Mowing NH 6640 and how big mower?

[Richard]

My brother in law recently bought at auction, a NH 6640 with a Brown 684 (7') mower on the back.

I'm not sure yet on the HP of the machine, but I THINK it's 60 or 70.

4 wheel drive and already has some kind of cage around the cockpit as well as some kind of front end "bar" that I presume must be use to knock things over, prior to cutting them (sapplings and such)

It's dark now, I can slap a picture up tomorrow.

The crux of my question is, how large of a rotary cutter can/will a 6640 handle and how will it perform on moderate hills?

In a perfect world, I'd like to go get a 15' batwing and use something like that to cut things.

As it is, a couple summers ago, it took me literally ALL summer to cut the farm (something like 125 or so acres of over grown fields)

I used a clapped out IH 444 and cut most of farm in low range, first gear It took me foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to get it all cut.

I told my wife it's kind of stupid to buy a new mower for that tractor as it MIGHT handle a 6' or 7' and that's just not a big jump in size for the money.

Now this is sitting here...

will it manhandle a 15' batwing?

(doesn't have to manhandle it, just do the job SAFELY)

??

Thanks for any thoughts

 

[Richard]

I should have mentioned that since the farm was so difficult to cut 3 summers ago, it's not been cut since. Net effect of that is, it's even MORE overgrown today, than it was then.

yeesh...

 

[Doc_Bob]

Nice machine. I would cahnge all the fluids in the tractor and filters. Grease everything, then service the 7' mower and try using it for a day to see how it does. It maybe all you need.
Bob

 

[Richard]

couple updates:

First, DocBob... unless I can use this machine in a much higher gear than the prior machine (probably can), I'm not sure that a 7' was worth the purchase over a 5' for the incremental gain.

now, with that said, I've found out more facts...

I was told brother in law bought a Kubota.."big tractor" (I presumed an M series). Wife said "it's blue..." so I knew it was a NH.

Here's where some facts got mixed up that I now know...

Bro in law DID buy a Kubota... M-82??? I think (number came from father in law)

This NH tractor/mower is either on loan, or being rented by bro in law. Father in law asked me last night if I was going to help cut the farm (well DUH...who cut it last??) I said of course. It DID take several months for me to do it though, after work & weekends.

Good..."we need to give that machine back in about a week"

"huh???" (before I knew it was rented/loaned and the Kubota was the other tractor)

"with you (me) cutting, Tom (wifes cousin next door)... we can get the farm cut in a couple days"

lol...well

1. I work during week, so my hours are very limited at night & weekends
2. Marion's cousin next door is out of town for 2 weeks
3. FIL can't do it, much too frail
4. Bro in law (hate to say it) can't be counted on for hours of cutting

hmm... so now I'm wondering why it's even here.

None the less, it IS here and we'll see what we can make happen (after the Ohio State/Michigan game )

Now, as for the Kubota... I've got NO clue as to the plans for it...

 

[Doc_Bob]

couple updates:

First, DocBob... unless I can use this machine in a much higher gear than the prior machine (probably can), I'm not sure that a 7' was worth the purchase over a 5' for the incremental gain.

Give it a try. I have used my rotary cutter in 3rd gear. You won't know until you try.
Bob

 

[Doc_Bob]

will it manhandle a 15' batwing?

My simple view of the world tells me a 15" foot batwing would do it twice as fast as a 7' rotarty cutter. And I assume a 15' foot Batwing has other "issues" that a simple 7' rotary cutter would not have. The batwing looks like it might take more care and feeding, be more of a challenge to operate, have a steeper learning curve, etc. But once you get the hang of it, would do well.
Bob

 

[Fredex]

couple updates:

unless I can use this machine in a much higher gear than the prior machine (probably can), I'm not sure that a 7' was worth the purchase over a 5' for the incremental gain.

Well, I'd give it a go. Don't know your terrain, how much is grass vs. tree sprouts, etc. But as a point of reference, I used to pull a 7' Bush Hog with 50 pto hp tractor at 6-7 mph. That was fairly level going except for terraces in grass with a few multifloral roses and small tree sprouts. A few spots with heavy Reed Canary or 6' high Horse Weed required a slow down to 4.5-5 mph. This was summer green cutting, fall dry/dormant cutting may be a bit easier.

 

[Richard]

Here's a little update..

I was going to watch the Ohio State/Michigan game today so I wasn't able to "work"

Bro in law came over, fired up the NH. I went with them to one of the fields.

I gotta say, this thing is a MONSTER!!!!! Actually, what I think it really does is highlight just how BAD the IH 444 & 5' cutter we have to use.

This thing just POUNDED through this entire field in (I'm guessing since I wasn't there the entire time) about four hours. Same field that would have taken me literally 8/9 hours to cut with the other tractor.

The 444 would have gone slower, bogged down MUCH more (remember this hasn't been cut in 3 1/2 years) and steamed over (overheated).

Bro in law said he was going to try to ALSO bring his Kubota M8200 (or something like that) over tomorrow...said he also had access to a batwing that we can use for it.

So, if tomorrow pans out, we'll have both machines running.

I'm still just speechless on what this thing did. This field looks like it's been regularly cut... there is NOT the 5' tall stuff "ripped out and layed over" like the old tractor would have done. It minced it up very nicely.

I'm looking forward to perhaps getting some seat time tomorrow if I can.

 

[Soundguy]

I have a ford 5000.. ( diesel 256ci engine, 67 pto hp ) it handles a 10' mower just fine. I know of people running 15' mowers on NH 5610's I also see the county run 15' mowers on NH 66xx/76xx model tractors.

Though i have not tried it.. my local tractor mechanic has said he has run a 15' batwing on a ford 5000 ...

I run a 15' batwing on my 7610s

Soundguy

My brother in law recently bought at auction, a NH 6640 with a Brown 684 (7') mower on the back.

I'm not sure yet on the HP of the machine, but I THINK it's 60 or 70.

4 wheel drive and already has some kind of cage around the cockpit as well as some kind of front end "bar" that I presume must be use to knock things over, prior to cutting them (sapplings and such)

It's dark now, I can slap a picture up tomorrow.

The crux of my question is, how large of a rotary cutter can/will a 6640 handle and how will it perform on moderate hills?

In a perfect world, I'd like to go get a 15' batwing and use something like that to cut things.

As it is, a couple summers ago, it took me literally ALL summer to cut the farm (something like 125 or so acres of over grown fields)

I used a clapped out IH 444 and cut most of farm in low range, first gear It took me foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to get it all cut.

I told my wife it's kind of stupid to buy a new mower for that tractor as it MIGHT handle a 6' or 7' and that's just not a big jump in size for the money.

Now this is sitting here...

will it manhandle a 15' batwing?

(doesn't have to manhandle it, just do the job SAFELY)

??

Thanks for any thoughts

 

[Doc_Bob]

I gotta say, this thing is a MONSTER!!!!!
This thing just POUNDED through this entire field in (I'm guessing since I wasn't there the entire time) about four hours. Same field that would have taken me literally 8/9 hours to cut with the other tractor.

And some folks think size does not matter !
Bob