Mowing ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter

   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #1  

cowski

Platinum Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
757
Location
Alabama
Tractor
cx70,5510,4630,5005, 108s
i would like to know what pto horsepower you consider ideal for a 15 ft cutter? in years past,i have pulled them with 125 hp and up.we always seemed to have a lot of breakage.i got a 75 pto tractor years ago and just got a 540 pto 15ft cutter .after running it this summer i have found i need more power.i have used it on a 60 and 75 pto hp tractor.the 60 horse tractor will cut light pastures anything heavier chokes it down.the 75 does a lot better job but it still runs out of power in the heavy brush.the 2 tractors i am using are jd 5510 and mccormick cx70.the jd is a little light on the hills but with mfd it is okay.the cx70 much better on the hills but just not enough hp. what pto hp and tractor weight would you consider ideal on your farm to pull a 15 ft cutter?thanks for all opinions:)
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #2  
I would go 100hp and up ... in this case bigger is better but pice can be an option.
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #3  
the main q is whats the hp rating on the shredders gearboxes.but id say 100 to 110 pto hp tractor is what your looking for.if you get a tractor pto bigger than the gearboxes youll blow the shredder skyhigh sooner or later.
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #4  
Speed is everything as well. You can get a huge mower with the min HP requirements have to crawl along your land but if you increase HP then you can mow faster.
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #5  
it all depends on what you are cutting.. i pull a 15' with a 90 pto hp NH and it's good for 5th gear untill I hit about 2' of lush green grass, or 3' of weeds.. if higher than that then i go to 4th.. etc..

soundguy
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter
  • Thread Starter
#6  
i was hoping for a few more opinions ,before buying another tractor.
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #8  
The rule of thumb for minimum HP that is usually posted in response to this question is 5 PTO HP per foot, which is consistent with the 70-80 HP shown in the chart linked above.
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #9  
I've pulled Woods 15' batwings with everything from an 8030, 8050, and 8070 Allis Chalmers (~130-170 PTO hp respectively) to a M9540 Kubota (82 PTO hp). The Kubota handles the mower well in most situations, but is a little light on hills. 82hp on the PTO seems to be adequate for most cutting we do, but the big AC's would pull it much faster in the heavy cutting. IMO about 100-120 PTO hp is what I'd consider ideal, which would also put you in a tractor heavy enough to handle it on any terrain. The big 150+ hp tractors will smoke the wing clutches on a batwing if get too greedy with it.
 
   / ideal pto horsepower for 15 ft cutter #10  
around here most or run on 75hp upto 100 hp tops anything over that is just over kill we have run a 20ft on a 8000 ford and a 7910 ford with no trouble mowing thick weeds and young trees about 4in around and 5/6 ft tall
 

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