Brush Cutter Size

[new jersey mike]

I was debating the same decision last year. I "had" heavily over grown fields. I decided on a new 45hp tractor and a 6ft rotary from Bush hog. I decided to also buy new this way any abuse was from me. The mower is limited with the diameter it cut and I will come back with a chain saw and than brush hog the remainder in the real heavy areas.

I don't agree with comment of the front part of the mower is only being used. When a sapling is cut is it not chopped more before coming out the back? And if you were to have the back edge 1 inch lower then the front it would mulch more material but is more strenuous on the tractor.

I have leaned a lot from reading here and really appreciate it. So what do I know, the hp of the tractor, the height and age of material maters, the speed that you move forward matters, the height of the deck and angle of the deck matters, is the field level? Cut moving downhill to ease the load. You don't have to cut a full 6ft swipe either. The dealer told me I did not have to have to run high rpms and I guess he never thought this "green horn" would not do what I did. I am sure many will also say RPM's matter it's what is turning the bade and moving the tractor. If you have a bucket keep it low so you push down the material you cut.

And if your unsure go around it.

I hope this helps.

 

[leonz]

The leading edge of the rotary cutter is the ONLY cutting surface
that is meeting the brush that is entering the mower housing the
same rule applies to a belly mower.

The leading edge becomes the following cutting edge at each rotation
and simply flies over the material that hacked up by the leading edge
its nothing more thana merry go round of brush mower blades.


The brush is left to rot and takes forever to rot down to dust and you
have a lot of dead spots that will provide food for the bad bugs in the soil.

if you want to beat the living daylights out of the ground and the brush mess
that will sit on the surface you- lower the rotary cutter all the way down and
allow the mower to slide on the ground using the side walls of the mower deck.


After the brush is cut you will have no ability to recut the material and shred it further -
unless and until it is so dry it is brittle and what little sucton is occuring ccan lift up the material.

 

[Sackett2]

i bought A 4" hog when I got my tractor, and was chastised about it not covering the wheels. That 4' hog has done very well, and i love it with brush and saplings. the smaller diameter doesn't bog down in the heavy stuff as a larger one would.
I am buying a near 6' Chinese one from Betst for this year. This will be used on the big field jobs where time is important and I'm not into big bushes all the time.

 

[gerard]

My 3 pt capacity is 900lbs, have a med duty bush hog that weighs 600lbs. Wouldn't even consider going smaller than 5 foot though 6 COULD be a problem based on ability of 3 pt to lift. (Once you go to 6 foot they tend to be either med or heavy duty and I might be crowding the 900 lb capacity of my 3 pt).

Not sure I agree totally with the front edge doing the only cutting. There is a mulching action when cutting 3 foot high grass and that grass gets chopped up the longer it stays churning around under the deck. Lowering the back as opposed to the front keeps the cuttings in the deck longer and chops them up more. Also takes more power to do so. Tilting the deck so the front is lower than the rear allows the spoils to exit quicker and get chopped up less, easing the load on the tractor but not chopping up the grass/weeds as finely. There is no real "right" "wrong" way. Depends what you want to accomplish. One thing you DO want to do is keep the top link slack so it floats freely. That's how the mower keeps somewhat level when going over mounds and hills. If you keep it taught (no play in the linkage), the mower will rise and fall as the wheels go up and down which will give you a bit of a choppy cut. Not an issue if you have perfectly flat fields.

 

[LD1]

I guess I am kinda the odd man out here. But again, my tractor is a little bigger and a little heavier and I use a med. duty 5' cutter. I can personally say I would not want to run it on a smaller/lighter tractor with 7HP less at the PTO. But again, this is just one guys opinion.

I do like whoever mentioned the 54" cutter. I think that would be a good fit for you.

And I also dont really buy into covering the wheel tracks. At least not for bushhogging. I see no advantage to it. But going bigger, you have to be careful when mowing next to things. With the BH being wider, it is easy to catch it on things.

And in your given HP range, you can mow with a 48" or 54" just as fast as a 60" ore even a 72". HP will determine how fast you can cut. NOT BH size. You will be able to mow faster with the smaller cutter, but take a smaller swath. But in the end, acres per hour are determine by HP.

 

[Verticaltrx]

I use my tractor commercially with a 5' bush hog, so I have plenty hours running this setup. 5' is just fine so long as 1) the unit is not too heavy and 2)the back of the bush hog isn't too enclosed. I use a Kodiak 5' that I got from Agri-supply and it was the right combination of durability and light weight. I also like the Woods Brush Bull and some of the offerings from Hardee, but they were too heavy. The one I have is also more open at the back than some other cutters, and therefore takes less power to run (discharges the cut material easier). We had a 5' Deere bush hog that was completely enclosed at the back and it took an amazing amount of power to run (at least 35-40 PTO hp in anything heavy).

I use mine with both the loader on or off and don't have any 'tail wagging the dog' syndrome. With the loader off a few suitcase weights on the front would help steering, but isn't necessary.

 

[Soundguy]

2" woody is too big.. green maybee. though I like to limit diet on that size of machine to 1.5"

you have the hp for up to 6'

soundguy

 

[gerard]

I guess I am kinda the odd man out here. But again, my tractor is a little bigger and a little heavier and I use a med. duty 5' cutter. I can personally say I would not want to run it on a smaller/lighter tractor with 7HP less at the PTO. But again, this is just one guys opinion.

I do like whoever mentioned the 54" cutter. I think that would be a good fit for you.

And I also dont really buy into covering the wheel tracks. At least not for bushhogging. I see no advantage to it. But going bigger, you have to be careful when mowing next to things. With the BH being wider, it is easy to catch it on things.

And in your given HP range, you can mow with a 48" or 54" just as fast as a 60" ore even a 72". HP will determine how fast you can cut. NOT BH size. You will be able to mow faster with the smaller cutter, but take a smaller swath. But in the end, acres per hour are determine by HP.

I understand what you're saying about hp being the limiting factor and theoretically that's true but that assumes you can drive at a speed as fast as your mower can still cut the grass/brush with the available hp. That's not really true in bumpy ground. When cutting light weeds/grass in my pastures, my limiting factor turns out to be how much I'm willing to bounce around so I may have excess hp and I still can't go/cut any faster. Hence I can cut more acres/hour with a 5 footer than I could with a 4 footer because I just don't want to drive any faster. Just a case where real life doesn't always meet theory. (I've also been told a 7 foot back balde is too big for my tractor. Guess I still haven't learned that after using it for 10 years and not wanting anything smaller)

 

[Jerry/MT]

looking into purchasing a Bush Hog for a Kubota B7800 30 HP, need to cut over grown briar's and saplings up to 1" to 2" in size, and grass. Will 5' be to large ?
P.S. would a tooth bar help with removing the briar's

The rule of thumb I use for rotary brush cutter sizing is 5 pto hp per foot of cutter. It's conservative and accounts for mowing up hill, etc and tall heavy grass and if it comes out to 5.5ft that you can go to the nearest higher foot. it's also good to have the cutter at least as wide as the rear wheel width.

Watch out for the weight of the mower because when you lift the mower your steering gets lighter.You don't want the front wheels coming off the ground. I have a 6 ft mower that weights 750 lbs on my old TO-30 ferguson and while the hydraulics will lift the mower, the sterring is marginal with the mower off the ground. Fortunately youmow with the mower on the ground!

 

[Soundguy]

I guess I am kinda the odd man out here. But again, my tractor is a little bigger and a little heavier and I use a med. duty 5' cutter. I can personally say I would not want to run it on a smaller/lighter tractor with 7HP less at the PTO. But again, this is just one guys opinion.

.

it's a ground speed vs hp vs weight issue.

if you have enough weight to safely tote a 6' but hp is a lil lower than optimal.. then use a lower ground speed.

I use a 5' hog on a weak lil ford 8n.. it's not optimal at high speed.. but in 1st gear and max throttle I've mowed 7' tall weeds

soundguy