Tractors and Hobby Farming

Apparently the issue with mowing with horses is that with only 2 HP available its critical to keep that sickle bar mower super sharp. Like sharpening every couple of hours or so. That, being a mechanical task, would come back to me to do. And if the horses discover a snake in the field, panic and start backing, be sure to jump off the mower to the left not the right where those super sharp blades are.....

You guys are giving me tractor envy. For grass I use my little Deere x300.

For brush hogging I break out the BIG GUN!! 

Interesting discussion and I am getting in late.  20 acres here in northern Michigan and about 1 mile south of the exact 45th parallel.  Being in the golf industry for many years I have seen my share of gas and diesel tractors which include Jacobsen, Toro, Ford, MF, International, Case, and most recently Kubota.  Horsepower range on all these was anywhere from 35 (Jacobsen) to 65 Kubota.  In all cases I coundn't really complain about any of them, they were all real workhorses and did a spectacular especially considering their age and number of hours logged.  Maintenance is key to all of them.

At home I mow 3.5 acres, maybe a smidge more with a 1989 Toro Groundsmaster 220, it has a 52" deck, 23 HP Continental gas engine with just under 4000 hours.  It doesn't look real purdy, but it gets the job done.  Very dependable and gives a professional cut to boot.  Height of deck can be adjusted from 1" to 4" (with 1/2" increments in between) by removing 4 pins on the deck, takes about 1 minute to change height of cut if needed. 

A ROPS is really a roll over protection system, meaning it is a combination of a rollbar and a setbelt. Neither is much good without the other, if not worse. Together the rollbar creates a safety zone for your body and the seatbelt keeps you in that zone when the tractor goes over.