Mowing Five or Six Foot?

[Archer EV]

I am looking to buy a new rotary cutter. I have a Long 2360 tractor with 35hp to the pto. The tractor has a six foot track. I have ten acres to cut and 30 wooded acres with some trails that need mowed. I can't seem to decide whether to buy a 6 foot cutter to match the wheel track or a 5 foot to save money and possibly be a bit more maneuverable in the woods. Any thoughts or recommendations?
Thanks!

 

[JoeinTX]

Your tractor has the weight and hp to handle the 6' cutter. If me, I'd go ahead and get the bigger mower because I could use a little extra width and no matter how expensive they may seem now, they won't be getting cheaper anytime soon. I don't know exactly how much extra maneuverability you'd really get in the smaller vs. bigger one......in either case it sounds they both will fit between anything the tractor will.

 

[MarkV]

I'd sure go with 6' if I was cutting 10 acres very often. You will never get close to a fence line or other obstructions with a 5' mower.

MarkV

 

[Dave5264]

I have a 5' and a 7' for my 52 hp Montana (6' track)

I use the 5' when I need the manouverability, and the 7' when I have to cut the large acerage

If I had to chose 1, I'd take the 7' the ammount of time it saves over the 5' on the larger acerage is significant. I could manouver it in the tighter spots if I had to.

 

[Rustywreck]

I find the biggest maneuverability problem with a brush hog to be the length rather than the width. I don't know if the length would be much greater with a 6'.
I'd go with the 6' myself.

 

[teg]

I would look for a used 6 footer...

 

[Soundguy]

i'd for sure go 6' on the cutter with that pto hp and width track.

soundguy

 

[bigbull338]

id go with the 6ft shredder,you have the hp to pull it.plus you can get done shredding quicker.

 

[acme97]

Man code say's go bigger with toys!:thumbsup: As other's have said, you will be able to reduce time cutting with the 6ft. You can always look for a smaller unit used later on since that seems to be the less used one.

 

[Soundguy]

i remember when i used to mow 10ac with a 5' mower.. took nearly 5 hours, plus load and unload time...

soundguy

 

[Archer EV]

It looks unanimous. I think you've convinced me. I was leaning that way but the penny pincher in me always tries to ruin things. I think I would regret getting the 5 footer. Thanks for nudging me the right way.

 

[teg]

No problem... pretty easy spend *your* money :laughing:

 

[kebo]

I'd sure go with 6' if I was cutting 10 acres very often. You will never get close to a fence line or other obstructions with a 5' mower.

MarkV

I have to go with a 6ft also for the reasons mentioned above. I think you will appreciate the extra foot of cutting width on the 10 acres, and deal with the extra foot cutting trails on the rest of the place. Hey, that would be a good chance to make your trails a foot wider!!

 

[belah]

I have both an old 5 ft and a new 6 ft. I mow about 40-50 acres and the 6 ft cuts the time needed ALOT. In fact that's why I bought the 6 ft cutter. I would DEFINATELY recc. the 6 ft cutter. As stated above, the only problem with maneuverability is the length not the width plus you can get close to fence rows with the 6 ft whereas you can't with the 5 footer. Just my thoughts.... Belah:thumbsup:

 

[Quebeker]

I have a similar need of field and trails mowing.
I seriously consider to buy a 6' flail mower with heavy duty knives.
Much smaller machine than the rotary cutter.
I think it would provide better manoeuvrability in tihgt places in the woods.

 

[TripleR]

I have a similar need of field and trails mowing.
I seriously consider to buy a 6' flail mower with heavy duty knives.
Much smaller machine than the rotary cutter.
I think it would provide better maneuverability in tight places in the woods.

There are a LOT of threads on flail mowers, use your "search" feature and sit back for hours of reading. One of the members that comes to mind you might want to contact is leonz; many are quite knowledgeable, but I think he is the strongest supporter and I have learned a lot from him.

I need to back under and over ditches, bushes, trees etc., so I need the reach afforded by a rotary cutter.