Mowing MMM or Rotary Cutter?

DaddyTractor · Jul 15, 2011

I am a brand new Kubota BX2360 owner

.

1, How much more powerful is a rear rotary cutter/king kutter/ brush hog than my 60"MMM?

2. Am I better off pulling out small trees with my bucket and a chain, or a chain attached to the hitch ball.

I am looking to clear about an acre with lots of scrub brush.

thavil · Jul 15, 2011

DaddyTractor said:
I am a brand new Kubota BX2360 owner.

1, How much more powerful is a rear rotary cutter/king kutter/ brush hog than my 60"MMM?

2. Am I better off pulling out small trees with my bucket and a chain, or a chain attached to the hitch ball.

I am looking to clear about an acre with lots of scrub brush.

Welcome to TBN!

1. I wouldn't say that a rotary cutter/brush hog is more powerful than a MMM, just a different type of cutter. The MMM would be similar to a rear finish mower where a rotary cutter is used to cut thicker, meatier stuff. You wouldn't want to use your MMM on saplings or small trees.

If you are going to buy a rotary cutter, I would suggest that you buy a skid plate from Bro-Tek Bro-Tek Skid Plates to protect your HST cooling fan. Even better would to buy both the rear and front skid plates for more protection. Many people have busted their HST fan without any protection.

2. I would suggest pulling the trees with your bucket and chain. A bucket hook mounted to your FEL would be ideal to pull the small trees.

Not trying to spend your money but here are a few suggestions to help you out. For bucket hooks, BXpanded sells quick mounted bucket hooks at Quick-On Bucket Hooks. To help clear your land, check out Ratchet Rake at Ratchet Rake, LLC - Tractor attachment, Bucket attachment, Loader, Skid loader, Kubota, Skid steer, Landscape rake, Brush remover, York Rake, Harley Rake, Rock Rake, Tractor rake attachment, Construction attachment, New Holland, Bobcat, Fire safety, . They are available at Tractor Supply Company.

OrangeRidge · Jul 16, 2011

Didn't you consider a B2320 for $31 a month more ?

RoyJackson · Jul 16, 2011

thavil said:
Welcome to TBN!

2. I would suggest pulling the trees with your bucket and chain. A bucket hook mounted to your FEL would be ideal to pull the small trees.

Gotta disagree with you here.
The tractor's drawbar (with a clevis and chain) is a much safer way to pull trees out...safer for the tractor as well as the operator.
Using the FEL can result in racking or twisting the frame of the loader (if you try to "lift" the tree out of the ground). There's also a possibility of damaging the bucket if the chain isn't rigged correctly or the bucket isn't reinforced (under the hook).
However, if you think it's necessary to uproot the tree with the loader, I suggest you have adequate rear ballast to keep your tractor's rear tires on the ground.

As far as the cutter vs. the md-mount mower...the MMM will not take the beating a cutter will. Save your MMM for finished lawn work. That's a rather expensive implement (meaning the MMM) to replace if it's damaged.

Tom_H · Jul 16, 2011

The MMM is for cutting lawn. It can cut wild oats if they are dry and not very tall, but that's not its real purpose. Rough cutters come in light, medium, and heavy duty models, and this is not related to size. Light duty is for cutting hay type material. Heavy duty will cut patches of sapplings. Medium is in between.

As for the trees, this all depends on their size, root structure, and kind of soil they are in. With a toothbar mounted on your FEL, you can do limited digging using one corner of the bucket, yet this is not really good for the hydraulic pistons, etc. If you want to get up a head of steam and yank the thing out, the rear is likely a little better, but if the tree doesn't give, you could put some serious stress on the tractor as well as on your own spine & neck. It's a lot of money, but the best way to remove the tree with your tractor is by adding a Woods BH6000 backhoe. Otherwise, cut it with a saw, then try to rip through the stump and root with a subsoiler from differing directions. Then try pulling root portions with a drawbar.

ChuckinNH · Jul 16, 2011

The blades on a rotary cutter are "pivoting", meaning they are mounted so that they swing freely under the mower deck. Centrifigural force keeps them out straight, but if you hit something they are free to "fold back". The blades on a mmm are fixed, and bolted tightly to the spindles so if you hit the same object you can ruin the blade, the spindle, and maybe more. That is what makes the rotary cutter not more "powerful" than a mmm, but stronger for the kind of work you are planning. Like others have said, you really need some shielding under the BX if you are going to drive over brush, and brambles. Pushing very small trees, say up to 3", or so with the bucket raised to 3'-4' until the tree gives, and then pulling it out is probably safer than trying to cut anything that size with a BX. There is a reason you see folks using much larger tractors for that kind of work.

ModMech · Jul 16, 2011

DaddyTractor said:
I am a brand new Kubota BX2360 owner.

1, How much more powerful is a rear rotary cutter/king kutter/ brush hog than my 60"MMM?

2. Am I better off pulling out small trees with my bucket and a chain, or a chain attached to the hitch ball.

I am looking to clear about an acre with lots of scrub brush.

:welcome:

1) About the same, PTO power is generally the same power regardless of location.

2) I would say neither

use the 3pt and a draw-bar. The 3PH has more lifting power than the loader and you do not risk racking the loader frame or bucket. You also lift LOW to the ground so the risk of a really bad tractor movement is significantly reduced. I have pulled a number of small (4") trees and dozens of shrubs this way. It is very helpful to have some sort of universal 3PH device with a hook near the top to do this, I made one of my own design but they are available for purchase from numerous sources.

PS: Mower for a "LAWN" and something else (cutter or finnish mower) for a "yard", LoL!