Rotary Cutter Is this a bad idea that's going to damage my tractor or me?

[jeff9366]

I pull a 48" King Kutter rotary cutter behind my Kubota B3300SU. Some of my mowing is maintaining woods in a brush free condition and I find the 48" width highly maneuverable. I do not consider KK in the class of Woods for implements but my 'hog, which I rebuilt after finding it as a carcass in the grass, has never given any trouble after I replaced multiple missing frame components. It whacks through 1" to 1-1/4" brush fine. KK and I have worked together 18 months and I have never broken a shear pin.

In terms of mowing up hill in REVERSE: be very careful. There is an enormous amount of inertia energy in the moving blade of a rotary mower. When you are pushing it up hill, the mower weight shifts towards you and the tractor, you DO NOT then want to encounter a stump with the rotating blade which could flip the mower over toward you on the seat. With the 3-Pt. Top Link holding the mower down, you should be fine but be careful. And keep the PTO shaft lubed, so it can shorten without binding as you mow in reverse. I use Fluid Film in a spray can on the two PTO shaft sections.

The B-series Kubotas do NOT have Position Control controlling the 3-Pt. So to maintain an even cut, with no scalping, you will probably want to buy a set of Zerco check chains. Link below to thread I authored in February 2013. With Zercos and proper adjustment of the cutter, you can achieve a pretty smooth cut.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...271185-kubota-b3300su-zerco-check-chains.html

 

[vabiker23518]

I have a older 48" Landpride bush hog that I find very versitile. I have used it to cut trails thru saplings an inch or so in diamater and 6' tall. I use it to maintain my trails and cut the grass around the cabin. As others have pointed out, the cut may be a little uneven, but for me it's good enough. Can get used for a good price. My tractor is smaller (TYM233) but never had an issue using the hog. Good luck.

 

[California]

Just some comments FWIW:

* That is a light-duty application. Any used rotary mower off Cragslist that is in good working condition would be sufficient, you don't need to spend what a commercial landscaper would pay for an implement he uses daily in much tougher use. Save a thousand $ and buy your wife something nice. You're not going to wear out a decent used implement in your application.

* Backing up that many times to edge that field 4 (or 5) ft at a time will drive you nuts. Can you use the existing mower to do most of the edge, and the rotary mower backing into the edge 1-2 times/year to knock down jungle encroaching into the lawn?

* I think I would try to grade the perimeter so it is safe to run the rotary mower along most of the border.

 

[DAD1220]

It doesn't look that step to me. You say you have a FEL. Use your FEL and a rear blade, scrape it ever direction you can to get rid of the brush. Then mow it with finish mower.

I extend my yard and paths into the woods by doing it that way. Cut the trees, scrape it and then mow it.

Just be careful to go up and down, perpendicular, on the grades you're worried about not parallel.

 

[Teikas Dad]

I pull a 48" King Kutter rotary cutter behind my Kubota B3300SU. Some of my mowing is maintaining woods in an brush free condition and I find the 48" width highly maneuverable. I do not consider KK in the class of Woods for implements but my 'hog, which I rebuilt after finding it as a carcass in the grass, has never given any trouble after I replaced the missing frame bits. It whacks through 1" to 1-1/4" brush fine. KK and I have worked together 18 months and I have never broken a shear pin.

In terms of mowing up hill in REVERSE: be very careful. There is an enormous amount of inertia energy in the moving blade of a rotary mower.
If you are pushing it up hill, the weight will shift toward you and the tractor, you DO NOT then want to hit a stump which could potentially flip the mower over toward you on the seat. With the 3-Pt. Top Link holding the mower down, you should be fine but be careful. And keep the PTO shaft lubed, so it can shorten without binding as you mow in reverse. I use Fluid Film in a spray can on the two PTO shaft sections.

The B-series Kubotas do NOT have Position Control controlling the 3-Pt. So to maintain an even cut, with no scalping, you will probably want to buy a set of Zerco check chains. Link below to thread I authored in February 2013. With Zercos and proper adjustment of the cutter, you can get a pretty smooth cut.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...271185-kubota-b3300su-zerco-check-chains.html

Thanks for the info about the check chains, that's good to know! Looking at your picture, your B3300 is the same width as my B3200. Maybe I need to reconsider the size of the mower and look at a 48" size. I'm not mowing hayfields, as you can see in my photos, I'm looking at mowing between trees. The 48" may be a better fit. I can still knock down the grass in the "pasture", it will just take a little more time.

The other upside to the 48" mower is that it's lighter than a 60 by almost 200 pounds, so that's less stress on the tractor.

 

[Dingo Man]

I mow 6acres of field with my 72" Kodiak cutter. This is an area we mow once a month as well depending on rain. The skids dig in once in a while but once you get use to it and tweak your height setting you can eliminate that. I was very surprised how clean of a cut I am able to get with it.

 

[Leyenda30]

As was mentioned earlier the mowers with suction ( an upward bend near the tip) will cut the brush and also give a smooth cut on the grass. I had a finish mower and sold it because the rotary cut so well. Some of the smaller cutters only come with the straight blades and the grass cut is poor. Just something to consider when making the decision. I bought a 4 year old used bushhog 6 foot cutter for 700 on craigslist in very good condition.

 

[B Hoofed]

I mow 6acres of field with my 72" Kodiak cutter. This is an area we mow once a month as well depending on rain. The skids dig in once in a while but once you get use to it and tweak your height setting you can eliminate that. I was very surprised how clean of a cut I am able to get with it.

My 7' Kodiak rotary cutter has an amazingly refined cut for a big brush cutter. It will cut pretty close too, but the skids do dig in if it is set too low.

 

[Ken45101]

re: removing the FEL and adding a front weight: Depending on the tractor, that can be a major ordeal. On my old M4700, the front weight bumper had to be removed for the FEL. Getting it back on meant properly aligning and holding steady a 100+# weight while threading the bolts in. It took either a tall jack or another loader to hold it while bolting it on.

 

[beckmurph]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK-_mF1XUK0
Teikas Dad
Here is a sample of what I do with a Woods BB48 cutter. I had a LandPride RCR 42 that I used with my b2620 and BX25. The process of hooking up the Woods is far simpler than the LandPride. I have good luck with the Woods mower. It has both a slip clutch and a shear pin. I have no love for slip clutches. Except on tillers.:2cents:

 

[TSO]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQo4Edqswfw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Here's me using my buddies 72" LandPride Bhog. My tractor is 35PTO hp, so technically I can safely handle a 84" Bhog.... But this is what I had access to.

 

[Teikas Dad]

Nice videos!

Beckmurph, if you can cut through all that stuff with a 48" on the B3200, then it's good enough for me!

 

[California]

Heck 15 PTO hp is enough for a 4 ft rotary mower. But I gotta admit I had to shift down a range -to a slow walking pace- to get the rest of the way up this grade.

 

[2458n]

The last photo is the reason to mow alittle early in the season. Pretty rough going for the little tractor. The slip clutch is a good idea if you have alittle extra cash. Never used the chains mentioned until last year. Wonderful method of holding your height. My ford bush wacker is over 60 years old. I would buy used and paint it. If you do not know what your looking for take someone along who does know.

 

[Oliver1655]

As another poster suggested, use your loader & blade to clear & level the perimeter you plan to mow.
- Since all you are wanting to do is is keep the perimeter mowed back, a zero turn mower would be my first choice. You able to weave in and out of the trees allowing you to handle the mowing in a fraction of the time. You will use a lot less fuel, wear & tear on your tractor, & save yourself hours of twisting around looking backwards while brush hogging. I have a 60" cut Gravely zero turn mower with a welded deck. I have used it to knock down many a grove of sumach - no problem. 1st pass with deck locked in high/transport - "Brush hog" position then drop it down to 3" for the 2nd pass & I am done. If your will be mowing it 2 - 3 times a year, you will be able to do it in one pass easy! My Gravely is 4 years old & going strong.
- While in the military, I was tasked to mow an over grown area on a weapons range that had up to 1" samplings. When I went to pick up the tractor with bush hog that was suppose to be on reserve, the only type of mower they hand left was a flail mower. I explained about the saplings & was told to take it or leave it. After mowing the approximately 3 acres the flail mower had lost about 75% of the teeth/"T" cutters. I would not use a flail mower for brush control.
- If you go with a brush hog & are concerned about skid-digs, just add guide/depth wheels. Again auctions & Craigs list have good used brush mowers for a fair price.

 

[JoeL4330]

RFM works for me on even rougher stuff than you seem to have...start with cut set high and slowly work down...and, I wouldn't be averse to working on the "sidehills" your picture seems to show...pictures can be deceiving, but they don't look very steep to me (still, ROPs up and seatbelt fastened). Backing up and mowing down is a pain...and, the caster wheels on a finish mower don't like reversing course all the time (at least mine don't...keep psi at max allowable)..and, raising the mower to backup while it's running strains the U-joints ...just my opinion(s)

 

[allen in texas]

Flail...



.. OK, I'll leave.

 

[Kodthree]

Buy what you're going to need on your new, larger property and compromise a bit with it's application on your current piece. One thing you might consider is pulling through the area to be cut going forward...looks to me (based on the sight lines, openness, and powerlines) like you might have a roadway above your property you could pull on to and use to turn around. (?) Make this a safer operation by using cones, flags, signage, or flaggers if necessary.
I like the idea of preceding your tractor with the loader and bucket attached, but if you take it off it will shorten your apparatus and turn radius up on the road, plus make you more maneuverable (sp?) in the trees. You can add weight bars to the front like other posters have suggested to alleviate some potential instability.

Slip clutch for sure!

 

[Teikas Dad]

Just got back from the dealer. I'm now the owner of a new Woods BB60XC. I took a close look at my wheelbase, where I was going to cut in and around the trees and decided to go with the 60" mower. It sticks out a couple inches past the tires on the back so I'll be able to cut close to the trees. The 48" mower was a couple inches inside the tire width so I'd still have to do some manual labor around the trees with the smaller cutter.

I searched Craigslist in my area and for what people wanted for a "good" used cutter I only spent a few hundred dollars more and got a new unit with a warranty. I'm a bit OCD regarding taking care of my tools, equipment and vehicles (although I finally stopped putting tire shine on the tractor tires!) so the cutter should last me a long time. I did go with the slip clutch, it was only $100 more.
I appreciate all the advice that everyone posted, particularly the videos and links to other threads.

 

[dodge man]

I go around the edge of my property with a brush hog that is 48" wide on a BX. I use it for the same thing you want, to just kind of keep the brush beat back. It works well and shouldn't be a problem.