I just bought a woods model 72 6' rotary cutter. It is rated at 1.5" cutting capacity. Is that max for occasional encounter with bigger stuff or max for sustained cutting of 1.5". In other words can I occasionally cut 2-3" stuff that I run into while primarily cutting high weeds and grasses??
Rotary Cutter ROTARY CUTTER RATING
- Thread starter flINTLOCK
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Farmwithjunk
Super Member
flINTLOCK said:
A great deal depends on what sort of tree that 3" stuff is. I've mowed 4" to 5" soft pines with medium duty mowers rated for 2" with no damage. A 2" hardwood might not be so forgiving. Make sure the slip clutch is adjusted to where it would slip rather than destroy the gearbox though. And this doesn't apply across the board to all brands or models. Light duty mowers may be less forgiving also.
RoyJackson
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My philosophy has been if I can run over it with the tractor (Deere 790), I'll try to pulverize it. The cutter is a 60" Land Pride. Some of the trees I knocked down and pulverized were in the 3"-4" size (esimated, since I didn't get off the tractor to measure them).
So far, I've been pretty successful at that. I have had to reverse out on occasions, though. Amazingly, I've never broken a shear pin (of course, I'm easily amazed).
Cutters are tough uniits. One can do some serious clean up work with a modicum of common sense.
So far, I've been pretty successful at that. I have had to reverse out on occasions, though. Amazingly, I've never broken a shear pin (of course, I'm easily amazed).
Cutters are tough uniits. One can do some serious clean up work with a modicum of common sense.
CDsdad
Platinum Member
I'm about like Roy, if I can push it over, I'll mow it. I also agree with FWJ, there's a big difference between a 3-4" persimmon tree and a 3-4" red oak. Them pines and scrub trees'll give, oaks and hickorys don't. I've got a Bushhog SQ600 by the way, haven't torn it up yet.
RoyJackson
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flINTLOCK said:
Yep.
Of course, these are junk trees (locust and such). In my case, the trees were on a powerline right of way across a field I maintain. The company hired to maintain the right of way used an herbicide (never let them do that...kills the trees but leaves them standing). The ones I pushed over that were 3"-4" were dead so pushing them over was actually pretty easy.
You've got to be careful doing the live stuff (in my case, up to 3" or so). These trees are whippy, meaning a lot ot spring back. If they did spring back, the tractor operator could be hurt (a good reason to go slow). They can damage your tractor as you drive over them (wiring, hydraulic lines). If they're solid (not whippy), they probably have a well developed root system and you're not going to push them over with a CUT.
Once the cutter hits them, it's all she wrote. It'll be noisy as all get out as the cutter blades tear into the tree. There is a good potential for damaging the cutter if you don't just ease over them (again, slow is the word of the day).
All of this stuff is soft wood and too small for firewood.
Pushing over any tree (dead or alive) should be done with extreme caution. I push with the bucket in the dump position so the upper and lower edge of the bucket pushes against the tree. The bucket is 5-6 feet above the ground (about eye level of the operator. As soon as I'm against the tree, I stop, engage my lowest gear (in MFWD, of course) and push nice and slow. You'll know if the tree is going to go pretty quickly. You do not want the tractor to climb the tree!
Remember, these are small trees. They may have some height (20-30 feet), but there are no branches of any size so there's not much that can fall and hurt the tractor or operator.
If the tree doesn't go fairly easily, it's time to back up and regroup. In this case, I'll either get a buddy to down it with a chain saw (I don't use chain saws since I had a stroke) or leave it standing.
I cleared this area because the company hired by the power company did such a poor job. Basically, they had neglected it for a few years (other then the herbicide). Pushing these trees down was not a job for my first tractor (Deere 670). The 670 did a fantastic job with the cutter clearing out the brush (you couldn't walk through some of this stuff) but wasn't big enough to do the trees.
When I got the 790 (the following year), the herbicide had killed the most of the trees, so it was mostly a matter of finishing up the clean out work.
If you're going to do trees in a forest, you really want to be extra careful. There are a lot more dangers in a thickly wooded area. At minimum, wear a hard hat. If you do want to clear trees out and you're not in a big hurry, using an herbicide may be an option to consider. Hit the trees you want to thin out this year and take 'em down late this season or next year. But I cannot emphasize using extreme caution enough. When I was in rehab (from the stroke), my room mate had been partially paralyzed by a limb hitting him in the back of the neck. He had limited use of one arm and would never walk again
