Rotary Cutter I Need Your Input on Rotary Cutters Please!

[jeffinsgf]

The guy telling you that a Wood 5 foot Brush Bull is too heavy for your tractor might not be too far off base. That is a very heavy cutter. That, the top of the line Bush Hog brand and the John Deere MX series are probably the heaviest duty cutters out there, in the class you're looking at.

I don't know of anyone who bought a heavier duty unit and regrets it. I have an MX-5 for my 30-ish HP JD 4410. I found a repo at a price competitive with the LX-5. But, I am clearing quite a bit of brush and saplings out of 5 acres (a little at a time). For just mowing an open field, I think a light/medium duty cutter would be fine. The Squealer line from Bush Hog looks to be among the leaders of that pack. In your shoes, unless I was attacking one and two inch saplings on a regular basis, I would rather have the extra width, instead of the heavier duty cutter.

 

[Trailblazer]

I have read many of the previous posts regarding rotary cutter but at this point I am just confused and would welcome any and all advice.... I will mow my fields for to five times a year. There are rocks and stumps and there is some serious mud if any of that matters.

I think we all know how you feel; it's great to have a lot of choices, but it sure does make it hard to decide. If you buy a light-duty, 5 foot cutter, you will get the job done faster, and that really does matter in the long run. Over time, you will remove or learn to avoid the rocks and stumps (mud doesn't matter for the purposes of this purchase), and the heaviest of your brush should be gone. Once you reach that point, probably soon, speed and efficiency will make a difference to you.

A heavier-duty, more expensive cutter might be more versatile, but if you never take it off your 20 acres, how much versatility do you need? As Bird said earlier, I haven't heard many people dissatisfied with the cutters they have, so that should tell you something. Whatever you decide, enjoy it and don't look back!

 

[nhel13]

Just bought a Cimmaron ( low end like King Kutter).....4ft...and I use a Cub
Cadet 6284 (28hp)........the universal that attaches @ the gearbox broke
within 3hrs of use..........of course they will get me another but it might have been prudent to buy a better cutter and avoid the lost time!

 

[JerryG]

The four foot would be a better choice, but you could run a 5' if you keep the weight to around 800 pounds or less.

 

[Soundguy]

You have just enough hp to get into a 5' mower. Weight may be an issue. Many o fthe high dollar name brand units are also heavy duty.. and thus.. heavy.

A light / medium duty cutter like a howse or KK is a bit lighter in weight.

I run a 5' KK on my 8n. I used to run that cutter on a CUT NH 1920.. which would easilly handle a 6' mower.

I've use dthat 5' mower to cut every ant hill, burried log, hidden tire and and 7' tall weeds on my property with narry a problem.

You can look at 9-12 hours easy on a 5' mower to cut 20ac.. add to that for a 4' unit.

Soundguy

 

[John_Mc]

I don't know what part of Vermont you are in, but as a fellow Vermonter, if your area is anything like mine, I would strongly consider a slip clutch. I seem to grow a new crop of rocks every year or so, so even the areas I think I've cleared, I still tend to wallop some good sized rocks or forgotten stumps all too often. A lot of the dealers around here tend not to stock brush mowers without a slip clutch for just that reason.

I have a Woods BB60 mower that my 33 HP (26.9 PTO HP) NH TC-33D handles with ease. This is Woods "standard duty line. This standard duty is comparable to what many manufacturers call their "medium duty". It weighs 554 pounds. (for reference, Woods medium-duty 5 footer, the BB600, weighs over 1000 pounds... it was definitely overkill for my application). It has taken a serious beating over the 5 years I've owned it and is still going strong. I do have to "slip" my slip clutch at the beginning of each mowing season to loosen it up, but that is not a time consuming thing... I probably spent almost as much time doing my beginning of the season greasing on the brush hog as I do on checking/adjusting the slip clutch.

You've definitely got the HP to handle a 5 footer, especially if you are mowing somewhat regularly (or don't mind slowing down a bit or overlapping cuts if things really got out of hand before you mowed). Mowing 4-5 times a year here in Vermont with our shorter growing season means you are not going a really long time between mowings. I've got one 5 acre field here that I mow once every two years (for wildlife cover purposes). When I do get into it after a 2 year absence, I do need to slow down a bit, but I can still mow in my middle range (range 2 of 3), which is the same range I mow in for my regularly mowed areas.

The only other things to check would be
1) your 3-point lift capacity: though I can't imagine a 28 HP tractor not being able to safely lift a 554 lb brush hog.
2) the overall weight of your tractor (if it's a real lighter-weight tractor you may get into a "tail wagging the dog" type scenario). I didn't have the tail wagging the dog with mine, but it did find that I needed some weight on the front end when using the brush hog in hilly areas. When I finally got my loader, that was more than enough to keep some weight on the front wheels.

John Mc

 

[Surgeon]

The Woods units do not seem significantly heavier than the Squealer, the Rollins or the Massey units. Woods does have the best gear box warranty (5yr) of all the rotarty cutters I could find. I am not clear on the difference between Wood's Heritage units and Standard duty. I thought the Heritage would be their Chevy model but the specs on the Woods website are very similar. I will call the dealer tomorrow for more clarification. Thanks to everyone for their input. I will keep you posted on my final decision.

 

[Soundguy]

When you find the difference.. post it. Do they list deck thickness? Is their a blade carrier difference? stump jumper? Different tail wheel ?
Different weight? Welded 3pt pins vs bolted on 3pt pins?

Soundguy

 

[mikeinvt]

my father has an old yanmar 226d tractor i believe, that he uses to mow his 15 acres. he has a JD 503 (i think, its the light duty 5ft model, whatever the number may be), 5 ft rotary cutter. the engine horsepower is only 23 per the book, and i am not sure the pto h.p. The yanmar has a FEL on it, so he does not have trouble with weight in the front. we also live in VT, and the field is nothing but hill and ledge. i know he also uses a shear bolt instead of a slip clutch. he only mows once a year, and can still move right along when doing so. i don't think you would have a problem running a 5 ft cutter as long as you have a FEL or weights on the front.

 

[Surgeon]

This is the response from Woods:

"The Heritage 60 inch cutter is designed for lighter duty than the Brushbull 60 inch cutter. The Heritage is designed for up to 1" diameter material while the Brushbull is for 1.5" material. The deck on the Heritage is sheet steel with reinforcing channels welded to the top of the deck, while the deck on the Brushbull has two full length rectangular frame tubes, with a round tube on the rear of the deck. The Brushbull is designed for longer life due to the sloped top deck so water and debris will not be retained on the deck and allow the deck material to rust, while the Heritage is a flat deck so water and material will not be shed readily. When you consider weight alone, the Brushbull 60" is approximately 100 pounds more than the Heritage 60".
Both gearboxes carry a 5 year warranty, however, the Brushbull gearbox has oil passages for better lubricant circulation and cooling while the Heritage has none."