need a rotary cutter for my jd 4520..need help??

JD5210 · Mar 25, 2014

You may find this article of interest in sizing the mower.

TractorData.com - Mowing with tractors

LD1 · Mar 25, 2014

Wonder why JD dont have specs on their site?

Gary Fowler · Mar 25, 2014

I had a 6 foot Howse light weight cutter and pulled it with a 50 engine HP tractor. It cut anything that the tractor could bend over using the FEL. The Howse gearbox and PTO is same in lightweight as in heavy duty (at least when I bought mine) just different thickness of steel in the deck. I did bend up the deck a couple of times backing into stuff and had to weld up some broken welds but the rest of the mower held up well for the torture that I put it thru. After 4 years of torture, I sold tractor and bush hog to my brother in law and he is still using it with no problems. It had the shear pin shaft and never did I shear the bolt in it even with stalling the 50 HP tractor many times. I think Howse equipment is just as good as any other brand, they just offer some cheap entry level stuff that others may not but their heavy duty ones have 1/4" deck material and IIRC 100 HP gear boxes on the 6 foot models but then the prices go up to match the quality.

ktn · Mar 25, 2014

The later model 4520 is 60 and 50 at the PTO. I have one also. I'm running a Frontier 2072 Medium duty 6 footer on mine. No problem with anything up to about 1.5 inches. The MX6 is a really good mower and heavy duty for larger caliper stuff. There are lots of good rotary mowers out there...I chose JD because parts and service are available to me 7 days a week and close to home. That might be a consideration as well.

sawtooth · Mar 25, 2014

Gary Fowler said:
I had a 6 foot Howse light weight cutter and pulled it with a 50 engine HP tractor. It cut anything that the tractor could bend over using the FEL. The Howse gearbox and PTO is same in lightweight as in heavy duty (at least when I bought mine) just different thickness of steel in the deck. I did bend up the deck a couple of times backing into stuff and had to weld up some broken welds but the rest of the mower held up well for the torture that I put it thru. After 4 years of torture, I sold tractor and bush hog to my brother in law and he is still using it with no problems. It had the shear pin shaft and never did I shear the bolt in it even with stalling the 50 HP tractor many times. I think Howse equipment is just as good as any other brand, they just offer some cheap entry level stuff that others may not but their heavy duty ones have 1/4" deck material and IIRC 100 HP gear boxes on the 6 foot models but then the prices go up to match the quality.

Dude no disrespect intended but if your stalling a 50hp tractor and not shredding a shear bolt (other than heavy grass) I would sell that tractor yesterday or at least have someone look at it. Lol! I have a little 34hp Ford 2810 that will eat shear bolts when you hit hard stuff so cant image what your experiencing. What kind of tractor do you own? Are you sure its 50hp? I have 5 tractors two of which in the 50hp range. First being a Massey 461 and second being a Ford 4610. I can tell you from experience there is no shear bolt made that wont explode when I hit something hard. Grade 3 is the spec but grade 5 blows almost as easy. This is why I always buy a slip clutch now as I got tired of replacing bolts.

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