Damage from over-sized RFM?

[gcmiller]

In late 2015 my wife and I bought a home that came with a 2004 B2910HSD and a Caroni TC910 five blade 91 inch finish mower. The previous home owner had been using this combo to mow the 5 acre pasture at the back of the property for 11 years before we bought the place and I continued to do the same in 2016 and 2017 and, at least at the moment, I’m planning to continue doing so this year. The tractor and the mower both run great and I haven’t had any issues with either. However, the tractor is 30 HP with a 22 HP PTO and the RFM owner’s manual says it’s rated for tractors 45 to 60 HP. The manual doesn’t say anything about recommended PTO HP, just the HP of the tractor.

On a high level I understand I may be stressing my tractor with such a large mower, but what specifically is being stressed and what damage might be happening? Is this stressing the hydraulics, the motor, seals, all of it? Is there anything in particular I should inspect for damage done or something I should be on the lookout for? Or is there no real stress until I hit something with the mower and the tractor/PTO can’t handle it? TIA

 

[Ike]

With a finish mower you are not cutting real tall stuff so you can get away running a bigger mower. It is not like a brush hog mowing down 4 foot tall weeds

 

[rbargeron]

The recommended tractor hp is based on power but also weight-handling capacity. A B2910 may get pretty light in front with a 91" cutter out back. But operated reasonably it shouldn't suffer for it. Maybe a broken check-chain now and then.

Of course if you are looking for a good excuse to get more tractor, you'll get plenty of support here. After I started using my first Woods RM990 I was so impressed I bought it a bigger Kubota !

 

[gcmiller]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Rbargeron, I'd never turn down a bigger tractor, but I'm happy with what I have... for now. We'll see what the future holds.

Teg, yes I'm engaging the PTO at idle speed and I slowly crank up the throttle until I reach 540 at the PTO. The only time the engine got hot on me was when the radiator and the radiator screen got clogged up, but a good cleaning took care of that. Otherwise the temp stays low when mowing.

Thanks again

 

[D2Cat]

If the grass is taller then normal when you cut it, you don't have to take a full swath. Cut only the amount your tractor will handle.

 

[gcmiller]

If the grass is taller then normal when you cut it, you don't have to take a full swath. Cut only the amount your tractor will handle.

Great advice. I had to do this once before when we had a lot of rain and I wasn't able to get to the mowing for a while.

 

[chim]

If the 91" Caroni is built similarly to the 59" Caroni I have, it shouldn't be cause for concern. For a 10 year period I ran the Caroni on my little Ford 1210 and a 5' Land Pride on my Kubota B7500. Each of the tractors handled their respective decks well.

Out of curiosity I swapped the decks for a test drive one time. The difference between the two decks was huge. The Kubota handled the Caroni deck like it wasn't even back there. The poor little Ford was way overburdoned with the Land Pride.

Last year I was looking into getting a 91" Caroni to replace the 6' Land Pride I have on the L3200. I contacted Agri Supply because the big Caronis weren't on their website. The lady told me that was because the big deck was on back order.