Think I'm going to buy a Turf Tiger... few questions?

[wils]

I've got a Deere 5045e and my neighbor's got a brushhog he said I can come grab any time. It's been sitting for about a decade though so I'm not sure what kind of shape it's in.

The front couple acres wouldn't do well with an implement on a tractor, but the back 4 acres sure would. I put the deck up as high as it'd go on the new 460 and was able to get back into some of that brush.

In the front I'm trying to seed bermuda and putting down pre-emergent for the wild grasses. It's going to be a multi-year process... but we'll get there.

 

[neighborbill]

Howdy y'all, have a 6 acre lot that I'm mowing 2 of those acres right now. Over the next couple of years I'm going to develop the rest of the land so hopefully there will be some more. Not planning on grassing all 6 acres or anything.

Current situation is I've got nothing but field grass. It looks nice when it rains, I keep it mowed with a Deere x540 riding mower. It does an okay job.

I have two projects I want to do here. First is getting some Zoysia going to choke out this field grass and weeds, plan here is to section out a couple of areas and work on those first.

Second thing here is getting rid of these dang ol' sticker burrs (and other weeds, just those burrs hurt when you step on them)

My Deere can mow the lawn just find but I want to pick up these burrs. The Deere just helps them spread. I'm considering a TT Scag with the Clam Shell.

Am I right to think that this will help me work towards picking up all these burrs?

Am I on the right track using the Clam Shell, or is there another catcher that maybe Scag doesn't make that'd work better?

If I do add a catcher on the mower, does it make sense to use mulching blades too? I'd rather mulch when I get these burrs under control.

I've got pretty flat land, but there's a lot of rock here. I know where most of it is at this point but I do need to raise and lower blades and will occasionally hit one. I can probably remove some of the rock, out here in Hill Country Texas that little rock might be a 5,000lbs chunk of limestone or granite underneath so I can't really remove all that. Maybe I can add some soil but then I'd have lumps all over the yard... I'm rambling here, is it easy enough to raise/lower these decks for 5 feet at a time?

And I guess last, what can I expect for lead time and price? I priced it out on the Scag site, is that what dealers sell them for? And is their supply chain messed up with all the past year? Is it going to take 6 months to get a mower built?

Thanks y'all, appreciate any info. Apologize for the barrage of questions. It's a big purchase for me so I'd just like to make sure I do things right.

My two cents. I've owned a Scags Turf Tiger 20 years now. Besides the usual maintenance replacements like belts, pumps, filters, etc.. etc. I have found that nothing comes close to this unit. I bought for around $8,000 then and now they are like $14,000 plus. It's still going strong.
I have added the "Cyclone Leaf Rack" Great company with great service help. This follow behind attachment will suck up anything that is not attached to the ground once you cut. I can't speak more highly of this combination.
I would never buy the Grass Hopper. It' s junk compared to the Scags The Scags is a heavy commercial unit .
Initially I leveled a 20 acre field and then started cutting what ever came up. After a few year and tons of planted trees I put in, I have a wonderland for wild life right in my back yard. Cutting around the trees is a breeze, Speeds are like 12 mph on the grass.