Rear Finish Mower RFM vs Rotary mower?

[WilliamBos]

Hi All,

Are rear finish mowers built to takt the same abuse as rotary cutters?? I am asking because we want a rotary cutter, but prefer the dimensions of the RFM.

We want the dimensions of this,
King Kutter Incorporated

and wonder if it is as durable as this,
http://www.kingkutter.com/WholeGood.asp?item=liftkutter

 

[greg_g]

Are rear finish mowers built to takt the same abuse as rotary cutters??

Absolutely not. One look underneath would be all the explanation you need. The finish mower has belt-driven blades on spindles, just like a riding mower. The rotary cutter has two heavy swing arm blades attached to a center disc that driven directly by the transmission. One rotary arm weighs more than all three finish mower blades combined. When a finish mower blade hits something, all the force is taken by the blade and the belt. When a rotary cutter blade hits something, it just temporarily pivots backwards on the center disc. Centrifugal force quickly spins it back to work though. And the deck on the rotary cutter is much thicker too, since those heavy swing arms tend to slam some pretty big chunks around inside.

//greg//

 

[Soundguy]

A finish mower is like a lwnmower.. thin blades made for fine cut. rough mowers have massive bldes that bust up stuff..

soundguy

Hi All,
Are rear finish mowers built to takt the same abuse as rotary cutters?? I am asking because we want a rotary cutter, but prefer the dimensions of the RFM.

We want the dimensions of this,
King Kutter Incorporated

and wonder if it is as durable as this,
King Kutter Incorporated

 

[WilliamBos]

so then if we want smoething compact, a flail would be the way to go.

 

[Soundguy]

Look around. it's likely you can find a rough cut mower not too much bigger than the finish mower.. in any case.. width will be nearly the same.. length is all that will change. depending on the size, a 2-spindle rough cut mower will be shorter than a single spindle mower of the same size.. etc.

Flails are ok.. but IMHO ar emore maintenance than a plain old 'brush hog'.

soundguy

 

[WilliamBos]

Look around. it's likely you can find a rough cut mower not too much bigger than the finish mower.. in any case.. width will be nearly the same.. length is all that will change. depending on the size, a 2-spindle rough cut mower will be shorter than a single spindle mower of the same size.. etc.

Flails are ok.. but IMHO ar emore maintenance than a plain old 'brush hog'.

soundguy

Oh ok, so a rough cut mower is the name for it... THANK YOU. The length is what we do not want, but the width is fine. A rotary mower hitched to our tractor on the trailer will be a little too long, and will hang off, so I will have a look for rough cut.

Yes, I agree with you on the flails, and for the initial cost of them, another reason why I will not buy one.

Thanks.

 

[Soundguy]

What size mower are you thinking of? what tractor and trailer combination? The average 30-ish hp tractor and 5'/6' brush mower is just about all you can do on a 16' trailer.. usually leaving you a 1' overhang that you need to flag.. It's about the most you can get by with on those sizes.

sounduy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Some rotary/rough cut/brush mower/(in MY terms...)BUSH HOG's aren't a LOT "tougher" than some of the better finish mowers, but they're designed to do a TOTALLY different job. Finish mowers are just what the name implies. They cut a fine "finish" to a lawn or clean turf. (Again, where I'm from the "other mowers" are ALL knownas "bush hogs" so I'm going with that!) A Bush hog is CAPABLE of cutting a lawn, albiet not to the degree of "finish" that the finish mower will. But that bush hog can cut sticks, limbs, saplings, brush, weeds, withstand the occasional rock, ant hill, or a number of other "hidden treasures" you may encounter in a field of tall weeds. Some super-heavy-duty bush hogs are capable of mowing darn near anything the tractor can push over. Do that with even the best high dollar finish mower and you'll get up close and personal with the guy at the parts counter. (if not the guy at the scrap yard

A flail mower can bridge both types of use to a certain extent. They won't mow large (4") trees, but they'll do quite well with the occasional rock or small sapling. Like so many tools, the quality of flail may effect it's ability to withstand certain levels of abuse. In the end, if you're going to hammer on a flail mower, there is a slightly higher expectation of maintenance issues and parts wear over a heavy duty bush hog.

 

[kthompson]

And the but, a flail mower does not throw stuff as much as a rough cut mower can and will. You can see the road crews run over a tire with a flail mower and it almost not move. Not sure that is wise but have seen it done. Have seen rough cut throw stump 40 plus feet and dent a car. No doubt a hammer can and does also come off but the flail mowers I have used and notice seem to cover them right well.

 

[WilliamBos]

Who makes new rough cut mowers?? I have not been able to find anyone that does.

 

[Soundguy]

EVERYONE..

howse , king kutter, john deer, rhino, bush hog.. etc.. just to name a few..

there are dozens of manufacturers..

soundguy

 

[keyser soze]

List of Rotary Cutter Manufacturers:

Woods
Land Pride
King Kutter
Bush Hog
Rhino
Taylor Pittsburgh (Taylor-Way)
Alamo
M & W (discontinued)
Howse
Kodiak
Tennessee River Implement
Modern Mfg
Schulte
John Deere
Bush Whacker (Hall Mfg)
Degelman
Bobcat
Midwest (bankrupt)
Hawkline
Highline
Brown

Other brands have equipment made for them:

Massey Ferguson (Rhino - Alamo Group)
Case & New Holland (Modern Mfg)
McCormick (Taylor Pittsburgh Mfg)
Montana (King Kutter, Howse, Ag Meier, and maybe others)

And many distributors have their own brand:

Silver Edge (Lovett & Tharp - Georgia) made by Howse I think
Ag Maxx (ACI - Missouri)
Cimarron (Howse Equipment - sold to multiple distributors in the U.S.)


There are several others that are slipping my mind right now, but this is a fairly comprehensive list.

 

[WilliamBos]

List of Rotary Cutter Manufacturers:

Woods
Land Pride
King Kutter
Bush Hog
Rhino
Taylor Pittsburgh (Taylor-Way)
Alamo
M & W (discontinued)
Howse
Kodiak
Tennessee River Implement
Modern Mfg
Schulte
John Deere
Bush Whacker (Hall Mfg)
Degelman
Bobcat
Midwest (bankrupt)
Hawkline
Highline
Brown

Other brands have equipment made for them:

Massey Ferguson (Rhino - Alamo Group)
Case & New Holland (Modern Mfg)
McCormick (Taylor Pittsburgh Mfg)
Montana (King Kutter, Howse, Ag Meier, and maybe others)

And many distributors have their own brand:

Silver Edge (Lovett & Tharp - Georgia) made by Howse I think
Ag Maxx (ACI - Missouri)
Cimarron (Howse Equipment - sold to multiple distributors in the U.S.)


There are several others that are slipping my mind right now, but this is a fairly comprehensive list.

Thank you. It is alwayw nice to know who actually builds this stuff.

What I would really love is a RFM style rough cut mower, just for the compact design. I will have to measure, but I think a rotary cutter would havg off our trailer a fair bit. I check some websites, and no one lists a rough cut mower. Unless it is something that is not in high demand.

 

[keyser soze]

Thank you. It is alwayw nice to know who actually builds this stuff.

What I would really love is a RFM style rough cut mower, just for the compact design. I will have to measure, but I think a rotary cutter would havg off our trailer a fair bit. I check some websites, and no one lists a rough cut mower. Unless it is something that is not in high demand.

Rough cut mower is only one name that they call these types of mowers. Others would be Rotary cutter, rotary mower, and brush hog.

 

[FrogLick]

As others have indicated, rough cut and finish mowers are really designed for different tasks. Apparently the length dimension is an important criteria for you, but you've not indicated what type of cutting you would like to do. I have a Woods PRD6000 RFM that I cut several somewhat rough acres with. Although I try to keep on top of cutting when the growth is about calf high or less, I sometimes use it on considerably longer growth. I even sometimes use it on waist high although I mostly double cut under that circumstance. The areas I'm cutting are mostly grass of various types, mixed weeds, briars, etc. This choice works well for me and I work it pretty hard. It will cut small saplings, but I wouldn't routinely use it to cut anything over about 1/2"- 3/4" in diameter. If land clearing of heavy growth is your primary use I think a rough cut mower would be a better choice.

 

[keyser soze]

Rough cut mower is only one name that they call these types of mowers. Others would be Rotary cutter, rotary mower, and brush hog.

Since I couldn't edit my post anymore, I decided to quote myself, which I don't make a habit of doing.... but I just remembered that some people also call them "shredders". So... add that one to the list.

Here is a picture of what many call a rotary cutter.