Rotary Cutter Looking for a New Brush Cutter

[sweetcloverfarm]

I am looking for a new brushcutter for my Kubota L3000-DT, any recommendation's for a good one, or any that should be avoided. So far I am leaning towards A woods, Standard duty 60" wide. I just have 5 acres, some is a bit brushy, but not a large portion.

Thanks

Bruce

 

[LeadPoison]

I think that would be one of your best bets.

I have a 72" medium duty for my M4900 and it has been great so far.

 

[jgh]

20060618
I've been told std duty Woods may be a little light compared to say a std duty Bush Hog, but compare specs and draw your own conclusions. Both companies have complete specs on line.

Go too light and that 60s rock song about "Bend me, Shake me..." will come true for U!

Jim

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I've got a Woods mower (BB840) (and recently sold an MD172, medium duty 6') I've also got a Bush Hog mower. (286) The Woods is 3 years old. Bush hog about 5 months. (I don't like a 7' single spindle 3-point mower in our rolling to rough ground. 6' a lot less scalping. All this has little to do with you question though.

The only light I can shed on the debate is a comparison of the brands. Both are each others single biggest source of competition (for sales) They mirror each other as best they can for model "features". Woods looks more streamlined. Bush Hog has a more rugged looking deck, with a not-so-rugged looking hitch.

Now the "side by side". I've owned 6' and 7' Woods medium duty. I've got Bush Hogs medium duty cutter. I sharpen blades the same way on both brands. I ran them on the same tractors, cutting the same fields. The Bush Hog has a better, cleaner "cut". Less grass/weeds popping back up the next day in tire tracks. Better shredding and scattering of clippings. Less chaff blowing out from under the front end (ending up on tractor and operator)

After using both brands enough to see what I needed to see, I'm looking to part company with the 7' Woods and buy an 8' or 10' Bush Hog (Most likely a pull-type if it's a 10'er)

Your results may vary, I'm convinced though.

For the record, quality, fit, parts availability (and price), and material used are almost identical between the 2 brands.

 

[john_bud]

For cutting brush and small trees, the woods BrushBull 600 does a great job. I don't cut any grass or weeds except for forest roads. I have not seen much "smart grass" (you know, the ones that duck when you mow?), but I am not one to really care about that much. I cut mostly trees in the 1-3" range and brush mixed in with stumps and rocks, the BrushBull has held up very well. If you are cutting that type of stuff, it will do ya. If you are doing field work, the bushog sounds like it is better at making it look good.

For me, and the stuff I cut, the Woods blade retention system is better. Much easier to change a blade after a season of abuse, er use.

jb

 

[ToddW]

I have a Woods Heritage 60" (HSS60) and I gave it a good workout this weekend, starting to clear some hedgerows that consist of 1" to 3" trees and lots of brambles. What a beast! It chewed up everything I threw at it. I bought it more for this type of work than cutting any type of grass and so far my expectations have been far exceeded. I believe this is actually considered a light duty mower.

Todd

 

[FamilyFarm]

I have the Woods BB720. I have only used it once for about six acres of really tall grass. In doing the initial cut, my goal was to knock it down enough to see the rocks that need to be removed, but not cut low enough to hit them! It did a great job cutting set to about 8-9 inches (didn't measure). This was mixture of grass, weeds, briars, bushes all grown up 4 - 6+ feet tall. The cutter did a great job on this first project.
It is obviously well-made. It is called med-duty by Woods, but at 1,140 lbs., that would be heavy-duty my some manufacturers standards. You should stick reasonably close to Kubota's weight recommendations in the manual. My tractor is listed for close to 1100 lbs. I don't know what Kubota recommends for the L3000DT.
I have the Woods brochure handy - here's the weights on the light duty and med duty 60" models:
Standard Duty 60" 554 lbs.
Medium Duty 60" 1039 lbs.
Now that I see those numbers, I don't think your tractor would handle the 1039 lbs. and the listed PTO requirements for the med duty is 35 hp. The standard duty is listed min PTO 25 hp, so that should be about right. JMHO!
Terry

 

[coffeeman]

I got a BB840. Cut a lot of little trees, brush etc. in the last 2 weeks.(about 40 acres) I have never used a cutter like this. When I last cut grass the trees had to be cut with ax or saw. That would be me cutting with a sickle bar years ago. I am impressed with the Woods BB, but going from sickle bar to BB would impress anyone.

Cheers....Coffeeman

 

[MODiesel]

Coffeeman:

What model tractor do you use with you BB840? I'm considering that unit behind my Kubota L5030HSTC, and was wondering how well she'd spin the mower in medium-high grass/weed fields. I'd like to take a pretty wide bite, but not if the tractor will constantly be bogging down.

Regards,
Jay

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Coffeeman:

What model tractor do you use with you BB840? I'm considering that unit behind my Kubota L5030HSTC, and was wondering how well she'd spin the mower in medium-high grass/weed fields. I'd like to take a pretty wide bite, but not if the tractor will constantly be bogging down.

Regards,
Jay

I use my BB840 behind a 60 (+) HP 2440 Deere.(6 suitecase weights and weight bracket on front too) It's more a matter of handling the WEIGHT than HP to turn the blades. It's somewhere in the 1400lb range. 7' mowers extend back so far from the tractor, that weight is amplified. Takes a HEAVY tractor to use a BB840.