Rotary Cutter Is a stump jumper needed for a 4-foot brush hog?

[CoyPatton]

Your question on width of mower is a tough one to answer. It depends on many factors. What type of material you’re cutting, how tall, how thick.
Personally, unless the area is in almost lawn like condition (I probably would use a finish mower if so), I would want a stump jumper on the brush cutter (BC).
I have a compact tractor (24hp) with a 5’ BC. Most of the time what I cut it is fine, there are occasions that I get into really tall or really thick stuff I have to slow down (speed not RPM’s) to cut through this material.
If looking used, I suspect a few things—1) limited number of 4’ units on market, 2) any 4’ units you find will either be priced near the price of new or worn out and should go to scrap. If you count your time worth anything (very low labor cost $10/hour) by the time you buy materials to rebuild a worn out BC you will be approaching cost of new (if not exceeding) and that also means the BC was almost free.
If you have the lift capacity, look for at least a medium duty 5’ BC, I have a friend that is a bit stubborn and bought a light duty BC, even though a couple of us told him not to, and he quickly learned that he could rip the metal easily with stuff picked up by mowing. Of course with the damage, the dealer did not want the unit back.

Once you have made 1 pass through thick/tall stuff, you can always take a smaller pass through though to cut areas. Typically after 1st pass you will overlap about 6” (maybe more) on each followup pass.
You may not want a solid top link for your mower, so it has some ability to “float”. Many ways to make this happen mostly depended on the mower.

 

[Torvy]

If you are using equipment that is under warranty, and the warranty matters to you, stay within specs.

Something that can be done isn't necessarily something that should be done.

You can almost always tow more than you vehicle is rated to tow...but doing so shortens its life. Same concept with trying to run equipment that is too big for your tractor (or vice versa). Sure, they probably leave some tolerance assuming most of us don't listen.

In the final analysis, they have every legal right to deny warranty claims if you run equipment out of spec.

 

[ksbrdmkr]

I have an old 5 foot brush mower on my cs2410 and wouldn't have any smaller one. Yes it bogs down in heavy but go slow or half cut. If the mower hits any thing too solid it kills the engine and nothing get broken. Go with the 5ft if it go on the trailer and through the doors.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Hadn't heard of the "stump jumper" option. My bushhog has pivoting blades should it hit something. I'm guessing the stump jumper version is different...

 

[Fields_mj]

View attachment 3456318

Agreed! Mowing this with a 33hp engine and 6' LandPride bush hog can bog her down at times. If I mow monthly, it's not much of a challenge.

I mow stuff like that or maybe a little taller using a 6' BH behind an old Ford 1710 (~25 hp at the PTO), and I can mow it at a surprisingly fast pace. Not going to win a drag race, but I definitely wasn't creeping through it either. The only time I really had to take my time was when I was going over sycamore saplings that were 15'-20' tall after it had been neglected for 4 or 5 years, and that was just to give the blades time to work. The 1710 has a 12 speed transmission (4 ranges, 1-3 + R in each range). I normally ran in either 2nd range, 3rd gear or 3rd range 1st gear depending on how thick stuff was. Now, if the ground isn't flat, things change FAST. Going up a hill eats a lot of HP.

As far as a stump jumper goes, I wouldn't have a BH without one. If I don't need a stump jumper, I should probably be using a finish mower.

 

[RayIN]

A stump jumper only protects the gearbox and shaft from breakage, nothing else.
Once a field has been mowed, a stump jumper is not necessary; you either know where tree stumps have been left or removed them by the 2nd mowing(unless mowing for hire). A hump of dirt simply gets cut/leveled down.
If I must leave a stump when cutting a tree, I leave the stump 3'-4' high so it can be seen from the tractor seat. Then it's easier to pull too. (BTW ¼ stick of dynamite removes a large stump easily-properly placed)
I used a 4' rotary mower with my H. Ferguson 30 and mowed in 2 gear most of the time, which required sharp blades, but bushes and saplings required 1 gear (and you want duller blades for that, they shatter the "stump" so it dies instead of growing again).

 

[POGuy]

I would want the final rear tires width to equal the cutter width if at all possible as well.

 

[bgr]

With 25 HP and probably less at the PTO, you will find many times when a 5 foot mower is too much for tractor power. Kubota recommends a 42 inch mower for their 23 HP BX models.
Stump jumpers save the mower drivetrain from a lot of shock. You can usually buy one from the mower manufacturer and add it if the mower is not a chinese one.

 

[deserteagle71]

Hadn't heard of the "stump jumper" option. My bushhog has pivoting blades should it hit something. I'm guessing the stump jumper version is different...

Nope. They all have pivoting blades. The blades on a mower can be attached to either a flat piece of metal, or a dished piece which allows the mower to slide up and over an obstruction. That dished piece is the stump jumper.

No stump jumper:

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Thanks for the clarification.