Do I have any business trying to use a rotary cutter on this?

[aczlan]

Borrow a neighbor's tractor for a weekend. Add cheap hydraulic fluid when you rip a hose off, straighten the bent clutch rod, fix the radiator with Gunk, ignore the bent loader frame, set BOTH front tires flat so it won't be obvious one has been de-beaded, patch the ripped seat with yellow or black duct tape and try to drain out some of the fuel when you accidentally put gasoline in the tank instead of diesel. Park in on their lawn so they won't notice the engine oil leaking out of the crimp in the oil pan. Tell them thanks and have a nice day. We'll watch (again) for the abuse complaints here made by your unappreciative neighbor. Tell them you didn't need the rotary cutter so you left it behind the barn. Then see it it's still above the swamp water level where you got stuck and had to drop it off. Cover your tracks with lawn clippings.

It sounds like you may have gone through this before...

Aaron Z

 

[TripleR]

Been there done that. When faced with that, I ask myself not can I, but rather should I ? In this case, I would go with a tracked skid loader.

 

[wcampbell47]

Been there done that. When faced with that, I ask myself not can I, but rather should I ? In this case, I would go with a tracked skid loader.

I have an L3901 with brush cutter and a 60hp tracked skid steer with brush cutter. The skid steer would definitely be my weapon of choice.

 

[4570Man]

I have an L3901 with brush cutter and a 60hp tracked skid steer with brush cutter. The skid steer would definitely be my weapon of choice.

Same here. Even if I didn’t have a brush cutter which I don’t I could rip that up pretty fast with a tooth bucket in the skid steer. The tooth bucket would be a lot slower but produce the better job. A tractor bushhog would probably work if you were careful but the tractor itself just isn’t up to that kind of task. You’ll always certainly bend linkage and break lights and scratch the new machine all to pieces. Even worse you could spear the radiator or an oil line or filter. The radiator will be several hundred dollars plus the fan assuming it doesn’t overheat and seize. The oil leak could easily go unnoticed and cause major problems.

 

[bcp]

A common old way was a tracked tractor with a heavy disc. Two passes at crossing angles. A nearby farmer may have that. If available, maybe cheaper than a skidsteer with forestry cutter.

Bruce

 

[jeff9366]

Add your LOCATION to your T-B-N PROFILE. Your will receive responses better tailored to your questions and conditions.

I think you will destroy the little tractor doing that. Rent the skid steer and extreme duty cutter.

After I retired I cleared 1-1/3 acre of Florida jungle, at least as heavy with vegetation as your photo, with a Deere 750 tractor without a Loader, one Stihl MS261 pro-grade chainsaw, a Kubota RTV500 utility vehicle and a MUTS two wheel dumping trailer. Working alone, two to four days per week, part time, that clearing project took me three years, including removing dead Oaks both standing and down, junk softwood trees, vines from the desirable trees and from the soil. Loading the debris, hauling debris to the burn pit and safely burning the debris was 1/3 of the work.

It was partly this experience that led me to buy a 3,700 pound, bare tractor, Kubota L3560 (with Loader), which powers a 950 pound heavy-duty 60" Rotary Cutter.

Today that 1-1/3 acre is a lovely food plot planted in forage oats each winter, which deer browse to 2" height.

In Florida vegetation grows twelve months of the year, offset by being able to work outside twelve months of the year.

One bad incident with a chain saw and you will be in the hospital emergency room. Having written that, I have used chain saws for thirty years without injury, other than a repeatedly strained back, however I am old, retired and PRUDENT.

 

[Diggin It]

Location is not necessary.

I went from this:



To this:



With this:




Granted it wasn't 5 acres, and it took a while. But it was done.

 

[oosik]

Diggin It - - Man, am I ever glad you didn't ask me to help run that rotary thru your brush. I can still remember breaking virgin land with my brand new 8 Hp Troy Bilt Horse. Better name - Wild Stallion. I EARNED every square foot tilled. I thought that bucking horse was gonna rip my arms right off at the shoulder.

Just my way of thinking here - there is an enormous difference between - "capable of" and "designed to accomplish". If it were my choice - rent a piece of equipment designed to accomplish this task. Or get out your chain saw and cut everything - leaving only that stuff 1" or less. Use your rotary cutter on what remains.

Want to see what you will be asking of your little tractor. These videos are of much bigger equipment - you will get the idea.

Go to the Brown Ag Equipment web site. Look at some of their video clips. They have rotary equipment called tree cutters. Its fairly intense.

 

[RjCorazza]

My initial thought was that it would seem like a project that a 25hp tractor (ie: L2501 sized) would handle if taken slow. I zoomed into your picture and now not so sure. Even with a slightly larger machine like mine (L4060) you are going to be off the tractor with a chainsaw more than on the tractor ( a LOT more).
Still possible if you don’t mind taking a long time chipping away at it.
When I first moved to my property I had a large bank area (200’ x 40’) that I cleared out of brush and 1-3” trees and I moved across that bank about 10’ per day with hand tools and a chainsaw.
With 5+ acres I would think hiring out or renting some serious equipment would be in order. JMHO.

 

[Diggin It]

Diggin It - - Man, am I ever glad you didn't ask me to help run that rotary thru your brush. I can still remember breaking virgin land with my brand new 8 Hp Troy Bilt Horse. Better name - Wild Stallion. I EARNED every square foot tilled. I thought that bucking horse was gonna rip my arms right off at the shoulder.

This is 22HP, 36" cut and rated for a 3" sapling. It'll definitely give you a workout, but there is very little, if anything left. If it can get over it, it'll pulverize it to nothing. I had problems with the blackberry and honeysuckle vines getting wrapped across the font like barbed wire. Change the angle of attack, come back at it and it was gone.