# Ford 3415 with drum mower?



## dannyluv (May 31, 2017)

Bonjour mes amis! - We are a small farm in Maine, haying 12 acres weed free hay for horses. Last yr found a used 190 CCM drum mower. Just loving it, but it's clearly too much for our 28 hp Kubota. When I try to pick it up in mowing position it just tips forward; can't get it off the ground. (Getting a lot of chopped hay!) Just came across a used Ford 3415 which might help us out. Rated 44 hp, 38 at PTO, which is live. Has anyone had experience with these? It may have lots of mowing hours, haven't seen the meter yet, but was used on a golf course. Some of my neighbors have been great about helping us get set up for haying, but no one has experience with these. I'd just feel bad if I picked up a known lemon.

Any ideas on most important things to check if I go see it? Thanks, Sadie!


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## chevytaHOE5674 (Mar 14, 2015)

Personally I would pass. They were OK tractors in their day but they aren't really a Ford they are an imported Shibaura painted blue. Parts can be a real issue, lots of those imports parked in the weeds as parts are NLA. It's only a 4k lbs tractor so I'm not sure how much heavier it is than your Kubota but I doubt much, so lifting a mower may not be much different.


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## dannyluv (May 31, 2017)

Morning chevy - Thanks for the opinion. Realised from Tractordata that it was japanese but hadn't contemplated the parts issue! Sadie


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Drum mowers are really heavy for their size in comparison to other types of mowers (3 point disk mowers or particularly sicklebar mowers). They can be quite a handful-- I run a Zweegers CM212 on a 5610 Ford and when she folds back and picks up she's pretty light on the front end, and that's an 8,500 lb 72 horse tractor! Even picking it up all the way with it in mowing position, she's REAL heavy on the 3 point and gives her a little lean to the left...

It's usually best to just leave them down in cutting position while mowing-- don't try to pick them up over a windrow when turning like you would commonly see with a disk mower... they run smoother, easier for the tractor to handle, and actually probably double-cut less going over the windrow turning around than they would if they're lifted up... those drums run pretty low to the ground and usually they'll just about slide right under a windrow you cross and shoot it out the back lined up with the windrow you're cutting-- not a problem. I cut roundy-round and then go do a big double X to clip the corners when I'm done, and I don't notice enough double cutting to bother with... if you're trying to cut long-ways and double back at every end, well, you're gonna get a lot more double cutting crossing the cut swaths so many times...

If you're serious about a little heavier tractor, you could look for a Ford 2310, 3610, or 3910, should be good size tractors for a smaller disk mower, without breaking the bank... 4610's are terrific chore tractors, but a bit more expensive. 5000 and 6000 series are stouter yet, and if you want to spend about $8-10K on a good solid chore tractor in the 55-70 horse range, are a good option...

Best of luck! OL J R


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