wolc123 said:
The 5105 puts you into a no-frills imported tractor vs the top of the line US manufactured 4000-20 series. It only costs a little more to go first class and you will regret it later if you dont.
The 5105 is assembled in the same Georgia factory where the 4x20 series is assembled, thank you very much. You may be thinking of the 5103, which is assembled in India and is a more basic tractor (though still good for many uses). All of the 5xxx series have Deere engines, though not all the same engine (turbo 3 on 5103, naturally aspirated 3 on 5105, and 5 or 4cyl engines on 5x25).
I was initially very skeptical of the 5105 as, from a distance, it looks like a no frills, ancient design tractor. After I sat on one I was intrigued, and after first driving one I was impressed. Only disadvantage I see is no HST option, which is also true on anything in the same class as a 5105. If you actually look at the features on a 5105 you will find that it is very well equipped, lacking only a hydro-shuttle option and a cab option (for which you would go to a 5125).
Also, the 5125 is anything but basic. It can be configured to be about the same as 5105, but it can also be equipped with a cab, powershuttle 24x24 transmission, self-leveling FEL, 3 remotes, electrohydraulic 3ph control, etc... any feature you could think of (again except HST) and more than you'd find on a 4x20 or any other brand's CUT. Of course the 5x25 is really more aimed at full time farmers than hobby farms or personal use.
Whenever I hear about cleaning horse stalls, I wonder... we have 5 horse stalls in our barn (two different types - and the barn was built by prior owners, not us) and the doors are all about 3' wide at most. This is typical of most horse stalls I see, at least for personal horse barns (even the nicest ones). Only the tiniest little SCUT will go through a 3' door. IMHO an ultra-narrow skid loader would be ideal for cleaning these stalls, but you would have to have a zillion stalls to clean before that would pay for itself. Of course if you're building the barn yourself, maybe you can put in wider stall doors.
I now have the Frontier/JD rotary cutter brochure in front of me. As you would expect an LX6 or RC1072 is within the capabilities of the CUTs you mentioned initially, with a minimum PTO hp of 25. However, an MX7, which is a small upgrade in width, states that 40 PTO hp is the minimum, and has a weight of 1332lbs, which is definitely too much to handle with a 3720 and probably too much for a 4320. Step up to an MX10 and the pull-type MX10 requires only 40 PTO hp, but at 2000lbs will be rather much for the CUTs. The lift-type MX10 is rated as requiring 60 PTO hp, which I do not think is really what it requires for power but rather a cutoff to preclude people from matching a 4720 with an MX10 lift-type and expecting to handle it. IMHO, the minimum PTO hp ratings are a bit light and I would suggest 50+ PTO hp for an MX7 and 65+ for an MX10.
By my calculations mowing 25 acres would take about 8 hours with a 6' cutter and about 4.3 hours with a 10' cutter. Not sure how often you are expecting to mow all 25 acres, or if you plan to do it all at the same time. I wouldn't have the patience to do it all at once with a 6' cutter, even once, and definitely not every month. But I could probably manage doing it in pieces if I was only doing it once or maybe twice a year. Obviously the 10' cutter would cut your time nearly in half.
