I have been researching tractors and attachements for the past year with this forum being very helpful. I believe I have decided on a Kubota L4400 tractor w/ FEL and 4WD. I am now looking for the right sized rotary cutter.
My application is 48 acres of pine timber with a fire break around the perimeter. I need to mow the fire break once a year which just about any rotary cutter would manage. However, I have some large areas of heavy brush that I want to open up and would like to get the heaviest duty cutter that an L4400 can manage well. After a timber cut I will also have a lot of limbs that would be nice to shred up. On other threads I saw that the Owner's manual of the L4400 recommends a max weight of 880 pounds for a rotary cutter attachment which greatly limits how heavy duty of a cutter I could purchase. I am looking now at a Bush Hog 295 5' deck and a Bush Hog Squealer SQ172 6' deck. The 295 can handle about 1" thicker material (up to 2.5-3") depending on if you read the owner's manual or the specification sheet. However the 5' deck will not extend past the tires on an L4400 which has a width of about 62.4". I will be working in a lot of tight spaces so I am not sure that is a bad thing but the dealer I have been working with says I will be sorry if I don't get a 6' deck to allow a little overhang. Especially for cutting up against a fence. The 6' deck I don't believe will greatly reduce my cutting time as I don't have wide open fields to cut. Just a 15-20 foot wide fire break. I also don't mind leaving a little grass along the fence line.
I am leaning towards the 5' deck just to handle the thicker brush but am looking for some suggestions from people with experience to see if I am making the right decision.
My application is 48 acres of pine timber with a fire break around the perimeter. I need to mow the fire break once a year which just about any rotary cutter would manage. However, I have some large areas of heavy brush that I want to open up and would like to get the heaviest duty cutter that an L4400 can manage well. After a timber cut I will also have a lot of limbs that would be nice to shred up. On other threads I saw that the Owner's manual of the L4400 recommends a max weight of 880 pounds for a rotary cutter attachment which greatly limits how heavy duty of a cutter I could purchase. I am looking now at a Bush Hog 295 5' deck and a Bush Hog Squealer SQ172 6' deck. The 295 can handle about 1" thicker material (up to 2.5-3") depending on if you read the owner's manual or the specification sheet. However the 5' deck will not extend past the tires on an L4400 which has a width of about 62.4". I will be working in a lot of tight spaces so I am not sure that is a bad thing but the dealer I have been working with says I will be sorry if I don't get a 6' deck to allow a little overhang. Especially for cutting up against a fence. The 6' deck I don't believe will greatly reduce my cutting time as I don't have wide open fields to cut. Just a 15-20 foot wide fire break. I also don't mind leaving a little grass along the fence line.
I am leaning towards the 5' deck just to handle the thicker brush but am looking for some suggestions from people with experience to see if I am making the right decision.
