Rotary Cutter prices on Rotary Cutters, where?

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I think most of the major brands have a light, medium and heavy duty line, so you can't just go by brand name. For example, Bush Hog makes great cutters in their medium and heavy duty line, but I'm not sure their light duty is better than anybody else's equivalent light duty.

The only difference is that Bush Hog's "light" duty may be the equivalent of some cheaper brand's "medium" duty. As someone else posted earlier, the weight of the unit is the best starting point for figuring out whether a particular machine is light, medium or heavy duty.

Rhino also makes a good cutter. They don't seem to get mentioned much here, but they are a well-established brand that's been around for a long, long time.

 

[jeff9366]

To make it lighter, would it make sense to go with a true Heavy Duty cutter, but go with a 4 footer instead of the correct 5 footer?

Jeff9366 says that you pretty much pay by weight. I'm wondering if I could find a "true medium duty" brand that still manages to stay within the 900 lb recommendation.

Certainly you can pull a 48" Rotary Cutter rather than a 60" Rotary Cutter. Much of my Rotary Cutter work is done in the woods, keeping brush down near trails and asphalt paths, partly for cosmetic reasons, partly to keep snakes and ticks away from the high use trails in a residential development with active seniors.

I pull a 48" Standard Duty King Kutter Rotary Cutter behind my B3300SU with 60" industrial tire width. My mowing is maintenance mowing; a bit different from what you are contemplating. Cutting an occasional 1" - 1-1/8" sapling is about the heaviest task my mower does.

Upside: Highly maneuverable mowing around trees. When passing between trees, if the tractor goes through, the mower will go through. Generally safer in use than a wider machine.

Downside: When I mow (some) pasture, it takes longer. Cannot mow close along fence lines.

A somewhat heavier 48" RC, rather than a really heavy 60" RC, may be your "solution".

 

[Piston]

I've never seen a heavy duty 48" rotary mower...does anyone make one?

 

[ohbehave]

Hmmm.... not sure if they make a heavy duty 48". Good question.

The inability to cut up next to a fence would be a hassle, though. Can't you adjust the cutter to be further to one side rather than dead center behind the tractor? I've never used one, so I don't know.

I'm starting to like the Kodiak.
Medium duty: Cuts up to 2" saplings, 90 hp gear box, 615 lbs, 11 Gauge ... the round back is 655 lbs with 10 gauge steel. I think it can be had under $2,000 (maybe well under) ... and it is actually manufactured in a nearby town

I can get a Bush Hog "BH" series for the same price with chains.... it weighs the same... Is the BH a step up from the Squealer series? They seem similarly spec'd.

I would love to see a real comparison of what distinguishes the nicer brands
Land Pride, Bush Hog, Brown... compared point by point with the roughly equivalent Howse, Kodiak, King Kutter, etc.

Is one manufacturer's 90 hp gear box better than the other guys?

I suppose the quality of welds might differ.

 

[jeff9366]

Hmmm.... not sure if they make a heavy duty 48". Good question.

The inability to cut up next to a fence would be a hassle, though. Can't you adjust the cutter to be further to one side rather than dead center behind the tractor?

I'm starting to like the Kodiak.
Medium duty: Cuts up to 2" saplings, 90 hp gear box, 615 lbs, 11 Gauge ... the round back is 655 lbs with 10 gauge steel. I think it can be had under $2,000.

I would love to see a real comparison of what distinguishes the nicer brands
Land Pride, Bush Hog, Brown... compared point by point with the roughly equivalent Howse, Kodiak, King Kutter, etc.

Is one manufacturer's 90 hp gear box better than the other guys?

I suppose the quality of welds might differ.

Land Pride makes several offset Rotary Cutters, probably not what you want, though.

As a retired marketing guy/wine I can tell you what distinguishes premium brands is intangible, yet valuable REPUTATION. (Also, in Land Pride, orange paint is an option.)

Nearly all Rotary Cutters use gearboxes imported from one or two factories in China. A few used to come from Italy but China now has the business. A 90-hp gearbox is ample for your L3200. Make sure the shear pin is not too strong, or the slip clutch is adjusted loose, so one of these fail first in a disaster, rather than your tractor PTO drive line becoming the de facto shear pin.

You have passed from research to The Quest For The Holy Grail.

Kodiak seems to meet your requirements.

GO WITH THE KODIAK.

 

[LD1]

3/16" 8 gauge deck... That's pretty heavy built to me?

Yes that is pretty heavy duty, no doubt about it. :thumbsup: Are the rest of the components also beefy like that?

But a 40HP gearbox????? No thats not a HD cutter.

Bushhog 325 is their heaviest 5' cutter. Weighs 1185 lbs and has a 190HP gearbox and can cut up to 3-1/2" saplings

Landpride 3660 is their heaviest. @ 1233lbs and also with a 190HP gearbox

Woods BB6000x is their heaviest @ 1320# and a 150HP gearbox.

So no it isnt a HD cutter. It may be "heavy duty" for Jbar, but certainly inst heavy duty when compared to other cutters.

And with a 40HP gearbox, I am betting the cutting capacity (which they dont list) isnt much more than a 1" sapling.

I am not knocking J-bar. And certainly would think their price will reflect what kind of cutter it is. With a gearbox rating that low, and half the weight, I would expect it to be half the cost of one of the other 3 I mentioned. And if thats what you need, and you arent doing alot of clearing of saplings, it is probably a fine cutter. But heavy duty it is NOT.

 

[TerryR]

The inability to cut up next to a fence would be a hassle, though. Can't you adjust the cutter to be further to one side rather than dead center behind the tractor?

Yes, you can. I have a 5-ft Bush Hog Squealer and have my tractor tires set all the way out because of our hilly terrain, so they are wider then than the cutter. I set it off to one side so it cuts to the width of the tractor tire on one side, and it works fine cutting next to trees and other obstacles.

Terry

 

[schmism]

I bought my old sq back ford from CL for $250. i routinly cut/clean trails in my heavly wooded 5 acers as well as mowing person tall grass/weeds in pasture.

its cut all of it just fine. I figure even if i destroyed it, i could buy 4 of them off CL for the price of a new woods etc

 

[LD1]

I bought my old sq back ford from CL for $250. i routinly cut/clean trails in my heavly wooded 5 acers as well as mowing person tall grass/weeds in pasture.

its cut all of it just fine. I figure even if i destroyed it, i could buy 4 of them off CL for the price of a new woods etc

Thats my thoughts as well.

My old wore out (now) bushhog 105 was $125 c-list special. Made lots of money with that cutter before picking up the 306 on c-list for $200. Granted, it needed some work, but I still got less than $400 in that cutter.

 

[SPYDERLK]

The Rotary Cutter premium brands are (random order) Land Pride, Bush Hog, Woods and King Kutter/Professional. Within these brands you pay pretty much by weight.

There is little variation in the design of Rotary Cutters: PTO shaft, frame, deck, gearbox, stump jumper, blade, tail wheel(s). Rotary Cutters have been around for sixty years. Founders of the Bush Hog Company invented the Rotary Cutter/'Hog.

Then theres this cutter.
http://vieux.tracteurs.free.fr/pdf/John_Deere_Gyro_broyeur_Gyramor_127_livret_entretien.pdf
John Deeres answer to the Bush Hog back in the 50's. The 127 and 227 have 100+ HP gearboxes on a high quality but rather spindly frame. They are rated for 4" trees. We bought a used 127 in 1962 after trying both from the dealer. The 60" frame seemed to have better integrity as trees were battered apart. The cutter weighs 500 pounds and we have done thousands of trees larger than 3" and a few greater than 6 inches. 8" has been the largest, limited by tractor ability to bend it over. The mowers light weight becomes a big issue at this size also. At twice the weight I just dont see any favorable competitors today.