Rotary Cutter 48" rotary cutter productivity?

[Tom_H]

Re: 48\" rotary cutter productivity?

Most of the smaller brush hogs are light duty or medium duty. I have a 40" heavy duty Leinbach that I run on my Kubota BX2200 (16.7 PTO hp). I can cut 1 1/2 to 2" saplings without loss of RPM. I can cut 3 acres of 5' tall thick weeds in about 4 hours. The only thing that stalls it is a viciously thick broom grass that sometimes grows in marshy areas.

If cutting near bystanders or pedestrians, one really should use a flail mower. They're more expensive and require more maintenance, but won't shoot artillary like a rotary cutter. Flails come in light duty with Y knives for finish mowing or heavy duty with T hammers for brush.

There is a hybrid between a finish mower and a rotary cutter (made by Land Pride I think-not sure) with two stump jumper spindle pans and three lighter pivot blades on each pan. I can't remember the model, but this unit has been discussed here several times.

 

[Soundguy]

Re: 48\" rotary cutter productivity?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Would you mow with a bush hog near house or street or pedestrians? )</font>

Um.. I mow near all my buildings with my rotary mower. Ever farm on my block has a tractor parked int he barn ( some in driveway! ) and a rotary mower on them... they all mow thier extended yard / pasture with them....

Would I mow right up to a pedestrian? No.

The city/county/state does it all the time. They will mow 2' away from vehicles whizzing up and down the road... rotary mowers.. not flail mowers... I don't ever recall reading an article in the paper about an injury or accident with a county mowing rig.. however do hear about 1 story a week where someone writes in tot he paper that they were following a dump truck and a rock flew out and hit their window... go figure..

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I appreciate that road crews etc do it but that doesn't make it a good idea )</font>

Hmm.. not sure i agree. No reason to let the government off on 'lower' safety standards than the average citizen.. therefore.. defactor.. it must be a 'somewhat' safe / ok practice.. or else we wouldn't be seeing it...

Of course.. this is the south... we drink out of 'canning' jars, and most of us gre up doing things that would be child abuse/endangerment today.. like riding on your grandads lap while he ran the tractor.. etc... I can see where a person not from such a rural / farming area might be freaked out by a tractor mowing the side of the road 2' away from your car... but for the natives... it's quite common for us to share the road with tractors... ( I'm glad I live in a rural community... If all I saw was concrete and asphalt all day.. I'd be nutz... er.. more nutz than I already am... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

soundguy

 

[IslandTractor]

Re: 48\" rotary cutter productivity?

Well, I can see your point. I do have the front and rear guards in place which I gather is all the BushHog company recommends. I am just having second thoughts about continuing to use a rotary mower so close to habitation and pedestrians (kids playing in neigbhoring yards or riding bikes). I have still got some reclaimation work on old meadows to do further from the houses so will keep the rotary through this next summer. However, am starting to explore something like a lightweight flail mower to maintain both the fields and yard once I get the fields under control.

This isn't farming country anymore but rather an island with lots of overgrown fields and pockets of summer homes. It's been a while since outsiders interfered with island life (the British burned every home in an effort to control the rebel colonials back in 1770 something /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif). There are some pretty funky safety standards due to the isolation so one can "get away" with just about anything, it just doesn't always seem like a good or neighborly idea.

 

[RonR]

Re: 48\" rotary cutter productivity?

Island,

No way would I mow rough areas with kids around. I'd either wait til they went away, or early AM/late PM to avoid them.

If nothing else, I'd pop $5 to have them chase down the ice cream truck at least 2 blks away, and mow while they were distracted.

I will mow (push mower) my lawn with people in the street, but much less chance of tossing stuff. If someone comes on the lawn, I shut it down, just to be safe.

ron

 

[flusher]

Re: 48\" rotary cutter productivity?

I have a 48" KK hog on my 21HP B7510HST ($675 from Tractor Supply). It works OK. Figure I can do an acre in about 90 minutes (I take it easy when I'm mowing. And I'm a retiree, so I have the time to go slow).

Be advised that you'll probably have to do some bending and fitting to get the holes in the support struts lined up for the 3pt on the KK hog. Took me several hours to get the darn thing assembled.

KK sells safety chains for the front and back openings. Cost about $250 for the set (IIRC).

That's why I like Soundguy's mudflap setup. Just received my mudflap from Northern Tool ($11) and will cut it to size and install it pretty soon. The grass/weeds here in the North Valley are nearing a foot tall, so it won't be long before mowing starts. Have to spray for star thistle before the first mowing, however, probably in March.

 

[OrangeMule]

Re: 48\" rotary cutter productivity?

L2800 4WD.
I have a 48" King Kutter Heavy Duty bush hog and it's been very useful and quick once you get the hang of turning with the brake and making sure the deck is level.

Take your time with whatever cutter, and if you want to make money doing it, take your time with bigger equipment. Let the equipment do the work. But if you're cutting small lots (1/2 acre is tiny to me), smaller and more nimble machinery could be more efficient.

Another thing to consider is how wide is your tractor, and will your bush hog reach outside of your tires' width? If your cutter is more narrow than your tires, you'll have a strip that won't get cut unless you drift the cutter to one side, even with the outside of the tire and this generally causes some scrubbing of the inside of the tire by the stabilizing chains on my rig (I am getting a 60" cutter in a couple years...it takes too loong to cut with the 48"---I cut firebreaks, walking paths, and a 3 1/2 acre clearing fairly regularly in summer)