Bush hog

[alan40]

I recently purchase a NH 1720 with a front loader and now want to purchase a 5ft bush hog. The reason for a 5 foot is in the woodlot thats about the smallest size of space between trees, also I've been planting softwood trees about 6 feet apart also.I have about 6 acres of open pasture and the rest is woodlot that I'm clearing so I can get to the sugar maples. I've talked to Landpride, Woods, South East,Bush Hog and King cutter reps and they all give a different story,from a product is overbuilt to your tractor is to little. So I would appreciate any input on this subject. I'm going to be mowing hay/weeds and alot of brush up to about 1 inchs more or less. The landscape is rolling and have a couple good steep sections that are going to be tricky. Any input is appreciated. Have a great day!!! Alan

 

[gerard]

Sounds like a light duty should do it for you. Bush makes one for about $550 (razorback is the model). I bought one for 11 acres, 27hp tractor and mainly pasture grass with soem small bushes. It's rated to 40hp (gearbox) and 1" saplings. Blades are 3/8' thick which is main difference between heavy/med duty models which have 1/2" blades, heavier gearbox and heavier gauge sheet metal. (Also almost double the price)

 

[W5FL]

Yeah, probably the light duty will work ok. I am extremely partial to the medium duty Bush Hog (or equiv) because I have seen blades go THROUGH the side of the rotary cutter, and they can be bought with chain guards. They are heavier though and you should consult your owners manual and abide by their size and weight recommendations as rotary cutter put a big leverage on a tractor.

Just wondering after those trees that are six feet apart grow a little if you can get a 5 five mower between them (much less around them) since a 5 ft mower is wider than 5 ft and trees don't like being dinged with the mower (cuts through bark).

 

[ejb]

Is the NH 1720 a 17HP tractor? If not what size is it? If it is too small, even if a tractor will pull a rotary mower, and spin the blade, it might still be too small, especially when you start hitting those 1 inch saplings, or larger...you want a tractor that is heavy enough to prevent the mower from shaking the tractor too much when it gets resistance. Not saying yours it too small, cause I don't know how big it is, but its something to be aware of.

 

[alan40]

The NH 1720 is a 28 horse tractor. Having never used a bush hog before I never thought of what you told me. I'm going to the dealer tomorrow to see what they say about weight restrictions. Thanks, Al

 

[W5FL]

Be careful cutting that size brush unless you back over it. It can do considerable damage to your tractor if it pokes in the wrong places. Your owners manual should have the rotary mower recommendations in it. Be sure to use the rotary rather than the finish mower recommendations, though.

 

[Bird]

A 28hp tractor should have no problem with the light to medium duty 5' brush hogs (Bush Hog is a brand name). I use a 5' one on my B2710 (27hp). What is the width of the outside edges of the tread on your rear tires? I wouldn't want one that's not as wide (preferably just a little wider) than the tractor.

Bird

 

[W5FL]

ejb,

When that 1/2 inch x 4 inch blade comes around at 200 mph, whatever is in the way will be cut. Saplings, 2x4, steel pipe, etc. The problem usually is stopping a blade once it gets turning that fast. Most mowers used to have recommended HP on the mowers so that you would have an idea what you could wade into and sustain cutting, but they found they could sell more mowers if they would let the dealers tell you that the tractor was big enough. So much for engineering. Marketeers seem to be making the brochures lately and leaving out the specs that they are not real good at.

Using a tiller on rocky ground is a good example of needing some weight in the tractor or the tiller will literally tear up the tractor.

 

[JimBinMI]

alan40,

Your 1720, I would speculate, should be rated between the TC25 and TC29 but closer to the TC29. In the New Holland brochure that I have, the TC25,TC29, and TC33 are all rated for up to a NEW HOLLAND #951B 72" rotary cutter. You could check the NH website to see what duty that cutter is. Since it's rated for up to 6', I would think you wouldn't have a problem with a 5' medium duty or stronger. My neighbor has a 1720 and uses it to mow, till, and move snow, he has the ag tires and they don't seem to tear up anything when he mows lawn.

Good Luck!

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

 

[Mike H]

Great comment about stopping the inertia of the rotating blades. A few weeks ago, after carefully moving several hundred feet of 12 1/2 ga. high tensile wire (fence mat'l) out of the way, I ran it over anyway. I recognized it pretty quickly and pushed in the clutch pedal. By the time it stopped, I must have had over 200 feet wrapped around it. (didn't hurt anything but it took about an hour to cut it out and I sure felt stupid!) There's an awful lot of energy in those rotating masses.

 

[W5FL]

Yeah, I noticed that for a long time. My Kubota has a wet clutch and brake on the pto. It stops the blades much quicker than my Massey that had the two speed clutch. I used to pull in the barn, cut off the tractor, close the door and the blades would still be turning. Now that is a lot of inertia!

 

[alan40]

Thanks for all the inputs. Went to the Bush hog dealer today and looked at a 6 foot squealer just to see what one looked like compared to other brands. He's asking $1275.00 before tax for a 5 foot. I find this rather hard to believe especially when he said,"medium and heavy duty are about the same price. The shopping around I've done lately seems to make me think a light to medium duty brush hog should be in the $750 - $950 range. Maybe I'm asking for to good a deal if there is such a thing. My Ford dealer is reccomending a SouthEast. He says it better constructed then the NH 951 rotary cutter and it'$750.00. The more you look at these things the more choices you have to make. That's to bad because then I have to go and hang out in more tractor and implement stores!!!!! My 3 year old son thinks this is great fun too!! Have a great day, Al

 

[Bird]

Wow, alan40, I bought a 5' Howse last Fall for $495 (light duty) because my dealer wanted $795 for a 5' Bush Hog squealer. I can't imagine a dealer pricing the squealer at $1275. Of course, when you get into the heavy duty ones, I priced one 5' John Deere that the dealer wanted $1450 for.

MikeH, I've been lucky so far and only gotten some very short pieces of wire in my brush hog, but Wednesday afternoon I was mowing deep grass and weeds in a pasture when my brush hog suddenly developed a severe vibration, and I found that it had picked up several feet of half inch rope that managed to get tied both around the spindle and at the end of one blade, then that rope held a big batch of grass and weeds to that one blade; sure threw things way out of balance./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif At least it was a lot easier to cut away with my pocket knife than wire would have been.

Bird

 

[W5FL]

You need to get on the phone and check Rhino and Bush Hog. They are both well known brands and in the light duty are pretty good mowers. They have a 1 year guarantee and next year you will be able to get parts for them or 5 years from now. The 6 ft medium duty Rhino was $1650 and the 5ft Light Duty Rhino was $650. I bough the Bush Hog Medium Duty 6 ft mower and it was $1850 with slip clutch and chains.

 

[alan40]

Thanks for the prices. I thought $1275.00 for a SQ600 Squealer sounded high. Called a second Bush Hog rep further south and got a completely different set of prices. Go figure!! Can't find a Rhino dealer in Vermont so now I'm checking upstate N.Y within a 100 miles or so. Still in search of,
Al

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Just for your info, just picked up some prices from a local JD dealer in western Washington state for 5 foot rotary cutters:

Bush Hog SQ60- 876.00
Bush Hog Razorback- 713.00
King Cutter- 715.00
John Deere 513- 735.00

Good shopping.

 

[PaulB]

alan - I live in Central New York, and just this year got a 4 foot King Kutter brand rotary mower for $520. The 5 footer was $30 more. I got mine at Farm and Family, and TSC has a very similar line at the exact same price. My tractor is 17 horsepower and handles the 4 footer easily. I think you are looking in the right range to go to 5 feet for your tractor. Over $1000 for even the "bushhog" brand name sounds outrageous, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to make the trip to N.Y.if it saves you several hundred bucks.

 

[alan40]

PaulB, your absolutely right. Have a brother-in-law in Watertown checking as I type this. I've narrowed my choices down to King Cutter, Southeast, and Farmhand (Agco Corp) based on specs and price range. Going to keep my eyes open for a good deal. Don't really have to have it until spring. This is just research to see how much extra money I need to earn this winter.
Have a great day, Al

 

[Von]

Al,
There is a Central Tractor in Watertown that sells Kingkutter. 5ft. for $529.00.

Von

 

[W5FL]

Check the warranties. Many brands are 30 to 90 days while others are 1 yr. Rotary cutters are sometimes misused and some dealers will not accept them as tradeins because they don't know how they have been treated or maintained. See if you can get parts like a gearbox or blades locally for them.