Rotary Cutter Is this a bad idea that's going to damage my tractor or me?

[Baby Grand]

I've been using a 60" BB60X since 2007 to do similar duty on our place. Ours came with a slip clutch, but a shear pin should work just fine. I back into the edge brush to keep it clear and to keep the field a field. Works great. You may want to wait until the leaves have dropped in the Fall before doing the edges as the foliage can hide all sorts of rocks, stumps and other hog hazards. Or take a pair of loppers and walk the perimeter to make sure there's no hidden landmines. It's a lot easier to see that stuff from the ground than from the tractor seat.

 

[Ken45101]

You definitely can do what you are describing.

A properly adjusted brush mower can leave a fairly nicely finished job, I've used my 6' Woods rotary cutter in the yard.

My first rotary cutter was a shear pin type (used and beat up, came with the property). Of course I was cutting some rough, very overgrown ground. I broke several shear pins. (Heck, I even broke a blade when I dropped the mower too fast and hit a stump!) My current cutters (6' Woods, 15' Bush Hog) have the slip clutches. Shear pin or slip clutch, both will work for you.

The walk behind brush mowers (DR, etc.) are a lot of work to handle. They do the job, but there is a lot of manual labor involved controlling them.

 

[MBTRAC]

Backing the tractor up with a bush hog cutter will work fine in cutting/controlling the hill "scrub", though in addition to cutter Front/rear chain guards I'd recommend fitting some weld mesh wire as protection on the rear of your ROPS as this method of cutting will raise the deck & debris path significantly putting you more in the "line of fire"..........

Also if you want to adapt the same cutter for more finishing type mower duties fit a chain type top link, an adjustable trailing wheel & raise the skids higher so they don't contact the gound - these simple modifications will allow the deck to float/adjust better to ground contours & avoid scalping.

My preference is for a slip clutch over shear pins, as correctly adjusted it offers superior shock loading protection to the driveline, though either should work ok in your application.

 

[Teikas Dad]

Thanks all, I appreciate the input and advice. Being new to all this I didn't want to get myself hurt or worse by doing something I shouldn't. I did find out that the Woods dealer has the BB60X with slip clutch for only $100 more, so in the end comparing apples to apples the Woods with the slip clutch is $1900 and the Bush Hog with slip clutch is $1895 so it's only a $5 difference. Searching both BH and Woods websites shows that there are only 2 BH dealers within a 25 mile radius while there are about a dozen Woods dealers. The Woods dealer is closest and I really like the way the Woods is built.

Someone recommended spraying brush killer....not an option. We run the house with a well and my wife is paranoid about the spray leaching into the well. I don't think it will...but after being married for 35 years I know the magic words to marital bliss...."Yes dear".

 

[Rod in Forfar]

A 48" rotary cutter would be a better fit for a B-series Kubota. I have a five foot medium duty cutter on a 35 hp TAFE with loader and it works well, but it's a big unit and hangs back there a long way in comparison to the length of a B2400. Equally effective is a four foot light duty cutter on a Bolens G174. This week when I take the mower deck off my B7510, it'll be the 48" Farm Fleet rotary cutter I attach to cut around 15,000 little trees on the property.

When I bought the five foot Rhino the dealer suggested I choose it rather than the cheaper six foot to match the tractor, even though the TAFE's tread is five and a half feet. "It doesn't matter if the cutter is wider than the tractor or not: on a finish mower the tip speed of the blades is high enough to lift the grass and cut it and tracks can be a factor, but with a rotary cutter there isn't the same suction."

The Rhino cuts very well. The Farm Fleet model used to be good, but then I had to trim a patch of purple loosestrife and boulders, and it's pretty beaten up now.

How can a rotary cutter damage the operator? If the tractor does not have live PTO, you MUST install an over-running clutch (just another pto joint with a ratchet). Otherwise the flywheel of the mower mechanism is directly connected to the drive wheels of the tractor and the wheels won't stop turning until the blades subside. This produces spectacular and terrifying results the first time the uninitiated operator tries to stop in front of his garage door. With a modern compact tractor the PTO is almost certainly live or independent and you won't have a problem with the flywheel effect.

 

[k0ua]

This produces spectacular and terrifying results the first time the uninitiated operator tries to stop in front of his garage door.

There have been many old fords pushed through the fence row, with screaming cursing operators.

 

[dave1949]

Easily doable with a rotary cutter.

I like the suggestion for a 4' cutter, more maneuverable between the trees you want to keep and the area doesn't seem so large that you would worry about the smaller swath time-wise.

I think the choice between an RFM and bush hog depends on how often you want to cut that area and what you want it to look like. If your goal is a couple times a year, I would use the bush hog. If your goal is to have mowed grass extending up the slope into the trees, I would use the RFM.

Tail wheel assemblies on bush hogs can be bent when backing up into a slope, (or trees :laughing. They are made for pulling, not hard pushing. You won't have a problem if you raise the 3pt arms just enough to take the ground pressure/weight off the tail wheel until it is more or less floating with just light weight on it.

 

[Teikas Dad]

I'm not looking to make it look like a golf course. The flat pasture part will only get cut once a month if that, the shrubs will get cut when they start trying to take over, so probably 5 or 6 times a year.

Based on what I'm hearing, I'm going to go with a slip clutch. I think I'll stick with the 60 inch deck as I'm only going to be living here for another 2 years or so and intend to get somewhere with more acreage. I've got the extra cash for the cutter now so I'd rather buy it once, spend the money and do it right rather than buy a "good enough for now" and have to upgrade in a couple years. Besides, I take really good care of all my equipment (can anyone say OCD?) so it should outlast me.

 

[Baby Grand]

Something to consider:
If you go with the 5' - it's a lot of weight, way out back.
You will almost certainly need to keep the FEL on to keep the front end on the ground.
But using the 'hog in and around the woods (and trees, buildings, cars & fences) while backing up means you'll have to be extra careful you don't whack anything with the FEL.
The ideal setup would be to take the FEL off and add some weight that doesn't overhang the front so much.
If cash isn't too tight, you might ask the dealer about how much a weight bar would cost.
Or consider making your own if money isn't growing on your trees - Soundguy had a good home-build thread:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/241798-suitcase-tractor-weights-2.html

 

[TSO]

For the amount of use you plan, I'd go used. Craigslist, or farm auctions are a great source, and you can get a lot of cutter for way less than half of new. I recently bought a solid 5' cutter that has some years, but little mileage on it for $350. I loaned it to my neighbor before checking the gear oil level....oops, my mistake. Still, all told I have less than $600 in it, with a new OEM gearbox, and a new set of blades.

A little paint is in order....I can live with that for now.

Completely agree with Bart. You can find a good, used brush hog ALL DAY on CL in the $500-700 range, maybe less if you're a good shopper.

I think you are right on track...

Get a brushog to knock down the tall stuff, go over it twice to smooth it out a bit... You can then go over it with the JD mower IF you need it to look groomed. But, based on you saying you only cut it once a month, I doubt that's a concern for ya.

Also, a good rule of thumb for sizing implements, is 5 PTO horsepower for every foot of implement. Therefore, a 5 foot brush hog should have 25 PTO HP pushing it... 20 HP for a 4 footer.

If the brush is really thick, adjust the ratio to 6 pto hp per foot.