Need Advice: Rotary Cutting and Finish Mowing

[Dargo]

Okay, I did the cheap "redneck" way of getting a good rotary cutter. I took my 20% off coupon to Rural King and picked up a "Wallace" 6' rotary cutter for just under $500! I had a 65 hp gear box I immediately exchanged for the 40hp that was on it. No additional expense, I had the gearbox. I spent $92 for the slip clutch PTO shaft. Then, I spent about 12 hours in my barn fabricating and welding away. My 6' "Wallace" rotary mower weighed 682 pounds to start with. After basically re-framing it with 2X2 3/8" sidewall square tubing and 2"X3" 3/8" angle all over it, it is now up to battering level. I estimate that I've spent roughly 200 bucks in parts, including a much stronger "stump jumper" for it and added over 700 pounds of square tubing and angle for strength. I guess time will prove whether I made a good choice or not, but I have an extremely heavy and well built 6' rotary cutter with a 65hp gear box, clutch pto shaft that now weighs almost 1400 pounds for just over $700. I have a lot of labor in making the decking bullet proof and a lot of time, and I've yet to paint it. So far, I'm well pleased with the results and it is stronger than many of the $2500 plus name brand models. Shouldn't be much to break, and it is now a tank. Hopefully it will work out okay!

 

[JClark]

Dave,

My finish mower is the Land Pride RDF1672 which is their light duty model. Other than the swivel links falling off in the first 10 minutes of use it has been good. That was a design and assembly problem easily remedied with some longer bolts.

If I had a slightly heavier tractor and/or more to cut I would go with the RDF2572. That mower has bigger square tubing, heavier deck plating and a more robust swivel link design.

Keeping up with the grass is not a problem. I often let it go for a few weeks and then have mostly 5" - 6" not very thick stuff. I cut at 3", maybe 4 - 6 mph mostly and have to slow down for one badly drained spot which has some seriously thick grass in it. Needless to say, the more frequently I cut the better it looks.

With trimming close around about 3 dozen trees and bushes it takes me about 3 hours to do the whole 3 acres. The HST (dog bless it) makes trimming so much easier than with my old 950. It took substantially longer with the 950 even though it could go a lot faster down the rows.

 

[Dutch445]

Dave,
I've sold a number of Frontier 1172 Rear discharge mowers and Land Pride 2572 mowers to people doing the same thing you are talking about. They set the wheels to mow as high as possible, and for rough areas they don't even lower the deck to the ground, leaving it up a bit higher so it doesn't take the beating on rough ground. I've seen a new 72" woods take off thru a field in June and cut 36" grasses down in one pass, it wasn't perfect, but a 2nd pass after it dried down a bit made it look great for a pasture. If you keep up with it and mow it every 2-4 weeks you should be fine.
I don't get all of the talk about heavy duty rotary cutters, you want to mow grass... not clear brush or take down trees, right?

 

[MMM]

Might research what size cutter the tractor mfg recommends. Then read fine print in warranty and see if there are any exclusions for oversize equipment.