B1700 to pull 4ft bush hog on hills?

[jebw]

Hey folks,

I've never owned a tractor, but I'm now shopping around for a small kubota. I've got about 16 hilly acres, and the majority of the land is too steep for our use, other than firewood gathering and hunting deer. About 6 acres of moderate slope is already cleared and I plan on maintaining that 6 and not clearing any more land. I plan on bush hogging about 2-3 acres 1-2 times a year. I've also got about 75 yds of gravel drive to maintain and clear the occasional snow off of. The rest of my cleared land I mow with a ztr which I plan on keeping.

Right now, I'm looking at a b1700 with 1000 hrs on. Comes with a 4ft woods bush hog, 5 foot scraper blade, and a la301 loader for $7500.

My main question is, with 14hp at the pto, is this tractor too small for the bush hog, particularly when hills are involved? I don't mind going slow, but I do want to be able to get the job done. Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[MikeInEburg]

It's really about how slow you're willing to go and what cutting conditions are. If you find that conditions are too difficult for this combo, you can mow slower or keep part of the mower over the section that you've already completed.
Mike

 

[RoyJackson]

That B1700 will do the job, but I reckon you'll wish you had a larger tractor within a year.

 

[BruceWard]

Is it 4WD? 4WD would be much better and safer on the hills. In 2WD you only have rear brakes. If you have 4WD then the rear brakes also brake the front wheels.

I ran a 5' bushhog on a B21 with 13 PTO HP / 21 HP total. I believe you will want more than 14 HP to bush hog hills with a 4' bushhog.

 

[BigD23]

I run a 42" squealer on the back of my BX23 and that's a good combo...PTO on mine is just less than 17hp.

Don

 

[Will_C]

It can do it- speed will depend on heavy the vegetation is. I mowed two fields, very heavy growth that had not been touched for 3-5 years,( the briars and brambles were over my head in places) for my brother when he first bought his land. The total acreage was about 12 acres, and it took around 18 hours of work with a 4' cutter and a 13 hp tractor.

 

[Thomas]

I had B1700 cousin B7100HST w/4" bush hog and did well.
What type of rear tires..turfs?..if turfs you may want to consider tire chains when mowing slopes.

 

[jebw]

It is 4WD and it has R4 tires. I can take smaller cuts when mowing so as not to bog down, but I wasn't sure if I should be concerned about the weight of the bush hog when mowing on hills.

 

[kebo]

It is 4WD and it has R4 tires. I can take smaller cuts when mowing so as not to bog down, but I wasn't sure if I should be concerned about the weight of the bush hog when mowing on hills.

With the bush hog in the down position, there should be no problems with the extra weight of the mower back there. However, if you have any intentions of trying to drive up any of those hills with the bush hog raised up (even just a little bit) and the loader unattached, you WILL NEED to add weight to the front end! Best just to always let it ride on the ground when you're driving up/down the hills, even if the PTO is disengaged.

As far as PTO HP for the mower, it should do ok with a 4ft mower long as you match the speed to the height/thickness of what you are cutting. As already mentioned, you can also take smaller swathes on each pass if needed, instead of using the whole 4ft width. There are some 3ft mowers available but I don't think you would want to go that small. Just be careful starting out learning the equipment and do get in the habit of wearing the seat belt everytime you hop on it.

 

[flusher]

Hey folks,

I've never owned a tractor, but I'm now shopping around for a small kubota. I've got about 16 hilly acres, and the majority of the land is too steep for our use, other than firewood gathering and hunting deer. About 6 acres of moderate slope is already cleared and I plan on maintaining that 6 and not clearing any more land. I plan on bush hogging about 2-3 acres 1-2 times a year. I've also got about 75 yds of gravel drive to maintain and clear the occasional snow off of. The rest of my cleared land I mow with a ztr which I plan on keeping.

Right now, I'm looking at a b1700 with 1000 hrs on. Comes with a 4ft woods bush hog, 5 foot scraper blade, and a la301 loader for $7500.

My main question is, with 14hp at the pto, is this tractor too small for the bush hog, particularly when hills are involved? I don't mind going slow, but I do want to be able to get the job done. Thanks in advance for the advice.

I mowed with a 4-ft brush hog on the back of my Kubota B7510HST (17 hp pto). No problem. Your B1700 should handle one of these mowers OK.

Just watch out on those "moderate" slopes--SCUTs can be tippy when cutting along slopes, especially if one of the downslope wheels drops into a 6" or deeper depression.

 

[garydc]

you should have no problems with that combo especially if the tractor is a hydrostat if it's tough going just ease up on the pedal. I had a 4 ft. on a b6200 & now have a 5 ft. on my ck 20

 

[SARG]

I have a scut with about 26hp at the PTO and mow about 5 acres with a 4 foot cutter. I REALLY wish I had gone for a tractor with more horsepower.....especially now that the neighbor across the road is having his 60 acres of fields that haven't been cut in over twenty years cleaned up by a mid size Deere with probably 50+ hp and a six foot cutter.

The difference between how clean cut his fields are versus mine is amazing.

 

[RoyJackson]

I have a scut with about 26hp at the PTO and mow about 5 acres with a 4 foot cutter. I REALLY wish I had gone for a tractor with more horsepower.....especially now that the neighbor across the road is having his 60 acres of fields that haven't been cut in over twenty years cleaned up by a mid size Deere with probably 50+ hp and a six foot cutter.

The difference between how clean cut his fields are versus mine is amazing.

The size of the equipment shouldn't make much difference as far as the quality of the cut.
Lower HP just means the operator will probably have to run a bit slower, that's all.

 

[SARG]

I guess seeing is believing. I can look at the field across the road and see the materials shredded to almost non existent pulp ....... and then look east at mine and note the leftover windrows of grass etc. that is not chopped up ........ even though I have gone over it multiple times.

From my limited experience I would say that the hp at the pto has everything to do with the quality of the cut.

 

[jebw]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll take it slow while I learn the equip.

 

[wch747]

Tractor should handle the 4 ft bush hog fine, power-wise. Just slow up a bit in the heavy stuff. I have a 4 ft with a B7510 & 7 sloping acres. Takes about 5-8 hours to do depending on growth. Little guy does fine with it. Including heavy growth about 3-4 ft high. The lift weight should not be a problem. I find it is better balanced if the front end loader is kept in place though. And 4wd is a must, especally on slopes.

I have come close to rolling it though on a not very steep side slope when dropping a down slope wheel into a ground squirrel hole. Be careful. Keep that ROPS in place and just go straight up and down the slopes.

Quality of cut, including ability to mulch up whatever you are cutting, depends on ground speed, blade tip speed and on sharpness of blades. Physical size of tractor or mower does not relate.

I hope this is of some help