Hi John and all,
This is EXACTLY the input I need...
<font color="blue"> A medium duty cutter will serve NO advantage to you and your current tractor...</font>
Now I was not looking at the standard vs medium duty from the perspective of what I would cut, but rather from the perspective of which would last a lifetime due to mechanical construction differences.
I figured that the medium duty would not take much if any more HP to turn it in free air than the lighter duty one, but that it might hold up better to limited physical abuse and maybe some storage abuse too over the decades... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
To give you an idea where I am coming from, I have a KK back blade that so far does all I have needed it to do...but I now feel I should have put that money towards a nice, heavy duty "big-name-brand" back blade, which would have better construction and a couple extra features...
Actually, I only have a couple acres that I want to clear and then probably keep cut a few times per year. So my guess is that a standard duty of ANY brand would probably do the job, but that a cheaper, lighter, thinner one might not last as long as I expect to.
It was reading another thread where the light popped on in my head as to the weight of a medium duty unit being pretty high compared to the weight of my B2910. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Something I had not considered and also something that doesn't seem to come up as much as PTO power requirements.
Now I believe there are a lot of B2910 owners out there [and other 22 PTO horsepower tractors as well] with 5 foot rotary cutters hanging off the back...enough that I assumed it was a workable combination. Provided that one was not intending to do more than his tractor is capable of, naturally...
I am still amazed that while I have read a lot about HP needed to turn the cutters [when working them hard] I only realized recently that the other important consideration is the weight of that rotary cutter hanging way out back there /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Who wants do to wheelies all the time when moving with the rotary cutter in the transport position? I don't!
So, given the fact that my tractor will NEVER work a medium duty rotary cutter to its limits, if I would decide that I want to pull a 5-footer behind my tractor and do light cutting with it, would it be crazy to do that? I mean crazy to consider hanging a 1,000+ lb implement of ANY kind back there if it sticks out that far and needs to be lifted for transport?
I probably did not ask the question right the first time. What I was looking for is a rule of thumb relating tractor weight to the maximum weight that we might want to hang on the TPH, if it sticks as far back as a rotary cutter does.
From the standpoint of keeping the front wheels on the ground and maintaining steering control when using the implement or transportig it.
I think a box blade of any weight liftable by the TPH would be fine for example...
By the way...no need to be gentle /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Thanks for your input John [and hopefully a follow up /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ] and for comments from anyone else that wants to share something!