TRISTAN - Actually a Hydro works best for Roto- tilling, gear drives are best for moldboard plowing & discing.
BRENNAN - 7 HP CC's and mowing...I'm going to respectfuly disagree wiih Don T., Those little engines have their hands full moving a CC and running a 38" deck. Grass variety and whether the land is level or hilly makes a HUGE difference too, We have crabgrass in the midwest, grows fast, stays damp, and pulls rather hard when mowing. Most times You have to carefully slide the transmission from 2nd into 1st to mow that stuff or climb a hill. A 10 HP runs a 38" deck well, but then it has 40+% more HP & torque. A 7 HP will mow O-K, but it pulls the engine hard enough it won't last near as long, You'll have to mow slower, and probably more frequently.
When I was really young and CC's were new, We broke that toothed timing beld on the 38" timed deck every year, even in 1964 Dollars it cost $22 back then, and the whole new CCO & deck only cost less than $600. When We broke the second belt in spring 1965 the CCO was traded for the 70 JUST to get away from that belt. Those timed decks do mow well but there's a limit on how much HP You can put to them because of the tiny belt that runs from the center pulley to the timing belt pulley. The 70 mowed everything around Our farm, about 2 acres plus the farm My Folks ended up buying a half mile away, close to another two acres, every week, and after three years the 70 was getting real tired and We had the engine rebuilt, three years later Dad & I rebuilt it ourselves, three years later We installed a complete K181 replacement engine. See the pattern? The 10 & 12 HP K241 & K301's hold up better because they don't work as hard and really don't burn much more fuel. My most fuel efficient mower was the 129 w/44A deck, mowed My 2+ acres on about 2-1/2 gal. of gas. Every other CC I've used takes over 3.
BRENNAN - 7 HP CC's and mowing...I'm going to respectfuly disagree wiih Don T., Those little engines have their hands full moving a CC and running a 38" deck. Grass variety and whether the land is level or hilly makes a HUGE difference too, We have crabgrass in the midwest, grows fast, stays damp, and pulls rather hard when mowing. Most times You have to carefully slide the transmission from 2nd into 1st to mow that stuff or climb a hill. A 10 HP runs a 38" deck well, but then it has 40+% more HP & torque. A 7 HP will mow O-K, but it pulls the engine hard enough it won't last near as long, You'll have to mow slower, and probably more frequently.
When I was really young and CC's were new, We broke that toothed timing beld on the 38" timed deck every year, even in 1964 Dollars it cost $22 back then, and the whole new CCO & deck only cost less than $600. When We broke the second belt in spring 1965 the CCO was traded for the 70 JUST to get away from that belt. Those timed decks do mow well but there's a limit on how much HP You can put to them because of the tiny belt that runs from the center pulley to the timing belt pulley. The 70 mowed everything around Our farm, about 2 acres plus the farm My Folks ended up buying a half mile away, close to another two acres, every week, and after three years the 70 was getting real tired and We had the engine rebuilt, three years later Dad & I rebuilt it ourselves, three years later We installed a complete K181 replacement engine. See the pattern? The 10 & 12 HP K241 & K301's hold up better because they don't work as hard and really don't burn much more fuel. My most fuel efficient mower was the 129 w/44A deck, mowed My 2+ acres on about 2-1/2 gal. of gas. Every other CC I've used takes over 3.
