Which Bush Hog for a new Kubota 3540?

[jack9166]

Hi, I just got my new Kubota 3540 and want to run a 6 foot cutter. I hooked it to a Woods 720 and it ran it but just barely. Would it run a Woods bb72 any better?

[bigbull338]

heres what you do tell them you want to try a 6ft shredder to see if your tractor will pull it.if it pulls it then youll buy it.

[art]

You might want to look at the bush hog 84" with twin spindles. They don't need as much power as a typical single spindle to run. Horsepower requirement is 30 to 50.

[TripleR]

Is the 3540 rated for a 6' cutter?

[Gary Fowler]

Hi, I just got my new Kubota 3540 and want to run a 6 foot cutter. I hooked it to a Woods 720 and it ran it but just barely. Would it run a Woods bb72 any better?

I dont think a different brand is going to run any less power requirements given the blades are of same sharpness. An older mower might have thicker edges due to wear and thus be harder to turn in heavy coverl. Maybe a finish mower will take less power but it wont cut the larger stuff. I see that your tractor is rated at 30 PTO HP which is right on the border for a 6 foot bush hog. It should pull it ok in light to moderate conditions. In heavy stuff, just move over a bit and cut a smaller swath or go slower and give it time to chew thru the heavy stuff. Weeds are usually easier to cut than tall grass. Unless you are going to be constantly in heavy cover, go with the 6 footer, otherwise might be wise to step down to a 5 foot model. Just remember that most folks when running a mower overlap a bit more than needed so they are not really cutting 6 foot wide except on the first pass, so a 6 foot mower is likely only cutting about 5 foot most of the time.

[jack9166]

So I talked to the dealer today and the said that the HD cutters are geared differently than standard cutters. They said the 3540 is rated for a 6 foot cutter and that it would run a Woods BB72 just fine. I had a 5 foot cutter on mmy 3010 and it ran it with no problem no matter what I was cutting. So now I have a woods 720 cutter that I need to sell, whats it worth in good shape? it was used very little but has some surface rust.

[bilrus61]

If your L3540 is hydrostatic it has 28 HP at the pto. Mowing a 5 foot "bite" with a 6 foot mower still takes more power than a 5 foot mower due to the heavier blade inertia and the fact each blade is 6 inches longer and thus it has more leverage to slow lug your tractor down. If you want a 6 foot mower you can get one with lighter blades, as in the JD/Frontier 2072. It has .5 inch thick x 3 inch wide blades. Much lighter than the 4 inch wide on most 6 foot cutters. It has a smaller gearbox that also takes less force to turn. Bigger gears turning fast in heavy gear oil use power. Smaller gears use less power. There are some ways to give your tractor a boost in mowing. Mow higher. Just a inch or two helps. Vent your mower so it expels clippings better. Get your blades sharper. Use low lift blades.

I found my GL5040 also got stronger as the engine/transmission broke in. Not a huge "wow" but without a doubt it is stronger than when it was new. Its got 275 hours on it now.

You should also look at the mowing charts to see just how much you gain with a 6 vs. 5 foot mower. By the time you go slower for the 6 footer I don't think you'll gain much at all other than just in the operators imagination. The simple fact is that your time spent mowing a field is more about horsepower than the width of your mower. A 28 pto horsepower tractor will only mow as fast as 28 horses can. No real magic trick to speed it up other than the higher/sharper option that I've been able to find.

[kubotakid USA]

A 30 hp tractor is not strong enough to handle a 6 ft brush hog. You are better off buying a 5ft. Ive had hundreds of hours on the seat of a 45 hp 2040 john deere tractor and a 6ft brush hog and always thought it was under powered and needed more than what it had.
One way of cheating the reality thing is to take a smaller bite. In other words dont take the whole 6ft cut,<<< jus take a 4-5 foot cut..

I dont reccomend u buying a 6 ft brush hog,..But It would work for you If u take smaller slices. All in all it depends on what u are trying to mow,..It aint no different then mowing your lawn,..If you let it go until its 10" tall your gona have a bitchin time mowing it,. If its the normal 4-5 " youll fly right threw it.
Its a pretty much a common sence thing. Ill tell u this much from experince. If u plan on mowing chit over 10-12" U better have a bunch o power under the hood or plan on going next to turtle speed. brush hogs suck alota power in tough tall weeds,. Personaly Id buy the 5FT.
Besides being a smarter buy, You will thank your self later when you need to move it around or haul it on a trailer

kubotakid USA

[jack9166]

The 3540 Kubota is 35 engine hp n 29.5 pto. My 3540 is a glide shift

[Baby Grand]

I have been running a BB60 behind my L3240 GST (26.5 PTO) for 5 years. The only time I would want a 72" is when I'm cutting short, thin, dry stuff. In waist high, thick, green grass even the 60" is breathing hard at 2 or 3 mph. When this happens I do as the others have already suggested and cut smaller swaths.

Aside from being well matched to my machines power, there are other advantages to a narrower cutter. It's just narrow enough to move around in the brush between trees at the edges of the field. The center of gravity of the attachment is also closer to the rear axle and it weighs less, which makes the balance good, even with the FEL removed - which I greatly prefer for maneuvering in tight areas with the FEL on. The fences and trees prefer this, too.

I'm running Ag tires and out in the field grass, the sidewall to sidewall width is 63" and this works alright, but I don't think I'd like the results if I was wearing R4s with their wider outside track.

-Jim