Can my L3940 handle a JD MX7 cutter?

[beppington]

7 footer.

There's one for sale locally, says excellent condition (aren't they all?!) ... haven'y seen it yet.

But will my 3-ton, 40.5HP, 31.5HP PTO tractor handle it, or is it just too much?

I don't try to bush hog 2"+ diameter trees (I saw those down), but I want to be able to mow heavy stuff & beat up saplings up to about an inch, maybe a little more. And of course I don't want to kill my tractor if this thing is way too heavy or just overall too much for the PTO.

Also, they want $2,600.

What do you all think?

 

[MarkV]

Well the general rule of thumb is 5 PTO hp per foot of mower. Might be ok on light stuff but it will be working hard in heavy stuff.

MarkV

 

[trook]

I think the bigger problem will be all that weight hanging off the back of the tractor. If you are not careful, the tail may wag the dog!!

 

[TripleR]

I run a Land Pride RCR2672 on my L5030 and while it will power a RCR2684, I have all the weight I really want on there now. I am not familiar with the specs on the John Deere, but they look like really good pieces of machinery.

I personally like a cutter no wider than my rear tires or much wider, otherwise I wind up hooking something like a tree with it.

 

[AKfish]

IMO - it would be too much for your tractor - weight off the 3pt as well as the pto power necessary for it to really cut well.

I can recall several comments on the JD forum regarding the MX7 and several were not pleased with the performance of the cutter. Many cited the "spin-up lag" and the power needed to move that big blade up to pto speed.

There were suggestions that if they "knew before-hand"... they probably would have went with an MX8.

AKfish

 

[Grateful11]

Our 6' works our 50 PTO hp tractor pretty good in really heavy stuff. We have
an L3940, I wouldn't put a 7' on it period.

 

[beppington]

OK guys, thanks for the input. I'm gonna skip it. Seems it'd be too much for my tractor, & I hoped to spend less than $2K ... Plus it's green!!! :confused2: ... :laughing:

My dealer recommends either a "standard" (1" - 1.5" cut) Woods or Bush Hog (both $1,900) or a "heavier" (2" - 2.5" cut) Land Pride RCR2672 ($2,499).

If you have any thoughts on those, I'd appreciate you sharing them ...

 

[rjkobbeman]

OK guys, thanks for the input. I'm gonna skip it. Seems it'd be too much for my tractor, & I hoped to spend less than $2K ... Plus it's green!!! :confused2: ... :laughing:

My dealer recommends either a "standard" (1" - 1.5" cut) Woods or Bush Hog (both $1,900) or a "heavier" (2" - 2.5" cut) Land Pride RCR2672 ($2,499).

If you have any thoughts on those, I'd appreciate you sharing them ...

Seven footers are a unique beast. IMO the 5 HP per foot of mower really don't apply here. Being a single spindle, they stick out the back rear far.

There was a thread on TBN somewhere that discussed 6' vs 7' vs 8' mowers. The expert opinion was to either use a 6' or an 8' mower and skip the 7'. I don't remember who the person was, but he had a lot of mowing experience with all the mowers discussed. He said he had a tractor that could handle both the 6' and 8' OK, but was scary with the 7' mower.

 

[milkman]

Obviously, I haven't priced cutters lately, but $2600 used sounds too heavy for my wallet even if it is green.

 

[beppington]

Yeah, after seeing a 6-footer in person (noob here) versus my dad's 5' cutter I've been using, I can only imagine how huge 7-footers are.

Since the 5, 6 & 7 footers are single-spindle units, here's the math:

Size...Area (sq feet)
.5'............19.6
.6'............28.3
.7'............38.5

A 6' is 44% bigger than a 5'.
A 7' is 36% bigger than a 6'.
A 7' is 96% bigger than a 5' <-- almost double the area: HUGE (to me anyway)