Advice on bush hog width vs rear tire width

[Rmd8136]

I am close to purchasing a 5065e, 4WD with 77 inch outside rear tire width. I want to buy a Bush Hog 296, 6 foot cutter. Is it dumb to have a cutter that won't cover your tire track? I will be 2.5 inches short on each side. I will be cutting logging roads and some food plots and fire break. Some tight spots needing 3 point turn arounds. I can't see that it will matter. I will have to run the tires down the edges and won't cut to the tire track edge but not an issue. Any experience that would suggest a 7 foot cutter (84 inches>77)?

[strum456]

If you were planning on mowing fields, then you would really want the 7' model. It might also depend how close you want to mow to objects along the logging roads. Are you going to have to run over something to get close enough with a 6' mower? Another option would be to offset the 6' mower so it clears the tire on one side (by adjusting your sway bars).

Personally, I would always want the mower to be a little wider than the tractor.

[DKCDKC]

I bought a rotary cutter initially that was 5 feet with an old JD about the width of yours. It was fine for cutting roads, because little grows in the tracks anyway and the cutter easily covered the middle. In cutting fields, the tires mash down the weeds so that the cutter doesn't cut them as well - but that's true for any size cutter. If you get something like the big bat-wing jobs the tire mash is less noticeable because it's a smaller portion of the cut, but it's there. It never really bothered me that much. The big thing with the bigger cutter is that it simply takes less time to cut a large area. For forest roads, fire breaks and tight areas, I would say you're fine with a six footer. I'd even check out the used market in your area. I've had really good luck there.

I now have a JD CUT and the cutter is relatively larger... But it all works the same.

[TripleR]

I don't see a problem with your intended uses, we used a six foot cutter on our Massey Ferguson 375 for cutting and maintaining paths for years and while a tight fit, worked OK and no it didn't cover the tracks.

A seven foot single spindle is an odd size to me and I would prefer to just go to a twin spindle eight foot, but you don't need that. A seven foot is usually going to have dual tail wheels and will making turning around, maneuvering in tight spaces more difficult than with a single tail wheel six footer.

I now use a Land Pride RCR2672 with my L5740 and turning around or maneuvering in our woods especially with the FEL on can be a real bear, I would hate to think of trying it with a larger tractor and mower.

[IndyIan]

I put a 5'er behind my tractor and the trails still end up being 6' wide. Now for mowing brush in reverse it would be better to go a bit wider than the tractor but that's the only time I really wanted a 6 or 7' one. I found I could smear and fold over the brush with the bucket going forward and then the mower would chop anything still sticking up.

[flusher]

I am close to purchasing a 5065e, 4WD with 77 inch outside rear tire width. I want to buy a Bush Hog 296, 6 foot cutter. Is it dumb to have a cutter that won't cover your tire track? I will be 2.5 inches short on each side. I will be cutting logging roads and some food plots and fire break. Some tight spots needing 3 point turn arounds. I can't see that it will matter. I will have to run the tires down the edges and won't cut to the tire track edge but not an issue. Any experience that would suggest a 7 foot cutter (84 inches>77)?

No need to cover the tracks with the mower. Get the 72" size.

[KYDan]

If you are mowing close to obstacles such as fence lines, posts, trees, etc. The mower needs to extend beyond the width of the tires.

[Verticaltrx]

No need to cover the tracks with the mower. Get the 72" size.

Agreed. In fact a single spindle cutter is designed to go between the wheel tracks for an optimum cut. I'm not sure where the whole notion of having a cutter wider than your tractor came from, but as per the design of the cutter that is incorrect. The reason for this is so the cutter is cutting undisturbed grass. With this setup if you go around the field the proper way the inside tire will still mash down the grass for the next pass, but the rotation of the blades will pick it back up, the outside tire is always in cut grass.

I use a 5' bush hog on my 5203. The cutter works better on that tractor than my Ford NAA or B3200. The distance between my front tires is right at 5', so it's real easy to judge where you are cutting and get a full swath each time with very little overlap. If I need to cut up close to something I just swing it over to one side using the sway links.

So I say go with the 6', a single spindle 7' is a really large, heavy and long cutter. They also take a disproportionate amount of power due to the really long blades.

This is an illustration provided in the manuals for JD single spindle cutters describing cutting technique and wheel spacing:

[KYDan]

Agreed. In fact a single spindle cutter is designed to go between the wheel tracks for an optimum cut. I'm not sure where the whole notion of having a cutter wider than your tractor came from, but as per the design of the cutter that is incorrect. The reason for this is so the cutter is cutting undisturbed grass. With this setup if you go around the field the proper way the inside tire will still mash down the grass for the next pass, but the rotation of the blades will pick it back up, the outside tire is always in cut grass.

I use a 5' bush hog on my 5203. The cutter works better on that tractor than my Ford NAA or B3200. The distance between my front tires is right at 5', so it's real easy to judge where you are cutting and get a full swath each time with very little overlap. If I need to cut up close to something I just swing it over to one side using the sway links.

So I say go with the 6', a single spindle 7' is a really large, heavy and long cutter. They also take a disproportionate amount of power due to the really long blades.

This is an illustration provided in the manuals for JD single spindle cutters describing cutting technique and wheel spacing:

If this is true why do all commercial mowers, zero turns, lawn tractors, etc. Have mowers that extend beyond the wheels? Also, why would you ever use a batwing if this is the case?

[Verticaltrx]

If this is true why do all commercial mowers, zero turns, lawn tractors, etc. Have mowers that extend beyond the wheels? Also, why would you ever use a batwing if this is the case?

Multiple spindle spindle cutters rotate the blades in a manner that will take out both tire tracks. We have a Woods BW180 15' batwing and it provides an excellent cut, as does our deere 1008 twin spindle 10'. Finishing mowers (and the others you listed) are a whole different ballgame due to the shorter grass height.

Things have changed over the years, I was just informing folks of how these cutters were originally designed to operate. Many of the new high tip-speed single spindle cutters will do a satisfactory job covering both tires, but not as good as they could if operated like they were originally intended. I'll also add, most folks don't care about cut quality when it comes to bush hogging, if it knocks it down that's all that matters to them.