TC 45 heavy enough for BushHog 286 cutter?

[Anonymous Poster]

I have a TN65 that has served me well, but I think I might trade for a TC45 4wd with FEL. The TN65 is too heavy for me to trailer safely without upgrading my truck/trailer. The heavy duty jobs that I had have pretty much been finished up and I think the TC45 would handle my box blade/dirt moving OK, but I'm concerned about whether it will handle the bushhog. I don't think the horsepower would be an issue, but raising the bushhog without the FEL on the tractor might make it too light in the front. Any experience with this? I think the bushhog weighs about 962 lbs.

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color="blue">...but raising the bushhog without the FEL on the tractor might make it too light in the front... </font>

You will need a few hundred pounds of weights on the front of the TC for better stability & proper ballast without the loader... (to use the Bush Hog rc)

After using your TN all this time... I think you"ll be quite surprised especially when using the Bush Hog rotary cutter... the torque reserve on the TN is no comparison to the TC...
(By the way, most TN65's are dyno'd around 52 PTO hp... not the high 40's as advertised)

I'm going through a similar situation right now... I'm looking for a 5/6 ton trailer to haul my JD/loader/rotary cutter... In the future I will also consider another tractor or two... but upwards past 70 or 80 PTO hp... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[mikim]

My Woods BB600 is a bit heavier than that 286 - not by much - but I have no problem using it on my 45 - If I take the loader off tho' then I want weights on the front.

 

[kensfarm]

Glenn.. just checking out the specs.. for the BushHog 286.. requires a Min. PTO HP of 40.. and the TC45 w/ hydrostatic.. shows 37.8.. manual shows 39.6. I believe you'll be right on the border for using the 286. I recently purchased the BrushBull 600.. weights 1039.. Min. PTO is 30.. the specs on the TC35D shows 29.1. W/ all the rain the farmers haven't been able to get into the fields to do much of anything.. the weeds have taken over.. and in one field they were as high as my canapy in some places.. I thought that would be a good challenge to test the cutter. My results are as follows.. w/ dry conditions and level ground.. the tractor runs the cutter very well.. but add in wet conditions.. soft ground.. and a steep hill to the equation.. the tractor struggles to maintain the 540 RPM's and I have to slow down to maintain the cutter's RPM's. As far as weight on the front end.. for me it's easy.. I always keep the FEL on.. never take it off.. (17LA, HD bucket, Toothbar).. even w/ that.. and I can still feel the bounce effect. That 1000 lbs sticks out about 8 feet from the rear of the tractor.. to be safe I would def. use some weight for the front end.. I was even going to scoop some dirt in the bucket to see if/how some additional weight would do. I bought the TC35D for chores & mowing on the farm.. but to hit the fields and get some significant work done in a reasonable timeframe.. I see more HP in my future.

 

[SageBrush]

I took my local dealers word and hung a 286 on a L4330 Kubota with a book reported 39.5 pto. So far, the tractor is handling it well with the FEL attached. My grass is about 5 to 6 feet and very wet because of the constant rain. I think it could handle a little more. I'm going to cut my low areas this weekend. Those are much thicker and higher than the tractor, but after one pass last week I found out it could handle it at a slower speed. No complaints so far. Just wish the rain would slack off. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif