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I live in Montana. I Have snow on the ground many times until June. My grass is a weedy style that's 3-4 ft high by the time it gets its first cut. My lawnmower lays the grass over when I run over it, and I have to continually use reverse and go back and forth to catch the top end of the grass to pull it back into the cutters. So, I have an idea. I'd like comments as to whether it will work or not.

Have you noticed how brush hogs are open in front. Sure, some have a chain mesh on the front, but others are open. What I am thinking of doing is cutting the front of my mower to open it up for the blades to hit the grass low without the front of the mower pushing the grass down so far. The front that I cut off, I would take, and tack weld tabs to each end and top. Also run a silicon bead on the cut to seal (gasket) for continued air suction. The tabs would be drilled so that I can bolt the front back on for regular mowing.

Thoughts please! TIA

Tractor with a real brush hog attachment.

Thank you for your reply. I'll check it out.

Your problem is called "letting" down here
The solution is a Hay Cutter which you can probably hire from your local machinery hire shop
After that there are Sickle Bar Mowers , usually also available for hire .
You did not provide much in the way of site information so it is hard to give you a good answer
Chopping a window in your deck is not a good idea as the full front is needed to discharge the clippings from the left blades
Another alternative is to use deep stepped blades so they are closer to the bottom of the deck (or even below ) for your first cut of the season.
Your Time cutter has a 21" blade with a 5/8" hole so go to your local machinary shop & see what they have in the way of stepped ( or cranked ) blades
Even if they are too long as you can cut them shorter
These are rebranded Rotary aftermarket Gator style blades for your deck
The step down is about 1/2" which makes them about 1/2" above the edge of the deck
I really do not have the time to go through my entire catalogue and check all of the 5/8 ø x 21.5" blades
There are some blades that have 1" to 2" steps but the tables I have does not have a column for stepped-flat so too much searching for "free Advice" .
you should be able to find some that are level or below the edge of the deck
OF course I must provide a warning here of the chance of ground strike ( + roots, logs, rocks etc ) with blades that are lower than the deck

IF you really want to go with the chain skirt model, you can get a 30" deck for your mower and you can cut the REAR of the deck skirt away not the front to make it a slashing deck

Well thanks for your input, Bert. In answer, I have gator blades on it already. As for renting equipment, I live 55 miles from the nearest town, which is Helena. But that 55 miles also includes a climb over the continental divide. LOL! I live out in the boonies. Your other thought confused me a bit. I'm "guessing" you said 30" deck because it only has one blade? But open the back instead of the front? Hmmm.... I did find a guy here in town today with a brush hog on a skid steer. WOW! The hog was 6 ft wide and about 8 ft. long! It was completely open in the front. It chewed up everything! Me? I just want the blades to hit the grass before the mower deck pushes it to the ground! Thanks again, Bert!

I have several customers who use Timecutters to mow residential properties so they have the 30" deck fitted so it will go through a 36" standard side gate
The 30" deck is of course 30" front to back ( at it's biggest ) because it has a single blade so in theory anything less than 30" tall will get cut , at the middle .
The 42" deck is of course 21" front to back so will not cut anything taller than 21" without dancing a cha cha char on the grass which sounds like what you currently doing
Your blades cut left to right at the front of the deck so the clippings run along the FRONT of the deck from left to right
Cut the front off and they will end up making piles of clippings all over the grass because there is nothing at the front to control the air flow left to right
I do not know your property and what you mow over
IF it was me I would go for deeper stepped blades first because if they do not work then nothing is ruined and it has only cost your $ 40
As you have a blade bolt then you could also try a 1" spacer between the spindle & the blade and use a 1" longer grade 8 bolt which should drop the blades just a touch lower than the deck skirt
The slashers we use on the farm all have solid fronts & chain backs so rocks & branches get pushed aside
They also all have swing back blades
As you said you were using a 42" deck I made the bold assumption that you were on some thing under 10 acres otherwise 42" would be 2 days work
I have an out front 24" slasher on an old locally made ride on where the deck it totally open at the front and right side .
We use it for mowing under 5 miles of boundary fences
IT has a skid on the right made from a loop of 1/2" round bar
IT leaves "grass turds" all over the place but that is not a problem on pasture and I can get it 1/2 from the posts & Star pickets so no need for using a line trimmer
However it uses swing back blades so if it should ground out or hit some thing solid ( like the fence posts ) then the blades just swing back

Oh! Now I get it! If the grass, in my case, is over 21" tall, the deck lays it down and it stays down because the whole deck goes over it before the blades can raise it for cutting! That's why I have to go back and forth over the grass! After passing over the longer grass, by going into reverse, the deck then catches the grass tips that was crushed down, because it springs back up a touch and the blades can then cut it as it folds up! How about that? My very first post about lawnmowers and I actually understood what a pro told me! LOL! Thanks, Bert! P.S. My deer love the clumped cut grass.

So you got lazy deer who can not be bothered to bite off their own grass.
And yes you got it which is why the forward-back-forward-back cha cha char method works , just think of Carman Miranda in a big fruity hat when you are mowing .
Where as going very very slowly forward leaves lots of uncut or 1/2 cut long grass .
I know little about USA geography but I have been led to believe Montana is not exactly prime cereal grain country
So sickle mowers might not be too thick on the ground
A friend bought an old 3 wheel out front fairway reel mower from a golf club that closed down.
HE then replaced the 10" wheels with 20" wheels so it acts like a headder when his pasture is starting to seed thus he can knock off the seed heads which get into the eyes & ears of his cattle
Cuts the grass at about 8" but if he mows into the wind he gets mouth fulls of grass but it allows the cattle to feed on the pasture for 2 to 3 months longer so saves a fortune on fodder .

Mow or hog more often. Grass won't get as tall.

slomo said:

Mow or hog more often. Grass won't get as tall.

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Hard to mow through snow
Read the full thread

bertsmobile1 said:

So you got lazy deer who can not be bothered to bite off their own grass.
And yes you got it which is why the forward-back-forward-back cha cha char method works , just think of Carman Miranda in a big fruity hat when you are mowing .
Where as going very very slowly forward leaves lots of uncut or 1/2 cut long grass .
I know little about USA geography but I have been led to believe Montana is not exactly prime cereal grain country
So sickle mowers might not be too thick on the ground
A friend bought an old 3 wheel out front fairway reel mower from a golf club that closed down.
HE then replaced the 10" wheels with 20" wheels so it acts like a headder when his pasture is starting to seed thus he can knock off the seed heads which get into the eyes & ears of his cattle
Cuts the grass at about 8" but if he mows into the wind he gets mouth fulls of grass but it allows the cattle to feed on the pasture for 2 to 3 months longer so saves a fortune on fodder .

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I also finally got why you cut the back out of the mower instead of the front. As you go over the grass, the front lays the grass down. Because the grass is longer than the length of the deck it stays down until after it passes the rear portion of the deck and then pops back up. By cutting the back out of the deck, the front of the deck still lays the grass down, but with no back on the deck the grass pops back up because there's nothing there any more to keep it down.
And, the gator blades will help suck the grass up for cutting - right? Did I get it? LOL!
By the way... RE: Carmen Miranda..... OLE'!

I some times have to draw it to get customers to understand but yes you got it right again
The 6' bush hog is 6' x 6' so you have to be cutting saplings to have them lett under the blades

bertsmobile1 said:

I some times have to draw it to get customers to understand but yes you got it right again
The 6' bush hog is 6' x 6' so you have to be cutting saplings to have them lett under the blades

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You will wear that Timecutter out a lot quicker cutting tall grass like that, just so you know. It isn’t made for that.

The Timecutter is probably a poor choice for your particular situation.
You have snow.
You have tall weedy grass.
A compact tractor with a 5’ bush hog and front loader would make more sense.

MParr said:

The Timecutter is probably a poor choice for your particular situation.
You have snow.
You have tall weedy grass.
A compact tractor with a 5’ bush hog and front loader would make more sense.

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LOL, MParr! My friend died and his wife sold me his TimeCutter for $500. I am 74, have Stage 4 prostate cancer, and am on a fixed income. If I could afford a 5' brush hog and compact tractor, I would have one. But I can't, so I don't. So, I must use what I have. Besides, my TimeCutter runs fine and will probably outlive me by a decade! And, once the snow melts I only have to do one tall grass cut per season. After the first time, the grass is short enough for my mower to cut it easily. Plus, we're only talking a half acre. :O However, I DO thank you for your input!