Buying Advice: Rotary cutter for Kubota MX 5100

[scootr]

This^^^^^^. But I don’t have a quick hitch and I get along fine. I love the telescoping lift arms.

True. The telescoping arms and quick pin adjusting sway arms make hook up a breeze... prolly didn't really need a Pat's QA, it's just a toy I guess

 

[jyoutz]

True. The telescoping arms and quick pin adjusting sway arms make hook up a breeze... prolly didn't really need a Pat's QA, it's just a toy I guess

I had a Pat’s on my old tractor, but when I got the MX with the telescoping arms, I decided I didn’t need another quick hitch.

 

[Sid Post]

A Kubota dealership near me suggests a 6' Land Pride RCR 18 series mower, for $3600-ish. I don't have that big of a farm and would be happy with a sturdy 5' mower, maybe even a 4 footer.
I'm primarily trying to keep the brush under control that sprouts up around my out-buildings, driveways, and fence lines. I'm getting older and would like to get something compatible with a "Quick-Hitch."

I'm scouring this forum, now, for previous questions like this, but thought I'd throw this out now. Thanks for any tips.

No! I run a 4' rotary cutter, also called a brush hog, being my 26Hp Kubota B2601 in heavy saw grass up to 6 foot tall and have mowed light brush and heavy vines with it as well.

You absolutely want something to cover your rear tire tracks. A 4-foot rotary cutter with a gearbox to handle that much power from your tractor won't save you much money.

A bigger rotary cutter is also nice for use under trees and for backing into heavy brush you don't want to damage your tractor tires or scratch the paint on your tractor.

 

[Sid Post]

How much acreage are you going to mow? One thing the forums is good at is spending other people’s money. Up until this year I mowed 50 acres with a 5’ landpride. Works fine.

The amount of time for me with a 5' versus 6' is pretty significant. The 7' foot rotary cutter is awesome in a larger field but, is a pain in the corner of a pasture fence.

If all you are doing is trim work, anything with a gearbox to match your tractor PTO horsepower will work. Costs of a 5' vs. 6' mower typically aren't significantly different assuming the same Hp ratings (shafts and gearbox) if you are in the same class of mower.

A 7' heavy-duty mower is substantially heavier than a medium-duty version and often the 7' heavy version will have gearbox and drive shafts rated for 200Hp or more.

Finding a 4' rotary cutter with a gearbox to handle your tractor PTO is not going to be easy to source or, cheap. A cheap 4' rotary cutter won't last much longer than a cold can of beer in a hot hay or wheat field in my world.

 

[Dbplunk]

I think I've found an Ironcraft 1206 mower for 2K that should do the job just fine.

 

[mo1]

How much acreage are you going to mow? One thing the forums is good at is spending other people’s money. Up until this year I mowed 50 acres with a 5’ landpride. Works fine.

I've cut that kind of acreage with 5' and 6' cutters before. It takes a little while but isn't impossible. Usually somebody would do that if they only occasionally have to cut that area, such as pasture clipping once at the end of the year. This is what I do, I cut about 65 acres this way last year. It would be hard to justify five figures for a batwing when I already have a 6' cutter for getting field edges and ditches. In all but a terrible year I hay that area and wouldn't even need to use the rotary cutter there at all (we had a terrible drought.)

A MX5100 would be a good match for a 6' cutter, I would not want to use a 7'er on that tractor, they are too long and heavy. A semi-mount or pull-type 8'er would work too but they are about three times as expensive as a 6'er as they are a three-gearbox, twin-spindle unit rather than a single-gearbox, single-spindle. I wouldn't try to run a fully mounted 8'er on that tractor.

 

[Dbplunk]

Thanks