Rotary Cutter Need help on finding a 5 or 6 foot heavy duty mower
- Thread starter gcatz
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Travis_R
Veteran Member
Why are you wanting to put a 5' or 6' cutter behind a 80 hp tractor? Unless you have a good reason, I'd put AT LEAST a 7 footer on there...
Have you looked at the Bush Hog 280 Series or the 290 Series ? Whatever "model" or "width" you decide, definately go with the Bush Hog brand.
Bush Hog? Owner's Stories
Travis_R
Veteran Member
You're welcome... Just to let you now, I do own a Bush Hog model 285 rotary cutter. It's definately heavy duty (Bush Hog considers it medium duty), but the 290 Series is even heavier!
I think my 285 can cut stuff up to 2.5" in diameter. It also has a 110 hp gearbox (but I'm not exactly sure what this means).
Good Luck!
NativeSon
Veteran Member
I agree on the Rhino brand. I have a Rhino 272 and it is amazingly built. I got the 6' because I have a lot of trees to mow between, but I love it.
Charlie
Charlie
greg_g
Super Member
- Joined
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- Western Kentucky
- Tractor
- JD3720 Cab, 300X loader with 4-in-1 bucket
For the price, I'm impressed by the Kodiak. My JD only has 35 PTO hp, but it handles the 5 footer like it's not even back there. When I bought mine, it was marketed as a medium duty (w/slipclutch). But when reviewing the current Kodiak brochure, I no longer see a medium duty. Given that they now have a Standard Duty (SD) a Heavy Duty (HD) and a Super Duty (SD), I'm guessing that I have what they're now selling as the HD.
Whether you go for the 5 footer or the 6 footer pretty much depends upon where you have your rear wheels set. Measure the distance between your outside rear sidewalls, and get one that is at least that wide.
//greg//
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
I'm not certain the concept of a relatively narrow width extreme duty mower on a high hp tractor (relative to what one would normally expect on that size mower) is a FAMILIAR concept with most folks. This is NOT something people normally do, except when the plan is to tackle extreme circumstances....
The mower for what you plan on, IMHO, would be either a Bush Hog 320 series or 406 model single spindle extreme duty mower. I've got a couple 406's. One spends it's time behind a 70+ hp JD 2640. Several years of hard use, some bordering on ABUSE, and they're still in like new condition.
Most of the "medium duty" consumer grade mowers would fold up like a cheap lawn chair if you put them in conditions where a 406 is at home.
Rhino, Schulte, Alamo, and Bush Hog all make extreme duty mowers, as well as others. The 4 mentioned are all "Alamo Group" brands. Those will have better parts support, better dealer support (due in part to shear numbers of these brands sold) and give you a long, dependable life in VERY harsh conditions.
Look at gear box ratings, drive line ratings, and overall WEIGHT of the unit as a good comparison. Just about every brand out there markets what THEY consider a "heavy duty" mower, and most have what they claim as an "extreme duty" mower. Since there is no set "standard" for what constitutes "heavy duty", this can easily end with one brands "heavy duty" not being a stout as some brands "medium duty". And this IS one of those rare instances where "you get what you pay for" (and you DON'T get what you DON'T pay for) Avoid "bargain brands", as they usually aren't the bargain they may appear to be when you start hammering the daylights out of your mower.
Personally, I never was much on the idea of buying "throw-away" cheap mowers, killing them, and buying ANOTHER throw away.....A waste of time (and money) in my book
The mower for what you plan on, IMHO, would be either a Bush Hog 320 series or 406 model single spindle extreme duty mower. I've got a couple 406's. One spends it's time behind a 70+ hp JD 2640. Several years of hard use, some bordering on ABUSE, and they're still in like new condition.
Most of the "medium duty" consumer grade mowers would fold up like a cheap lawn chair if you put them in conditions where a 406 is at home.
Rhino, Schulte, Alamo, and Bush Hog all make extreme duty mowers, as well as others. The 4 mentioned are all "Alamo Group" brands. Those will have better parts support, better dealer support (due in part to shear numbers of these brands sold) and give you a long, dependable life in VERY harsh conditions.
Look at gear box ratings, drive line ratings, and overall WEIGHT of the unit as a good comparison. Just about every brand out there markets what THEY consider a "heavy duty" mower, and most have what they claim as an "extreme duty" mower. Since there is no set "standard" for what constitutes "heavy duty", this can easily end with one brands "heavy duty" not being a stout as some brands "medium duty". And this IS one of those rare instances where "you get what you pay for" (and you DON'T get what you DON'T pay for) Avoid "bargain brands", as they usually aren't the bargain they may appear to be when you start hammering the daylights out of your mower.
Personally, I never was much on the idea of buying "throw-away" cheap mowers, killing them, and buying ANOTHER throw away.....A waste of time (and money) in my book
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Travis_R
Veteran Member
Farmwithjunk, What exactly does the "gearbox hp" rating mean? My 285 has a 110 hp gearbox. What is this telling me?
Does it mean that the gearbox can withstand a tractor that has UP TO 110 PTO hp without, destroying the gearbox?? Does it mean that the gearbox is PRODUCING 110 hp @ 540 PTO RPMs ??
I've always wondered what this meant...
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
The gearbox itself "produces" NOTHING... It TRANSMITS power (from pto/pto shaft to blade carrier) usually increasing output "speed" (rpms)
As best I can explain, that rating is what the gear box can safely transmit under peak load, "shock loads" not withstanding in some cases.
That said, I've seen gear boxes fail WAY before the power input reached maximum rated capacity.
