How much Hp to power a 5ft. brush hog?

[billbill1]

I don't have a brush mower but I run a 6' finish mower with my 284LE and it does fine. I've heard that a brush mower that I shouldn't go over a 5'. Never tried running one though.

 

[JohnS]

I agree that the 254 will be fine with a 5' rotary cutter for your main uses. No need to drop down to a 4' cutter.

I will add to the list of the happy KK cutter owners. It has taken more abuse than I expected for a light duty cutter. I have yet to replace a shear bolt, but have hit numerous rocks, tires, ground, mud, water, etc. The mud and water almost stalled the tractor, before getting clutch depressed. The U-bracket shound be standard equipment on new KK mowers. It should have enough travel such that a chain solution is unneccessary. I would at least try that before going to chain.

The jinma steering steering cyl and drag link are exposed somewhat for possible damage. While I did get all possible parts for the eventual impact, to date the only thing required was refastening of the rubber protector boot. I do not recommend driving over brush greater than 1". There are just too many exposed hydraulic lines, wires, etc, that braches will find. I almost always back into the heavy stuff. Multi-floral rose, I shear off with fel.

Good luck with your choice, but I think you can rest assured a 5' cutter with 25hp will be great for your property and uses.

 

[greg_g]

As has been said.. about 5hp per foot of mower is a good rule of thumb.

I don't think SoundGuy will mind me qualifying that statement; it has been said that about 5 PTO horsepower per foot of mower is a good rule of thumb. A 25hp Jinma or Foton has roughly 21.5 PTO horsepower. When you do the math, you'll see why a five foot rotary cutter behind a 25hp tractor can sometimes produce marginal results.

Once again, the power's there. It's just that under some conditions you'll probably have to gear down to get it. So in the end, it's still a question of productivity; that is, how FAST you want to get the job done

//greg//

 

[thingy]

Greg,to my way of thinking thats why you got gears to change in the first place,,these ain't hydro's,,,besides,most people don't brush hog on golf courses,,they are on rougher ground,,hilly ground with ruts and low branches,,etc.. speaking of being in a hurry,,200 hours in what,three years. thingy

 

[JohnS]

Thingy, Greg mows faster on his hill pastures than I do on most of my "flat" land. I only use H1 for smooth flat land where I know there are no dips or holes. I use L3 for most of it because there are some surprises waiting to be found. I don't mow much on hills, outside of trails. I use anywhere from L1-L3, depending on grade and pucker factor.

It sounds like Greg has allot of hillside pasture to mow where the time difference is significant. He must have some smoother pasture than I, or a much larger set on him. Like you, I don't have an issue with gearing down for what I do. It doesn't make Greg's point invalid though. His hill comments were submitted prior to the poster revealing they had mostly flat land.

 

[thingy]

hills,,he mows faster on hills than you do flat,,how would you know this? I'd like to see him mow faster on my hills than you do flat,,but thats a whole nother story.
What do you think about using chain instead of top link john? I been doing it for about 5 years now,,my neighbor has been doing it for about 20,,would like to know if I'm in danger or something,,,,thingy

 

[JohnS]

Speed is based on gear used and assumed 1800rpm or higher running.

As far as chain, I know people who use it as well. The U-bracket has provided enough deck travel for most of my land. Didn't need to consider it. I did lower the 3pt hinge pins and move the U-bracket to the lower bolt on the upper arm attachment. That provoded better tire clearance and movement of U-bracket.

As far as safety of the chain vs U bracket, intuitively the bracket provides a more secure attachment and limiting the amount of travel. A concern I would have with the chain is making sure the drop is not too far such that the sliding pto shaft doesn't get near the extremes. The other issue would be stopping it when it hops toward the tractor. When I hit the hidden tires in the field, it did hop! The pto shaft when it slides in to minimum dim, might be all that stops it. I believe these conditions can be prevented if using the right length of chain, but haven't done it myself. If done right, I don' t see any major safety issues. Others?

 

[greg_g]

Speed is based on gear used and assumed 1800rpm or higher running.

Just in case you were looking for specifics John, I always mow with the throttle advanced to produce 540 PTO rpms. But I forget how many Y385T rpms that took - 2100 maybe ?

As far as chain, I know people who use it as well. ... If done right, I don' t see any major safety issues.

That's exactly in line with what I was trying to say above. One can't just hook an arbitrary length of chain between the tractor and an implement and assume everything's fine. Too long, and you can't pick it up - plus opening up the PTO shaft issue you mentioned. Too short, and the mower will get picked up cresting hills and entering swales.

Safely using chain in place of a toplink necessitates having it long enough to mow under undulating conditions, but not so long as to risk separating the PTO shaft. Then - when finished mowing - shortening it up to lift the mower to reasonably level transport height. Personally I prefer the rigid adjustable toplink (in my case hydraulic) pinned to a floating toplink bracket on the implement. I can do all of the above without ever leaving the tractor seat.

//greg//

 

[thingy]

Well glad I'm doing it right,was worried for a second! just thought somebody said that it wasn't the way to go that them kk's come with a u swivel and them worked fine?[I got a kk and yes it came with u swivel thing and no it don't work fine]....so glad we agree on using the chain.
john,well that explains you theory about the speed thing,,,[thought you and greg was together racing or something] greg must have super smooth,not to steep hills,and you must have super rough flat areas? I use 2nd and third gears,turtle one in low,one under seat in high,for all mine,,hills and flat,,,now what speed would that be,would that be faster than greg does his hills,or slower?thingy

 

[JohnS]

Thingy, if I understand you correctly you use creeper low and high range 2 & 3. While not an exact gear ratio match, that is close to creeper high - low range 2 & 3. Your method makes for a quieter running tranny.

Greg, the 540pto speed is around 2100-2200. For most field mowing, I can run 1800-2000 unless the grass is 3+'. Just means your ground speed is faster yet.

FWIW, the flat land field I mow has some ruts from an old redirected creekbed, and what appears to be deep tractor/wagon ruts. ie, someone tried to hay this low lying land at one time. Finding those ruts with the tractor tires when mowing high grass can be a bit unnerving. For me anyway. My current reation time is too slow for running H1.