has been on the server for about 3 years now:

[Buzzard Wing]

I got a free set of 3 reel mowers, but gave it away. It was made by Sunflower but is marked 'SunMastr' I really don't have any use for reel mowers, but sure would have kept em if I did. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Bu ... 69e1e3.jpg

Here are some shots of a friends Cub with a different kind of rigging, but a great setup, two in the front and one in the rear all lift off the TC.


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Bu ... 1Small.jpg

[Bob McCarty]

Brandon, when I was a kid, my dad had a Cub with a 3 gang reel mower on it. As we had several acres of grass, it made short work of it. The biggest downside was if you mowed over any twig or branch of adequate size, it jammed that reel. You had to stop, get off , and clean it before continuing. Not very good for field grass or anything coarser though.

Bob

[Rudi]

Larry:

Man o Man.. those would be some nice to have. Especially since they are the SunMastr ones..

By any chance do you have more pics of the reel type mowers? If so, please bring em on a memory stick to Cecil's?

Thanks

[Brandon Webb]

I was wondering how much better they would mow, because they wouldn't take any HP away from the engine via the pto. Seems like it might be a 3rd gear operation. I've heard they only work on level land. But golf courses use them. Brandon.

[Rudi]

Brandon:

1. You can only go as fast as the mowers will allow.. probably max idle in 2nd will be sufficient to achieve a good cut. I don't have any real experience with reels on a Cub.. but some on the hand powered as well as some professional stuff.

2. Only on level ground.. well, the last golf course I saw that was level was a miniput range... What they mean by that, is it pretty well has to be even, with few dips and ridges as the mowers will skip over and lose traction on valleys etc...

3. The big advantage is yes.. no HP loss as the mowers are ground driven... also better cut.. and passive return of nutrients to the lawn in the form of short grass clippings.

I love em..

[Boss Hog]

There is a HP loss We use gang mowers at work we have a 5 gang and a 7 gang it takes a 30 HP tractor to pull the 7 gang to do a good job. I think a cub could handle the 3 gang reel mowers very well Because they are groung driven they cut beter around 4 miles an hr or so.
The reels in the picture have the same gear boxes as jaccobson blitzer reels. You can find them fairly easy and could make the hardware to hook them up
David

[Matt Kirsch]

No doubt it takes HP to pull, but at least you can pull a 60" cut without it taking every last drop these little guys can put out just to spin the blades

[Brandon Webb]

Matt, that's exactly what I was meaning. It's everything a cub with a mower can do to mow in anything over a few inches tall. If you have a 9 hp cub, how much hp do you think is running the deck 3 to 5? But I understand what dave's saying about the reel mowers, they would create drag, probably using about the same HP as the belly mower. The reel mower would give a better cut, but they probably wouldn't work well in grass that was to tall.

I've never used a 3 bladed finish mower with a cub. We have a Wood bush hog type we mow our side yard with. It does fair, but we have a yellow cub with the higher HP engine. How fast does the deck turn on these 3 bladed mowers? Were they designed to increase the pto speed? What I'm asking is Do the 3 bladed mowers take more HP to run than the bush hog type? I know they'd have to provide a higher quality cut. The only think I hate about our woods bush hog mower is when you push the clutch in, the "clicker" clutch on the deck.

One more HP question for you. How much do you think the Hydraulic system takes from the engine? If you had a hand lift cub, do you think it would put out more HP? Would the hydraulics take 1 or 2 hp? Brandon.

[Buzzard Wing]

Rudi, actually he buggered em up a bit (broken gear??) but he got another set exactly like it. I could ask for em back?

[Rudi]

Larry:

Yup.. that would be neat. I am sure you could fix em And the broken gear.. well that might be a bit of a challenge, but I am sure we could find a replacement gear for em.. at the worst.. might have to have one made.. but even that may not be a big obstacle..

Remember - I always look at the glass as half full

As far as HP loss, it sure would be a lot less than using a belt driven mower. The loss caused by drag will not cause HP loss, but may cause traction loss, or speed. But and this is the thing with reel mowers.. there is a limit to what speed that you can run and still get a decent cut. The trick is to find out where that is, so you can accurately guage the time required for the job to be done.

Now, from my perspective.. seat time is quality time, and how long it takes just either shortens or lengthens the quality of the time spent. I guess when you are independantly poor and no longer are required to work for a living, a new perspective is shed upon things, so I guess that colours my thinking.

To me.. having grown up with power equipment to cut grass that looked like this:



anything is doable. The secret is in the perspective. I do have a preference for some of these wonderful old tools.

Another thing is, with a reel mower you are not likely going to let your grass get too tall, at least I wouldn't. Part of the fun of owning a Cub and using it to cut the grass... is to Well CUT THE GRASS

The HP question should be answered by this image:



The key is to get the right reel mower for the job at hand. No sense in using a stick to cut meat if a knife is the better tool

[Brandon Webb]

I understand what your talking about. If I didn't have to work, I'd be looking for something to do to pass the time. I guess one could slow down a little bit and mow with a cub. But I'm young, still have to earn a living, and I look at my 3 acre yard as a 1 day a week burden. I enjoy tinkering with cubs, but sure glad I don't have to mow with one. Brandon.

[Hengy]

I always love your posts, Rudi! Always full of GREAT INFORMATION and GREAT PICTURES!

This most recent one brings up a thought. Do you think that it would be possible to "modify" some of those old hand-powered reel mowers for use behind or underneath a cub? You always see these things hanging around at rummage sales and flea markets and such for CHEAP.

I would think that a fella could rig something up to pull the gangs behind thew cub if raising them up would not be a priority. A good fabricator could rig up a lifting system for these gangs. One would have to use more gangs to get the 5' cut, but this could work, couldn't it? since the wheels are smaller on these push mowers, would ground speed have to be reduced?

Just thinking out loud!!!

Mike in La Crosse, WI

[Rudi]

I always love your posts, Rudi! Always full of GREAT INFORMATION and GREAT PICTURES!

This most recent one brings up a thought. Do you think that it would be possible to "modify" some of those old hand-powered reel mowers for use behind or underneath a cub? You always see these things hanging around at rummage sales and flea markets and such for CHEAP.

I would think that a fella could rig something up to pull the gangs behind thew cub if raising them up would not be a priority. A good fabricator could rig up a lifting system for these gangs. One would have to use more gangs to get the 5' cut, but this could work, couldn't it? since the wheels are smaller on these push mowers, would ground speed have to be reduced?

Just thinking out loud!!!

Mike in La Crosse, WI

Mike:

Already have 7 of em ready and rarin to go. All I gotta do is finish the blades I am painting for Gord and I, paint the tools I got from Bill Poor, clean my shop, restore 2 dressers, build the pole barn, fix the hillers, harrows and the C-2, and then I can start the mock-up. Already got the drawings..

5 of the 7 are basically matched versions.. all 17" mowers.. 19" would be better.. so will see what happens.