Rotary Cutter / Bush Hog Considerations for Compact Tractors

[mo1]

Where's that leave us ones with a 800-900 pound cutter? My 5 footer is 830 pound. This weight was left out of your chart?

His table does not line up very well with the current industry definitions, as all of the rotary cutters I have seen are rated to at least cut 1" brush. Finishing mowers and hay mowers are the units that are grass-only.

- Light duty units are rated for 1" and sometimes 1 1/2" brush depending on the exact model, gearboxes have 40-60 HP ratings, and a 5' to 6' model will weigh about 500-700 pounds. (ex: Frontier RC20 series, Bush Hog BH5/BH6, Woods RC20 series, and most of the King Kutter, Tarter, Behlen, etc. units you will find at farm stores.)
- Medium duty units are rated for 2-2 1/2" brush, gearboxes have a 60-90 HP rating, and a 5' to 6' unit will weigh 600 to about 1000 pounds. (ex: Deere MX series, Bush Hog BH200 series, Woods Brush Bull 30 series)
- Heavy duty units are rated for 3" or larger brush, gearboxes are rated for 130 to over 200 HP, and a 5' to 6' unit will weigh 900 to about 1800 pounds depending on exactly how heavy of brush it is rated for. (ex: Deere HX series, Bush Hog BH300/400/500 series, Woods Brush Bull 50/60 series)

A 5 foot 830 pound unit would likely be a medium-duty cutter rated for about 2" brush.

 

[6string]

I have a John Deere 3005. It is rated at 27HP. I bought a 5 ft. Big Bee light duty cutter(pasture cutter) about four years ago from local supplier. It is not made for brush cutting at all but will cut grass just as good as my finishing mower. I only paid 400 for it and it was well worth it.

 

[jeff9366]

Got a mid-1960's M-F 135 which shows lots of wear and tear.

My older JD rotary 5' mower either does not cut close enough or gouges the dirt on both sides when I mow. The rear support wheel is adjusted as low as it can go.

Is there a simple remedy or do I need to have the lifts repaired?

 

[LD1]

If you are gouging with the sides of the cutter......it has nothing to do with the tractor and hitch....clearly it can go low enough to drag the cutter and even unhook and rehook it.

Only way to cut lower at that point is have the blades closer to the ground in relation with the sides.

IE: more blade offset.

 

[amhicks21]

I figure some people will get a kick out of this. Here's a 72" trash tier cutter bought new for 1000 bucks. I used it behind an l3540 and l6060 for about 6 years to cut construction lots littered with rocks, concrete, and every type of building debris so Ive broken the deck, blades and even the driveshaft. Somehow the gearbox has held in there. The fun thing about this picture is that 15ft tall stand of sumac behind the tractor was what i was cutting that day. Handled it just fine. of course, I had to slowly back in to all of it but that cutter is still around after 10 years as a fine working backup. For anyone thinking that's the wrong tool for the job... I agree. my boss got an ear full over this one since I'm the guy that has to fix it when it breaks.

and mid-cleanup before finish grading to hydroseed.

 

[DieselBound]

^^^ As long as one doesn't break the tractor's PTO then all is fine: proper slip clutch (adjusted properly) or shear pin; but there's still always a possibility...

I'd had a 5' "light-duty" on my B7800 and I'd cut 9'+ grass, car (steel) rims and other car parts as well as stumps and other debris (all, of course unseen- grass WAS seen, though one couldn't see anything else when in that high grass! )

With the "medium-duty" 6' RC on my Kioti it becomes more about whether one can put up with the noise! AND the Kioti is cabbed! Which leads me to the wondering whether folks who look to get "heavy-duty" RCs understand that one really doesn't want to be cutting large diameter woody debris for extensive periods of time: and, how is one to detect when hitting some really bad stuff, stuff that you don't want to hit?

Regarding gouging, I have a lot less of it with my Kioti and the 6' RC than on my B7800 and its 5' RC. Adjustment of tractor and or RC OR time to look at some other setup (don't gouge with my flail; but I also won't deliberately/blindly run my flail into a bunch of crap like one can with and RC).

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

If you turn the drive shaft one turn and the bottom does not turn two...walk away.

 

[LD1]

If you turn the drive shaft one turn and the bottom does not turn two...walk away.

You wont find a 6' hog with a 2:1 box

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

My 6' cutter has also been through heck and back. It looks pretty beat up now, but it keeps chugging along. I bought the "medium duty" (they were being optimistic-it's light duty) cutter from Titan. It's probably still having nightmares from some of the jobs I've put it through. But to it's credit, I've never broken anything but shear pins. Original blades, gear box, tail wheel and deck. I paid $1200 for it (had to look that up) 5 years ago. It's never cost me another dime since (well, other than shear pins).

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I have a John Deere 3005. It is rated at 27HP. I bought a 5 ft. Big Bee light duty cutter(pasture cutter) about four years ago from local supplier. It is not made for brush cutting at all but will cut grass just as good as my finishing mower. I only paid 400 for it and it was well worth it.

Yes, some of the light cutters will cut grass like a dream.