Rotary Cutter Best rotary cutters for uneven terrain

[TVZ]

I have a lot of areas with irregular ground, containing small dips & humps. I need to keep some of them mowed as well as possible. I've been using a rotary brush cutter on my compact tractor to do a reasonable job, but it's hard to keep it from occasionally digging into the ground. I'm afraid that a finish mower would not be able to take the abuse it would inevitably get on this rough ground. Is there a rotary cutter that has wheels in the front or some way to keep it from digging into the ground (like a typical finish mower, but more heavy duty)?

 

[Overtaxed]

I have a lot of areas with irregular ground, containing small dips & humps. I need to keep some of them mowed as well as possible. I've been using a rotary brush cutter on my compact tractor to do a reasonable job, but it's hard to keep it from occasionally digging into the ground. I'm afraid that a finish mower would not be able to take the abuse it would inevitably get on this rough ground. Is there a rotary cutter that has wheels in the front or some way to keep it from digging into the ground (like a typical finish mower, but more heavy duty)?

A pull type rotary might be better. I know my BW12 (which is a pull, batwing style) is MUCH better at following the contours of the land than my old 6' rotary cutter is. Part of it is the flex in the decks, no doubt, but another big part is that it "floats" and doesn't dig as much, or at least seems to.

 

[ruffdog]

The problem with a 3pt rotary cutter is that the cutter can't move independent of the 3pt arms. The arms are locked together so when one tilts, the other tilts. I was tired of cutting sod with the cutter so I bought a King Kutter with the Flex Hitch. The frame that attaches to the 3pt moves independent of the cutter deck through short dog-bone shaped flex linkages. I'm very happy with it and it lessens the shock load going through the 3pt lift arms.

Tractor Brush Hog - Brush Cutter - YouTube

 

[bullbreaker]

ruffdog looks great , did it come with option front chain guard / rubber etc ? Or you had too install one on yourself upon purchase ?

King Kutter Front Chain Guard for 6 inch Flex Hitch Rotary Kutter 43972

 

[jeff9366]

TVZ

I have a lot of area with irregular ground, containing small dips & humps.

What size combined area in acres?

I need to keep some of them mowed as well as possible.

What does this mean? Are the blades sharp?
If you need a lawn-like appearance smoothing out the land is your long term solution. You will be able to mow at thrice the speed.

I've been using a rotary brush cutter on my compact tractor to do a reasonable job, but it's hard to keep it from occasionally digging into the ground.

Front, back, sides, rear, all?

Is there a rotary cutter that has wheels in the front or some way to keep it from digging into the ground (like a typical finish mower, but more heavy duty)?

YES. Add Zerco check chains to your existing R/C.

T-B-N ARCHIVE: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...ta-b3300su-zerco-check-chains.html?highlight=

VENDERS TODAY: zerco mower deck height stabilizer kit - Google Search

 

[ptsg]

Some tractors do have slots on the lift arms that will allow for some floating action between lift arms.

On mine, I have a slot about 1.5" long and the pin has a rectangular tab, while the lift arm have some stops. If I put the tabs in the vertical position, it can float. On the horizontal position it will lock.

I do a lot of mowing on irregular ground and this 1.5" of travel that will translate on much more on the ends works just perfectly. I've never exceed the travel.

You might want to check if there such a thing on your tractor.

Here is a picture of the manual of my tractor:

 

[Industrial Toys]

My three wing finish mower had anti scalp rollers on the front which were an option. I don't see why they couldn't go on any mower edge.

I changed the frames that support the wheels on my wing mower to give it more height when I was cutting fields. It would bottom out on ant hills of all things and shear off blade bolts. The stupid things were 1/2" reverse fine thread and cost about seven bucks a piece! I would have to drill them out. Sometimes I would bust two in half an hour!

Anyway, raising the mower, totally eliminated any trouble with terrain.

 

[ruffdog]

ruffdog looks great , did it come with option front chain guard / rubber etc ? Or you had too install one on yourself upon purchase ?

King Kutter Front Chain Guard for 6 inch Flex Hitch Rotary Kutter 43972

I have yet to purchase the optional guards.

 

[coobie]

After flinging a Baseball size rock from under my Bush hog rotary cutter I will never run without chain guards again.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I flung a similar one two hundred feet in an upward arc many years ago. Went through an insulunit, embedding glass in an ajacent paneled wall. The mark is still in the ceiling!

 

[npalen]

I mowed several hundred acres of tall grass (bluestem etc) seed plots this spring with a 15 ft Landpride batwing (trail type mower not 3PT) and some of it being fairly rough. We were trying to mow fairly close and had issues with scalping.
Looks to me like a hydrid design batwing with gauge wheels in front of the wings would be advantageous. It wouldn't need to float like a finish mower but the gauge wheels could lift the wings when necessary to prevent/minimize scalping.
Many multi-section field discs have had the wing front gauge wheels for many years. They don't necessarily carry any weight until going thru a rough spot or ditch in the field and the idea is to keep the front gang from gouging.

 

[leonz]

I have a lot of areas with irregular ground, containing small dips & humps. I need to keep some of them mowed as well as possible. I've been using a rotary brush cutter on my compact tractor to do a reasonable job, but it's hard to keep it from occasionally digging into the ground. I'm afraid that a finish mower would not be able to take the abuse it would inevitably get on this rough ground. Is there a rotary cutter that has wheels in the front or some way to keep it from digging into the ground (like a typical finish mower, but more heavy duty)?

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With your mule and its available PTO horsepower a used 7-8 foot cut finish flail mower would be a better option,
as the rear roller is either 7 or 8 feet long and controls the height of cut.

A JD, Vrisimo or Alamo finish flail mower has full length welds and the construction of the flail mower has tubular
steel across the front and rear to increase the flail mowers strength of construction and prevent wracking and twisting.

My father used a gas powered ford jubilee to reclaim and mow 12 acres of old pasture with a JD290 finish flail mower(7 foot cut).

The other option is to see if you can purchase at least 2 complete tailwheel assemblies with flat free solid tires for a single rotary cutter to allow them to be welded
to the front of the finish mower and the mounting frame is long enough to assure that wheels will be able to spin around and not become jammed against the
mower body.

Purchasing the complete wheel assemblies and having them welded properly on the mower deck would not take a great deal of time.

 

[coobie]

I flung a similar one two hundred feet in an upward arc many years ago. Went through an insulunit, embedding glass in an ajacent paneled wall. The mark is still in the ceiling!

The rock from my BH traveled about 150ft like a missile.I was brushing down my road right of way thank god there were no cars driving by.Lesson learned for me.

 

[metalbender]

I always have concerns when RMs are mowing ditches along the highway with their big bat-wing mowers. So far, no incident from flying rocks or debris.

 

[jaxs]

Any mower will hit the ground (some more than others) unless you are mowing high. I don't believe the King Kutter flex system above would make much difference on any tractor I've ever operated. With engine running,no empliment on tractor and 3 point lift mid way between up and down,either lift arm can be picked up more than 6 inches by hand. I fail to see how 1.5 inches on flex system would be an improvement. Every cutter I've used has a lingth of chain on bar running from 3rd link to rear of deck that has same effect as flex system. Spraying to kill weeds will kill not 2 but 3 :dove::dove::dove: with one stone. #1 Field look's better sans weeds #2 Intervels between mowing are extended #3 You will be able to better see humps and holes in time to make correction.

 

[ruffdog]

Any mower will hit the ground (some more than others) unless you are mowing high. I don't believe the King Kutter flex system above would make much difference on any tractor I've ever operated. With engine running,no empliment on tractor and 3 point lift mid way between up and down,either lift arm can be picked up more than 6 inches by hand. I fail to see how 1.5 inches on flex system would be an improvement. Every cutter I've used has a lingth of chain on bar running from 3rd link to rear of deck that has same effect as flex system. Spraying to kill weeds will kill not 2 but 3 :dove::dove::dove: with one stone. #1 Field look's better sans weeds #2 Intervels between mowing are extended #3 You will be able to better see humps and holes in time to make correction.

With most modern tractors, the 3pt lift arms can be raised, but, they are not independent from each other. Also, the best part of the Flex system is not what is happening with the top link, it is the Flex between the 3pt lift arms and the deck. I had 1800 trees removed and not all stumps are below grade. Some stick up a few inches....not high enough to hit with the blade, but the deck corners hit them. The Flex is much better than a rigid mounted deck when you hit a stump.

PS...also, when you hit a stump, it doesn't just move upwards, it moves back/up on the radius of those dog bone links.