throttle setting for mowing??

[ad356]

i have a friend of mine that observed me mowing with my cub. i always ran it at full throttle when mowing, he said that's not nessary as the cub is a 4 cylinder and it has allot better lugging ability then the little single cylinder engines i used to mow with. i have realized that he is right, i now mow my lawn at about 3/4 throttle and the cub does just fine, it handle deep lawn grass without a problem. im not mowing a field with it, its a residential lawn but it has been growing in thick this year due to all of the rain we have had. these tractor have a fair amount of power, more power then most people give them credit for, they aren't modern diesels but they still have great lugging ability, sip gasoline, and are very reliable..... this year i have done nothing besides change the oil, grease, and fill the gas tank. for a 60 year old tractor i cannot complain. i also am surprised that it handles a 60" deck as well as it does, not even full throttle and not being overworked either. how many other 12hp rated engines can turn a 60" deck and move a 1,200 lb machine without a thought. oh, the 12hp rating number is much lower then it realistically is compared to modern, over-inflated numbers. i look at modern 20+ hp rated cheap lawn tractors and laugh. yeah, right 25 hp? that's more then a farmall super-A... more power then a 123 cubic inch AG engine, that's amusing. anyways off topic just saying full throttle is not necessary for average mowing.

[offrink]

I usually mow in second with a woods 59" mower at half throttle and it does a beautiful job!

[Hengy]

I mow a little about 3/4 throttle. And the main reason for that is ground speed to get the job done faster, but I am mowing about 3.5 acres at a time.

Mike

[Trent M]

As Lurker Carl likes to say 'horsepower will get you there fast, but its torque that cuts the grass.'

I recall some power curves being posted on this site that were generated from tests on the dyno at a few Cub gatherings a few years back. The peak of the torque was not at full RPM, but I don't recall just where most tests found max power. I'm sure a search on this forum will find that info for you.

[ad356]

with how easily these little tractors turn 60" mowers i dont really understand why you would put a 42" mower under a cub. i could understand if you were spend most of your mowing time mowing tall field grass a 42" would probably be better but for mowing a residental lawn it seems like a 42" would just be a waste of time. a 42" mower is no larger then what's under a typical lawn tractor. some of the reasons i bought a cub for my mowing machine.... efficiency, they sip gas literally i can mow my lawn with less gas then a could with a shiney piece of tin with a single or twin.... reliability, despite being 60 years old these machines are still more reliable then a modern lawn tractor that's just a few years old. these machines are AG tractors with small 4 cylinder AG engines. they are built to run for many, many hours in the hot fields pulling a plow or cultivation mowing is hardly working it hard..... it also saves me time over my former IH cub cadet with a 42" deck.

putting a 42" deck underneath a tractor big enough to handle a 60" deck just seems kind of silly unless you are mowing in really bad conditions. heck i even mowed in those conditions with the 60" it just took a little longer. last some i mowed a friends rental property that had not been mowed all season.

[Hengy]

Agree when it comes to true "lawn mowing"... the Woods 59 is billed as a "finish mower" so it does a GREAT job on lawns where the grass is mown on a regular basis. In a field, when the grass gets really tall, it is just about everything that Merlin can do to spin that mower and pull itself through the big field at home. I end up having to mow about 3/4 of the cut on the 59. Thus, with a 42, it would be just about perfect. However, on my lawn, the grass cut is just awesome!

[ad356]

i dont have a woods but i have a C3 danco. i couldnt have passed it up at the price i paid for it $125 at an AG equipment auction. i had to clean up and paint it 2 years ago and im probably going to repaint it again in the fall. it has SOME pitting but no holes or weak areas. that deck it made out of some thick metal. every time i mow i insist on parking the tractor on ramps, getting underneath the mower with a scrapper and removing all of the heavy grass, some still remains but all of the stuff that holds moisture gets removed. i have less than $400 into the mower, that included the mule drive (didnt come with one), belly mower pulley, a new belt (the long belt), paint, and two used casters (the originals were seized badly). its not a woods but i cant complain. im even still using the blades and crossbelts that came with the mower, lol. i sharpen the blades once a year. they are nice heavy blades i doubt i will ever wear them out.

[Urbish]

I realize that ag356 was writing mostly about throttle setting, but he and the rest of you bring up a good point. I was in the market for a new lawn mower and was anxious to find a new home for my 2010 Snapper rear engine rider (which was already showing signs of premature wear after three mowing seasons) and had been shopping for something in the $2000 range. In what seemed like a twist of fate, my wife spotted a restored 1948 Cub with a Woods 59 which showed up for sale around the corner for only slightly more than my mower budget. I jumped on it immediately as I knew that even at its age, the Cub would outlast the finest sheetmetal-framed badge-engineered MTD sold at my local big box stores. So here I am a year later and I am 100% satisfied with my purchase. And to just keep it on topic, I mow at 3/4 throttle in 2nd gear.

[Eugene]

As Lurker Carl likes to say 'horsepower will get you there fast, but its torque that cuts the grass. The peak of the torque was not at full RPM.

1600 RPMs, maximum torque.

Edit. 1600 RPMs, may wind up being a notch or two below full throttle.

[Smokeycub]

I agree, these little tractors are awesome for what they are. Dependable, easy to work on, and if cared for will be around another 60 years or so. Since we're on the subject I would like to know what gear people use to mow with a 60" deck on their yard, and if it's a regular Cub or a numbered Cub. I usually mow in 1st on a somewhat hilly terrain. I guess I'm not in that much of a hurry! lol

[Urbish]

Here's the link to the Cub dyno results. Scroll way down: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42039

[Eugene]

I would like to know what gear people use to mow with a 60" deck on their yard, and if it's a regular Cub or a numbered Cub.

I have a 60" deck on a 154 Low-Boy with creeper gear, 42 rotary mower mounted on a standard Cub and a 48" flail mower, currently in storage, that mounts on a standard Cub.

I mow in either 1st or 2nd gear with the standard Cub. Ground is to uneven, to rough. to mow in 3rd gear.

I use the 154 with creeper when I need to slug things out with the grass. 1st or 2nd gear with creeper engaged and deck elevated will usually handle tall, thick, heavy grass.

[ad356]

i am mowing in 2nd gear and 3/4 throttle. 1st gear is pokey and 3rd i think is loading her down two much. 2nd gear is really idea for mowing applications and snow plowing. i rarely use 3rd, it seems more like a "highway" or transport gear.

[outdoors4evr]

For lawn mowing, I run my 184 at 3/4 throttle (approximately 2000 RPM's) in second gear.
The 184 burns approximately 1 gallon of fuel per hour. With the 60" 3160A mower deck, that one hour mows a little more than one acre (navigating around a bunch of obstacles).

Not bad fuel economy for a 35 year old lawn tractor. I'd like to see a new MTD mow an acre using only 1 gallon of fuel.
Oh, by the way... those new folded tin machines measure engine horsepower. If you measured engine horsepower on a 184, you might be suprised to find the numbers above 20HP.

[Matt Kirsch]

When I was mowing lawn with my Cubs, I would set it for WOT.

It's not about what speed it will run the mower at, but what speed gives you the best looking lawn.

Running the deck slower seems to leave the grass more ragged, even with sharp blades. Full throttle cuts much cleaner and clears the clippings from under the deck better too.