New Holland VS the King

   / New Holland VS the King #1  

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I've recently decided to buy a New Holland TC33D to maintain an 11 acre property I just purchased. The delema I face is should I go with New Holland implements or save 50% and go with King Kutter. For example for a 6 foot "light duty" rotary cutter New Holland wants $1200 but the 6 ' King Kutter (40HP gear box) is $650. I was definently leaning toward King Kutter until I flipped through the King Kutter manual and starting reading about how some applications require getting the PTO drive line cut to length for your specific tractor. Sounds like a headache. Does any one know if the King Kutter 6' rotary cutter will marry right up to the TC33D with a minimum of fuss? Does the extra bucks for the New Holland buy you more than blue paint? Also same decision for a New Holland 9" "light duty" post hole digger for $900 verses a Tractor Supply Company $450 PHD.
 
   / New Holland VS the King #2  
To tell you the truth, I didn't even know NH made rotary cutters. They probably don't. my bet is that they put their name on some one else's cutter. If some one here knows who makes it, we might be able to give you more comments on the quality.

I have a TC33D with a Woods BB60 (5 ft) rotary cutter. Got it for $950. It is Woods lighter duty model, but appears to be the equal of some other manufacturer's medium duty (the woods BB600 medium duty was WAY overkill for me). If I were doing more "meadow" type mowing, rather than some heavy brush, I would have gone with one of the less expensive brands -- I might have gotten away with the less expensive even with the mowing I do, but didn't want to take the chance, and had not yet discovered TracorByNet to ask for advice when I bought it.

I'm curious about your choice of a 6 footer. That seems a little on the large side for a 33D. If you are mowing grass or weeds which get mowed with some regularity, you'll probably be fine, but if you are going into heavy brush on a regular basis, you may find it oversized for your tractor. I've taken my 5 footer into some pretty dense 1" saplings without any real problems. Not sure I could have done the same with a 6 foot unit.

John_Mc
 
   / New Holland VS the King #3  
<font color=blue>some applications require getting the PTO drive line cut to length for your specific tractor</font color=blue>

Newland, that's not uncommon for PTO powered implements, and it's not just KingKutter. A lot of them come with a drive shaft that may be too long for your particular tractor and it's no big deal to get a hacksaw and shorten it a bit (naturally it's even easier if you have a power saw, but I had to do that to my tiller when I had the B7100 just with a manual hacksaw). However, for the TC33D, I'd be surprised if it needs shortening. And without going into detail, my personal opinion only - - - I'd go with the KingKutter rotary cutter and the Tractor Supply Company PHD.
 
   / New Holland VS the King
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Newland:

I have a KK Tiller and Rotary cutter being delivered tomorrow. I decided on that brand for two reasons, price and the number of positive posts on this board.
If it takes an hour to cut your driveshaft down, you would appear to be saving $550. Ill bet you can get someone else to cut it for you for alot less. I read a post recently from someone who cut his using a hacksaw. then used a file for cleanup. After tomorrow I can give you a more educated comment as I will probably get to enjoy the experience myself.
 
   / New Holland VS the King
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Newland:

That didn't come out right. I meant you would be saving 550 per hour, and that is a pretty good income. More than I make anyway.
 
   / New Holland VS the King #6  
The New Holland cutter's pto shaft may need to be shortened as well but the dealer would usually do that for you if you buy it with the tractor. I bought a tiller over a year after I bought my tractor and the dealer installed the tiller and cut the pto to the correct length free of charge. I have an exceptional dealer here and they do what ever it takes to make things right, your dealer may be the same way and be able to cut down the pto shaft for you.
 
   / New Holland VS the King #7  
Newland,

I have had poor experience with KK 6' back blade. The weld broke after 15 minutes of use - I took it back and went with Woods - no problems yet. But, I have also read several positive comments on KK so I may have just gotten a friday afternoon model - and not represent the line. I would also echo comments regarding 6' rotary for your TC33D. I also have a TC33D and I went with the Woods 5' rotary. It is wide enough to cover your tracks and you still have enough power to go through quite a bit of brush. My dealer steered me away from the 6'. I do have a 6' finish and have even considered going to 7'.

Good luck with your purchase - less cost could mean more toys.....

Eric
 
   / New Holland VS the King #8  
newland: i had a 6 ft kk finish mower, thati used with a old ford 2n. it was well built and i had no problems with it. be advised that a lot of manufactures have different models in the same size unit, light duty, heavy duty. also cutting the drive shaft is normal for a lot of pto implements. it is not difficult. just follow the instructions and i do beleive they suggest u cut equal amts. off both parts of the shaft. i.e. if u need to take 3in. off cut 1.5 in off both sections.
 
   / New Holland VS the King #9  
Modifying the lengths of PTO shafts is a fact of life. If you buy a used pto driven attachment you may end up lengthening or shortening the shaft so it works with your tractor. Or it may be the right length.Or you might not get a shaft and have to put one together from scratch. If the attachment was designed to be used by both Category 1 & 2 tractors, and you bought it new, chances are you have enough shaft length for the larger tractor but the PTO will be too long for the smaller tractor.
 
   / New Holland VS the King
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Re: NH KK and 5\' VS 6\'

Thanks for the comments. An interesting point has been raised by a couple folks. Can the TC33D adequetly power a 6' rotary cutter. The NH dealer says it can even on my hilly terrain, but you guys got me wondering. It will mostly be used for tall grass in horse pasture and only occassionally some sticker bush kind on stuff with 1/4" max branches. Anyone have experience with a 6' rotary cutter on a 33HP tractor? Maybe a 6' won't get me finished that much faster than a 5' to be worth the risk of having an under-powered and bigger implement to deal with???
 
 
 
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