Rotary Cutter What size rotary cutter for 40hp tractor

[WVH1977]

I had a local guy quote me $2,000 for one day with a forestry mulcher. He said he usually gets two acres done in day. I really thought hard about going that route. However, I would rather spend that money on a rotary cutter that I plan on having for a long time. I do not plan on clearing every single pine in the three acre area. I am going to pick and choose as I go along. If I had to have a lot cleared out in a few months I would have rented a mini-ex. I cleared an acre and a half at my current property with one. But I was dealing with a large dump pile and 10" to 30" diameter trees. We do not plan on building a house on the property for at least 1 1/2 to 2 years. Plus clearing slowly will give me a lot of seat time on the property to really look it over and decide exactly where I want to put the house, garden, driveway, trails and barn/garage/man cave.

I really appreciate everyone who has responded to this thread to help me make a decision. I took into account and read all replies. I have $ 3,000 in csh that I can spend on this endeavor. The BB720X is out of that price range. If I went with the forestry mulcher I get two acres for 2,000.00 and no rotary cutter until I save more money up (next item up is a nice printer for the wife). The mini-ex for a week would cost me around $2,700.00 when you include delivery/fuel/rental. At my disposal right now, I have chainsaws, grader box, grapple bucket, 4 in 1 bucket and soon to be rotary cutter and months of enjoyment getting to know my new property by working on it. I went to my local dealer today and ordered the BB600X. I will try and keep everyone updated with pics once I start cleaning up the property.

Again,

Thanks for everyone who took the time to give me advice/opinions. It has been greatly appreciated.

 

[airbiscuit]

Have fun! Get yourself a bundle of those tall orange flags to mark the stumps in the area you are working on. It looks like you have a lot of them to dodge.

 

[Texasmark]

I run a med duty 6' Kodiac easily with a Ford 3000, something less than 40 engine hp.

 

[AGRIMAN]

You could go 20'. Well, you may have to shoot a little fuel to her.

 

[Slippy]

I have a TC40D and run a 5' cutter with no problem. Have to go slow with the high stuff. A good rule of thumb for me is about 7 pto hp for every foot, in my applications. I have a lot of hills and some rough stuff. I never like to run under hp though, but thats just me. That is a conservative number I think, and of course if you are on flat gound, dont need 4wd, low stuff, you could do fine with 6'. Hopefully your 6' will work fine for you. Good luck!

 

[LD1]

I have a TC40D and run a 5' cutter with no problem. Have to go slow with the high stuff. A good rule of thumb for me is about 7 pto hp for every foot, in my applications. I have a lot of hills and some rough stuff. I never like to run under hp though, but thats just me. That is a conservative number I think, and of course if you are on flat gound, dont need 4wd, low stuff, you could do fine with 6'. Hopefully your 6' will work fine for you. Good luck!

I always hear people say things like "have to slow down in the tall stuff" and never really any context. Slow and fast aren't quantifiable.

If you have a HOST, you can go infinitely slow. If you have a gear, there are limits. But I ran a 6' cutter behind my 29 PTO hp L3400 gear. And even in the thickest and nastiest stuff, I never had to drop below 3L. Which IIRC, is somewhere around 2.5 mph. Never even thought about dropping to 1st or 2nd in low range. And yet many people insisted 6' was too big and 5' was a better match. In lighter stuff, I was mowing 1st or 2nd high range. Which was a tad over 5mph. And alot of times I had to slow down because the ground was rough, not because I lacked power. So IMO, I could have benefited from a LARGER cutter. Because I could go as slow as 0.9mph in 1L.

Slower and wider is alot better than narrow and trying to go fast. I'd rather have a cutter that limits my speed because I lack power, rather than have to slow down because it's too rough. Because that's when you will be most efficient, and using all your HP to mow, rather than not using all your power because you have to slow down in order to stay on the seat.

 

[Tigershark]

I have a 40HP Kioti and a 5 Ft BadBoy rotary cutter and it is awesome. When I bought it they weren't making a 6ft model but it looks like they do now. I have taken many 2-3 inch saplings out with it. You will enjoy the cutter

 

[Slippy]

Good point about slow v fast, especially for those who don't have much experince to measure it against.
My view, its all personal preference. Time, weather, conditions, equipment, what is being cut, how long it has been since last cut, etc., all play a role in what you have to get done, and how it will get done. Looking forward to hearing about your experince after hooking it up!

 

[IslandTractor]

I have a Kioti DK40se and use both a 5ft Woods BrushBull and a 75" Caroni flail. I think 6ft is probably the right size bush hog although the 5ft is great for really thick brush and saplings.

 

[WM75Guy]

I have my preset cruise at 3 mph on the Boomer 8N. Any faster and my back hurts the next day plus I get a nice cut. A nice day, hearing protection connected to the MP3 player, and a large cup of iced tea with a lid. Best therapy in the world.

 

[WVH1977]

UPDATE:

I just went and picked up my BB600X today. It is bigger than I expected, really well built. I am really glad I went with this size for the cutting I plan on doing. It fits the tractor well. I will be going through the manual tonight. Tomorrow I am going to do some cutting behind the house. Here are some pics of the cutter:

 

[DieselBound]

Man, that glare from the shiny objects in your pictures makes it hard to figure what's there!:laughing: Too nice looking. Get it out and get it dirty!

Quality never goes out of style. You're set!:thumbsup:

Regarding traveling speed, if one is cutting larger stuff one is going in reverse. I for one have a neck that's suffered from driving in reverse at speeds that one probably shouldn't: because a tractor and implement can do it it don't mean that you should But going forward, in grass, I generally have no issues running running in medium gear at near-full speed (unless I encounter my neighbor's wicked grass or, hopefully never again, my 9' tall grass!); I do, however, have a lot of trees, so slowing down always has to happen.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Nice cutter that is a good match for your tractor. You should get many enjoyable years out of that unit.

 

[WVH1977]

Yeah, it won't stay clean for long. I am also used to the neck turning all day especially when I am using the grader box a lot. I have about a acre of tall grass/straw and shrubs out behind the house. I am going to get used to it by cleaning that up before I take it down to my new property. I have used my Granny's BB60 a lot in the past so I am familiar to running rotary cutters. But this thing is like the BB60 on steroids. I am going through the manual right now. I always like reading the manual front to back.

 

[IslandTractor]

UPDATE:

I just went and picked up my BB600X today. It is bigger than I expected, really well built. I am really glad I went with this size for the cutting I plan on doing. It fits the tractor well. I will be going through the manual tonight. Tomorrow I am going to do some cutting behind the house. Here are some pics of the cutter:

View attachment 507632View attachment 507633View attachment 507638

I have the same mower. Warning: the paint is gonna fade. I barely recognized yours as the same. Great mower.

 

[FTG-05]

I would want to cover the width of my tires. Your tractor will run the 6' cutter.

6'. No contest.

I have a 6' on my L4330, about a 41 hp/36 hp pto and I wish I had gone with a 7 footer.

Heavy stuff, going up hills etc.; simple, just a shorter cut, less wider cut, slow down or some combination. With the wider cutter, you have options. With the narrower 5
cutter, good luck getting it to cut 6' wide, ain't happening.

 

[WVH1977]

6'. No contest.

I have a 6' on my L4330, about a 41 hp/36 hp pto and I wish I had gone with a 7 footer.

Heavy stuff, going up hills etc.; simple, just a shorter cut, less wider cut, slow down or some combination. With the wider cutter, you have options. With the narrower 5
cutter, good luck getting it to cut 6' wide, ain't happening.

I really thought very hard about going with the BB720X and initially that was what I wanted to do. I even called Woods directly and talked with their technical staff about this. I explained what I would be using it for and told them the make and model of my tractor. Their recommendation was the five foot cutter. Plus I did not have the cash to up it to the BB720X (this was ultimately what made my decision for me). Those two items led me to the decision I made. I am happy with my purchase and this cutter is definitely better that what I had before (no rotary cutter). If in the future I decide to get a six foot cutter I will sell this one or trade up. Thanks again for all the responses.