Bush Hog BH27 too big for MX5800?

[Hozzie]

I am in the market for a Rotary Cutter for my MX5800 with 50 HP PTO. After some research I was planning to order a Woods BB720 (6'). Just looking at CL and there is a BushHog BH27 (7') available with limited use which has a good price. My concern is the BH27 may be a bit too much cutter for my machine. The website says it recommends 55HP PTO. I do have my tires as far out as I can go, so the extra foot would be nice to cover the tracks, but not if I will be wrestling with it.

General terrain is rolling hills with some woods undergrowth cutting, but mostly just regular pasture maintenance. I am not mowing 20 acres, so the extra width for time savings isn't a big concern.

I can probably get the BH27 for $1000 less than the BB720.

Thanks for your insight.

 

[jblac197]

I am in the market for a Rotary Cutter for my MX5800 with 50 HP PTO. After some research I was planning to order a Woods BB720 (6'). Just looking at CL and there is a BushHog BH27 (7') available with limited use which has a good price. My concern is the BH27 may be a bit too much cutter for my machine. The website says it recommends 55HP PTO. I do have my tires as far out as I can go, so the extra foot would be nice to cover the tracks, but not if I will be wrestling with it.

General terrain is rolling hills with some woods undergrowth cutting, but mostly just regular pasture maintenance. I am not mowing 20 acres, so the extra width for time savings isn't a big concern.

I can probably get the BH27 for $1000 less than the BB720.

Thanks for your insight.

I ran a 6 foot rotary cutter on my 38 hp kubota without any issues at all. Handled it just fine. Only reason I downsized to a 5 foot was because I needed to fit into tighter spacers.

 

[sea2summit]

I run a 7’ finish mower behind mine and it doesn’t even know it’s back there, wish I had a gear splitter for it so I didn’t have to run the tractor at such high RPMs

 

[nybirdman]

I run a six foot LandPride behind a L4240 Kubota(44 H.P.),no problem.You should be about to handle a 7' for light duty clipping for sure.You may need to keep the loader on or run front weights.

 

[nybirdman]

I purchase a new Bush-Hog branded rotary cutter in 2004;it has been used on three different tractors and probably has at least 1200 hours of use;looks bad but still works fine.This one has a shear pin;the larger ones use a slip clutch;service every spring and you will have no problems.
That 7 footer weighs about 1300 lbs.

 

[Zebrafive]

If you're cutting very low the 6' will cut better (less scalping) than the 7'. You also might want to compare blade tip speed of both to help decide.

 

[Overtaxed]

50PTO HP should be more than enough to run that cutter. I suspect the reason they suggest a high HP is for weight more than power necessary to run that machine. A 50HP PTO machine can run a 12' batwing as long as you're not trying to cut 3' grass, you'll be fine, just slow it down a little. It's much nicer to run slower anyway, less abusive to the driver and the gear than using a smaller cutter and running 10MPH to try to keep the machine working hard. I'd say go for it. The only reason I don't have a 7-8' fixed deck cutter with my 50HP PTO machine is because my land is too hilly, I need a floating deck to keep from scalping. Even my 6' is hard to deal with at times if I want to cut down close to the ground. But this is a problem on any large fixed cutter and not related to your original question; I think you'll be fine with that machine and have plenty of power to cut quickly with it.

 

[Hozzie]

Thanks for all of the replies. After looking more and reading a bit more, I think I am just going to go with the BB720X. I do have fluid in the tires and don't foresee taking off my loader in most cases, so weight hopefully isn't an issue, but it weighs ~100lb's less and has a tip speed of 15,900 which is 1,500fps faster than the BH27. It should also be a bit easier to maneuver in tight spaces, albeit minimally. If I want to mow faster later, I will look into one of the low HP 12' batwings.

Thanks again.

 

[big bubba]

ran a 6' hd Bush Hog on an MX500. good match. would much rather go hduty 6' on a tractor your size than a mid or light duty 7'. besides, a 7' hog imho is an odd size to be avoided. with blades that size, you're going to get a lot of vibration hitting stuff and not the quality cut of a 6'.
am sure some will disagree, just my take

 

[inode]

I just went through this decision making with what to put behind my Kubota M7060. I was really leaning towards a 7' rotary cutter as anything larger was out of my budget. As I read more, I ended up going with a 6' Titan 1606 with chains. The specs on the deck looked better than the Bush Hog BH26 I was looking at and it was considerably less expensive. The 7' cutters are large and I know I'll be cutting some thick stuff initially. The land I cut in east TN is hilly in the front and I wanted more maneuverability in tight spots. At some point later, I might purchase a larger pull-type cutter for the pasture.