What size rotary mower for a Farmall M?

Talking with people it sounds like a 5' is just too narrow and will not work well since the M's tires are wider. Most people say I need a 6'. I was looking at 7' and 8' models but they get REALLY expensive and heavy as well. Not sure how well the M would run something that big and heavy.

I have a thread going in implement alley right now on what brand to buy and you are welcome to help me with that decision as well, but basically I need to know what size to buy as well.

So what size should I get?

If you want to comment here on what brand this is my current choices locally and my ranking on my preference right now:

1 - 6' Cimarron - $850 (in stock)
2 - 6' King Kutter - $900 (in stock)
3 - 6' Howse - $800 (on order)
4 - 6' Armstrong - $800 (on order)
5 - 6' Rhino - $1,195 (in stock)
6 - 6' Bush Hog - Squealer - $1,450 (in stock)

Thanks, Nathan

Well I ended up getting a Cimarron 6' economy mower for $850 from the local Case Tractor dealer. Seemed like a pretty good deal, the salesman I had talked to was out when I went to buy it and they had to check with him to make sure that was the price he had agreed too.

I mowed 12 acres this afternoon and was pretty happy with how it went. Mowed down some big dead tumbleweeds and would do pretty well in 4th gear on the regular stuff. Was still pretty slow though, took me about 6 hours to get the 12 acres done. I think I can go a little faster now that I have it figured out but I doubt I'll be doing much more than 3 acres per hour with this setup. Had 15 gallons of gas and didn't run out so that was good I thought.

Took a few pics of the mower hooked up. The dogs figured out to stay a bit farther away once the mower was running! ;-)

Here is a closer pic:

And one from behind:

With the tires all the way in the mower is actually almost as wide as the tires.

But I'll try.

I bought mine for $2,500. It included the 3 pt hitch, 7' straight blade and post hole digger. I figure I paid $2,000 for the tractor and $500 for the blade and post hole digger. The tractor seems to be in perfect working order with good tires and looks clean, hydraulics work good, no smoke, etc....

With that said, a box blade is worth $300 or so in pretty good shape and a front end loader can be worth up to $1,000 installed and working.

The $1,000 price tag would be worth it for the scraper and loader IMO and you could part the M out if it is going to end up costing you too much to get it running.

Now, if you are just wanting a tractor to buy and use like I was, this wouldn't be a good deal probably. All of those options are going to take time and effort on your part but the price doesn't sound that far off to me.

(But I really don't know what I'm talking about!)

FWIW, Nathan

GNB

Also the King Kutter is at a farm supply store (Gebo's) that probably won't be much in the service category if something goes wrong, and the Cimarron is at a tractor place that will be able to service the Cimarron and carry parts if something does go wrong.

Thanks for any input.

Nathan