I'm using an 2005 Exmark Lazer Z HP 52" 23 hp. At year end, I will probably be purchasing a second mower. What is the best 60" mower for bahia? My biggest yards have an abundance of this grass, and I need to buy my best option. Thanks.
Guys who cut the dreaded Bahia
Fubba
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I'm using an 2005 Exmark Lazer Z HP 52" 23 hp. At year end, I will probably be purchasing a second mower. What is the best 60" mower for bahia? My biggest yards have an abundance of this grass, and I need to buy my best option. Thanks.
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I cut it all week long........we use kubotas but seriously i think the only good thing for it is sharp blades.....some days i wish i could just roundup it all :weightlifter::weightlifter: its tough stuff.
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Sharp blades! And cut often! I swear Bahia needs to be cut on a 5 day rotation just to keep if from getting out of hand. I don't mow for a living. But I own 5 acres of Bahia, so I do know a little about the stuff. Thank goodness it getting past the prime growth season for the year. I bought a Bad Boy Pup, 52 inch and a 30hp Kohler. It got the job done this year with style. But my advice would be to get a 60 inch deck with a big block engine like a 31hp Kawasaki or 32hp Briggs Vanguard and get the correct blades to cut Bahia. That's my problem is I've not found the correct blades yet. My blades are dull after 25 hours of cutting Bahia this year. I've got a line on some Exmark hi lifts that should work better, but I need to get them. Some of my reading here has shown Dixie Chopper double blades do a fine job on Bahia. Just make sure what ever brand you get that it can discharge large amounts of grass. But be sure you get enough motor to push anything it comes across!
JMHO
ms
JMHO
ms
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57 Posts
I have talked to a few guys on here that say Scag is the way to go on Bahia. They have all told me that the Exmark deck can't clip it all on the 1st pass most times or it leaves straglers. I myself am thinkin about getting an Exmark because I don't have any Bahia to cut I want an Exmark.... Just as soon as I get it, thats probably all the grass I would cut.
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I have owned 2 Exmark's and neither cut bahai very well. My deere does a good job on it (without the mulching kit). I have also heard scag cuts it best but have never tried one as there are no dealers in my area.
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I Demo'd a scag and a Grass Hopper and both seemed about the same in the field I was in. The Bahia was at 2-3 weeks growth and and neither could get it clean on the first pass at nearly full speed. going slower.... Both mowers were 52" with =engines and Hi Lift blades. Going slower the scag did a slightly better job than the GH but still needed to double cut. In the end I went with a GH 227 52" witch is a bigger engine than the ones Demo'ed. cutting weekly with few seed stems growing I can get a clean cut at 3/4 speed in one pass. However the back of the blades.... the "lift" part is getting eat up pretty bad.
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I was running some gps control baseline Saturday when a couple of brothers pull up with a trailer and a couple of Scaggs. (1) TT looking to be a 48 inch deck, and a WC with an even smaller deck. The TT had a 23hp Kawasaki. I don't know what the WC had. When I say brothers I'm not talking about family. I walk over just to watch. We start talking. The leader said he knows me. Yep! That's me! Looking over the Scaggs, they were well used. The big boy on the WC cranks up and is off the trailer on to the yard and cutting right off. The lead brother tries to crank the TT with sparks shooting of the battery cables. But he gets it started. Off he goes with the caster wheels wobbling all over the place. I then watch big boy cutting 10 inch mixed grass at just about full gun. He was fast and good. He'd mow, and then double cut to get rid of the clipping. Then a buddy of his stopped by to talk and drink a beer. I guess it was Saturday! :laugh: But the lawn looked good. The WC was able to cut high grass, and deal with the clippings. I walked over to my other gps unit just to check it. The lead brother was close by, so I walked over to watch. Same grass. Mixed with Bahia, grass and weeds. His caster wheels were still wobbling like carzy! 
But like the other brother he was doing a good job. I must say the Scaggs seem as they can handle high nasty grass with class. I left them mowing with buddies stopping by to drinking another beer or so. :drinkup: In watching them I picked up a tip or so I used today on my yard! I didn't have one burnout turning around. In fact I saved 40% on my mowing time! 
I saved the beer until I parked the mower! :drinkup:
But like the other brother he was doing a good job. I must say the Scaggs seem as they can handle high nasty grass with class. I left them mowing with buddies stopping by to drinking another beer or so. :drinkup: In watching them I picked up a tip or so I used today on my yard! I didn't have one burnout turning around. In fact I saved 40% on my mowing time! I saved the beer until I parked the mower! :drinkup:
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1,605 Posts
I would say the the EverRide Warrior would be about the best option for cutting mostly Bahia, with the Scag and velocity deck or the John deere 700 series and the 7 Iron deck being nearly as good on Bahia. I'm sure that there are other good brands out there that cut Bahia good also.
The main thing is to Keep sharp blades on at all times when cutting Bahia with tall/dry stems.
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The secret to Bahia is mower speed and the height you cut it at.
Obviously the faster you go the most seed heads you're going to miss. It's just like any other stalky growth you'll encounter like plantian, dandelion and onion. Our Bahia here tends to be mixed with a lot of Crabgrass and the combination of the 2 makes for an extremely thick turf. I've seen people on Exmarks, Grasshoppers, Everrides and Hustlers try to just charge through it without any success. First the mowers will bogg down and then they start throwing clumps. On my Dixie I just putt along at about 4 to 5 MPH and I allow the deck to handle the grass as it wants it. My Dixie will kinda get this funny little vibration when you go through grass too fast and you're loading the deck up with clippings. When I start to feel it I slow down. As a result my mower will discharge the grass pretty cleanly and it cuts all of it down on the first pass, every time.
I can cut Bahia at any height and my mower does a good job. The height is only critical if you want to get rid of the excess clippings that you're left with after you cut it the first time. Like I said above this stuff grows like there's no tomorrow, especially if there's a drainfeild invloved. Because of a very thick layer of clay around 6 to 10 inches below ground level here the drainfields are huge here. Sometimes up to 1/8 acre is size.
Due to the huge amount of clippings Bahia produces getting rid of them can be challenging. The higher you cut Bahia the easier it is to do since you have a taller turf left behind to hide the clippings in. But... The higher you cut it the less likely you will get a clean manicured look to your finished lawn. Right now I'm at 3 inches and that seems to be the limit for height. You go higher than that and the lawn almost doesn't look like you've cut it when you're done. You go lower and it gets difficult to disperse the clippings.
Just my thoughts.
Obviously the faster you go the most seed heads you're going to miss. It's just like any other stalky growth you'll encounter like plantian, dandelion and onion. Our Bahia here tends to be mixed with a lot of Crabgrass and the combination of the 2 makes for an extremely thick turf. I've seen people on Exmarks, Grasshoppers, Everrides and Hustlers try to just charge through it without any success. First the mowers will bogg down and then they start throwing clumps. On my Dixie I just putt along at about 4 to 5 MPH and I allow the deck to handle the grass as it wants it. My Dixie will kinda get this funny little vibration when you go through grass too fast and you're loading the deck up with clippings. When I start to feel it I slow down. As a result my mower will discharge the grass pretty cleanly and it cuts all of it down on the first pass, every time.
I can cut Bahia at any height and my mower does a good job. The height is only critical if you want to get rid of the excess clippings that you're left with after you cut it the first time. Like I said above this stuff grows like there's no tomorrow, especially if there's a drainfeild invloved. Because of a very thick layer of clay around 6 to 10 inches below ground level here the drainfields are huge here. Sometimes up to 1/8 acre is size.
Due to the huge amount of clippings Bahia produces getting rid of them can be challenging. The higher you cut Bahia the easier it is to do since you have a taller turf left behind to hide the clippings in. But... The higher you cut it the less likely you will get a clean manicured look to your finished lawn. Right now I'm at 3 inches and that seems to be the limit for height. You go higher than that and the lawn almost doesn't look like you've cut it when you're done. You go lower and it gets difficult to disperse the clippings.
Just my thoughts.
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I would agree with Richard. On my Exmark I dont have any problems but I'm not trying to win any races either and I get it in the first cut as long as my blades are sharp. I sharpen mine every 10 - 15 hours, I have found 4" works for me.
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I have always sharpened my blades every 6 to 8 hours due to all of the sand.
I had a 48" toro with the z force deck and it was miserable on Bahia during the heavy growth season, I had to cut at less then quarter speed to get a quality cut even on fresh blades.
I just recently purchased a 61" TT and what a difference it made on cutting Bahia. I can run almost full speed and get a quality cut on all but one field I mow, and it is a drain field that services 25 mobile homes.
I had a 48" toro with the z force deck and it was miserable on Bahia during the heavy growth season, I had to cut at less then quarter speed to get a quality cut even on fresh blades.
I just recently purchased a 61" TT and what a difference it made on cutting Bahia. I can run almost full speed and get a quality cut on all but one field I mow, and it is a drain field that services 25 mobile homes.
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I only cut a lot of it for one year, but I still run accross a weedy lawn full of it. Depending on the look you can tolerate, I found that mowing it at 2"-2.25" works out to be easier in the long run. It won't hide clippings as nicely, of course, but it seems to cut cleaner at low heights. I presume this is because the plant is stiffer down low and doesn't flop around as much at that height. It also seems to stunt the growth a little more, buying you a few days time. I found at higher cutting heights the ends would fracture rather than cut clean at times.
Sharp blades and a deck that allows the grass to stand up to be cut would be the other tips. Some mowers just seem better at it than others. In florida the problem with mowing low was picking up sand that blasted the blades pretty quickly.
Sharp blades and a deck that allows the grass to stand up to be cut would be the other tips. Some mowers just seem better at it than others. In florida the problem with mowing low was picking up sand that blasted the blades pretty quickly.
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Thats the problem i have with the hi lift blades is the sand
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I run standard lifts on the TT for 2 reason.
1. Not as much blowout from the deck
2. Blade wear on the notched lifts is horrible using the high lifts with all the sand and Bahia I mow.
I have spoken with my local dealer and he told me a lot of LCOs are using the low lift blades, but I find that the quality of cut goes way down using the low lift blades.
1. Not as much blowout from the deck
2. Blade wear on the notched lifts is horrible using the high lifts with all the sand and Bahia I mow.
I have spoken with my local dealer and he told me a lot of LCOs are using the low lift blades, but I find that the quality of cut goes way down using the low lift blades.
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I also don't believe the low lifts will discharge the Bahia nearly as fast as a high lift.
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427 Posts
Hustler Z or Super Z with the XR-7 deck. If you can demo one, you'd be cheating yourself if you didn't try it. The deck and Fusion blades are awesome for this type of grass. The deck was made for 'the South' and its Bahia grass. And believe me, its a true statement.
Thunderhead
Thunderhead
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53 Posts
I am running low lifts right now and it clears the deck fast enough not to clog.... the problem I have with the low lifts is that it does not throw it out very far, Causing the clippings to pile up right under the discharge. However the sand wear on the blade is not very noticeable. Solution is I been running back over the yard 1" higher than I cut to spread the clippings out.
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24 Posts
Is the added cost for the fusion blades worth it?
The Scag blade, (dont remember what #) dont wear well on the notched lift at all.
So I am running XTH or is it XHT blades and they wear much better on the notch.
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427 Posts
I don't know exactly wat "cost" you're refering to, but whatever it is, YES! The cost is definately worth it!:clapping:
Thunderhead
Home for a few minutes waiting out a rain shower.
Here's what I have found out about bahia.
I have some large properties with it. Most are cut on a 14 day rotation.
I use freshly sharpened blades. I try to cut the bahia yards in the afternoon so they are not wet from dew. Wet bahia is the worst.
I have the Exmark Triton deck, use high-lift blades. I cut from 3.5" to 4" in height. Usually 3.5 inches, but on those I cut weekly...4".
You have to slow down. If you are leaving stragglers, you are going too fast. My mower cuts bahia at 3.5" beautifully in one pass. It stripes it too. The secret is...use your head. Sharp blades, go half speed, high lifts, a bit lower cut height.
I cut a marina that is all bahia. It takes about 2 hours straight to just get it mowed. If it were St. Augustine, I could cut it in almost half the time. If I had to cut it twice, add another hour. The trick is slow down, cut it once.
The sand and bahia will dull your blades, so deal with it and have plenty of fresh blades with you. Charge accordingly and make it worth your while.
Here's what I have found out about bahia.
I have some large properties with it. Most are cut on a 14 day rotation.
I use freshly sharpened blades. I try to cut the bahia yards in the afternoon so they are not wet from dew. Wet bahia is the worst.
I have the Exmark Triton deck, use high-lift blades. I cut from 3.5" to 4" in height. Usually 3.5 inches, but on those I cut weekly...4".
You have to slow down. If you are leaving stragglers, you are going too fast. My mower cuts bahia at 3.5" beautifully in one pass. It stripes it too. The secret is...use your head. Sharp blades, go half speed, high lifts, a bit lower cut height.
I cut a marina that is all bahia. It takes about 2 hours straight to just get it mowed. If it were St. Augustine, I could cut it in almost half the time. If I had to cut it twice, add another hour. The trick is slow down, cut it once.
The sand and bahia will dull your blades, so deal with it and have plenty of fresh blades with you. Charge accordingly and make it worth your while.
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