What size cutter for a Kubota M7040?

   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040? #1  

Country1

Silver Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
165
Location
Virginia, The "Old Dominion"
Tractor
Kubota M7060 HD12
Thinking of "up sizing" from my L3710 to a M7040. My main concern is the cost involved in also "up sizing" all my implements... The most expensive one being my RC. I have a medium duty Woods BB600 5' cutter now. I've had it for over 7 years and it's performed excellently. Now I could just stick it behind the M7040, but it would be pretty small back there. I want to go with another Woods BB in either 6 or 7 foot. According to the spec. sheet the M7040 has a rear tread width as wide as 67.7" so that makes me feel the 6' cutter would be the right size. I just hate to spend the money on a new cutter and go through the trouble with trading to only gain one foot of capacity...
I cut pasture grass as well as rough cutting trails through the woods (i.e. small trees and brush up to the 3" capacity of the cutter). So, I think the 7' would be a little big for the rough cutting tasks, but not sure. I've never had a tractor of this size. All my experience has been on a 35hp machine, pulling the MD 5' cutter. What do you all think I should do?
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040? #2  
I've cut trails with a 7 ft cutter that has two gearboxes and is compact dimensionally - makes it good in the woods. I pull it with an L5030, much smaller than the M7040. My field mower is an old Ford 4610 which pulls a 10' mower. The field mower is a heavy duty Bush Hog, and frankly, it's a little too heavy for the Ford, but it works. I think a 7' mower, especially a twin gearbox model that is short, would be fine for you in the woods. The tractor has plenty of hp for that width mower. The M7040 I'm sure could really handle a much wider mower, but in the woods a wider mower would be a hassle.
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040?
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I think it would pull a 7' cutter easily, but a single spindle cutter that wide and long would be tough to maneuver in the woods. I've looked at the double spindle cutters and they don't look heavy duty enough for the kind of rough cutting I do. They look to be more suited for open pasture mowing. I need something I can push trees over and shred them up with. That's what I do now with my BB600 and 35 PTO hp pulling it. Trying to get the same set up, but on a larger scale.
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040? #4  
I have a M 6800 Kubota and pull a Woods 72" rotary cutter. It's plenty big enough for what I do, maintaining woods roads and trails. Any bigger would be hard to manuever where I take mine. I first had a model BB 72 and have replaced it with a medium duty BB720X. I like the medium duty better mainly because of its heavier construction and replaceable skid plates. I wore out the welded skids on my regular duty fairly quickly, even though I tried not to drag it too low. It depends on how you use yours. If you are in an open pasture type area, the regular duty 7 footer would do fine and save time, but if you use yours like I do in tight spots cutting saplings and trees bigger than I should, go with a medium or even heavy duty 6 footer. Your tractor will handle either with ease. I have never used a double gearbox model, so I am speaking of only the single blade type.
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040? #5  
there are several things you could do in this situation.

1) try to sell your 5' cutter and other implements privately in the local trader, newspaper, etc. my dealer won't take used implements, and you'll get more for them selling them yourself.

2) if all you're looking to go is 6' mower, or maybe keep your 5' mower, well you might want to look at something like an L4400, mx5100, mx4700(i think thats the new model kubota has?). do you need a 70hp tractor for anything else then just pulling a 6' cutter? i pull a JD MX6 behind my JD 5203(56hp 47pto) and it does great! imho that's the perfect size cutter for my size tractor.
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040? #6  
The easiest route is to keep your current equipment. It gets the job done and you've probably seen all the depreciation you're going to see.
So, why do you think you need larger equipment?
But if you really think you need a bigger cutter, just buy the cutter. Your Kubota has the PTO HP to handle a 6 or 7 foot cutter....you just may have to go a bit slower in some areas.

BTW, to get an idea what you'd see for your used implements, try Craigslist. That 60" cutter will probably sell for about $500, the other implements for a bit less.
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Thanks for all the replies guys. I'll give you a little background.

Why going bigger? My L3710 has been a great tractor and has helped me in many ways over the years. This was the 1st "real" tractor I ever bought personally. At 1st I was I looking at the L2410 because that was all I could afford and it would do the job. At the time I was final grading and seeding/strawing yards for new homes. I decided to go in debt a little deeper and step up to a L3710 and I've been glad I did for many years. I haven't done any yards in years, but now use the tractor on my 20 acres clearing land for more pasture, field and trail mowing, splitting/harvesting fire wood and many other tasks. I also maintain our subdivisions 3/4 mile gravel road and for snow removal.

I've been thinking of up grading to a cab model tractor for a while and also getting a little bigger machine in the process. We've had a lot of snow in the last few weeks. That's caused me to spend many long hours out on the tractor plowing snow in very cold conditions. A few times I was forced to wear a motorcycle helmet and goggles just to be able to see (hard blowing snow). I'm the only one with a tractor, so I got to get it done. I not only keep out road open, I also clear everyone's driveways so that takes a little seat time to complete. I started looking into the new L40 series cab tractors, thinking the M's would be too big and expensive. But after some looking I found out I can get a M 5040, 6040 or 7040 for the same or a little more money. There's about a $2k price jump between those three M's.

As for the cutter, the BB600 that I have now is a total HD over kill for my L3710. The tractor pulls it fine, but my point in saying over kill is that the cutter is so heavy duty (even though Woods calls in a medium duty) I could never hurt it with that tractor. It's the other way around. I have to be careful to not hurt the tractor with the cutter... I'm totally sold on the Woods Brush Bull line! I only paid $1500 for the cutter new back in '03 or '04. Looking back, that was a bargain!

I think selling the implements on Craig's or the local trader paper would be the way to go, but it's just a pain. I think I could just "get by" with most of the stuff I have for now. My only two real concerns are the cutter and my Woods 72" rear blade. Both are in nice condition and I'd be more than happy to keep if useable... The main goal here would be to get a tractor I could be satisfied with for a long time to come with enough size, HP and comforts to get all my jobs done with ease. So far the M7040 seems to fit that bill. I guess the implements could be traded out later when the opportunity or need arises. If I can't work the cutter trade into the tractor purchase, I guess I'll just run the BB600 for a while..

I started this thread to get an idea of what size cutter people have put behind their M7040's. I should have thought about that being a tricky question. There's a lot of variables that go into cutter size and type. Mainly having to do with what's being cut....;)

If anyone has any other comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!:)
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040? #8  
We pull a 7' single spindle with our M6040 in all kinds of conditions and it has no problem what so ever. Before I got the M9580 I had an M7040 with cab and I pulled a 15' flex wing with it for mowing pastures and I could go like heck with it. 3' tall fescue would bog me down a little but it would do it.
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040? #9  
One other thing to consider: I think you'll really beat up a cab tractor in the woods. Maybe it won't matter to you - I know some people don't care - but I'd hate to fork over a bunch of money on a new cab tractor only to have it hammered by trees/limbs/etc. in the woods.
 
   / What size cutter for a Kubota M7040?
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Your right about a cab in the woods, but in my case, I don't think it will be that much of a problem. I don't plan to do that much woods work any more, just here and there. I'll just have to be careful when I do. Don't want to mess that nice cab and glass up. The switch to a cab tractor is one of my main reasons to trade up. I'll have to live with the good and bad.
 
 
 
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