Rotary Cutters Fling Hazard

glenk · Jul 29, 2018

Hi all. I bought a rotary cutter for my subcompact to keep the weeds down until I can landscape on my two acre lot. I'd like to get as close to the house as much as possible. I plan to put 4 by 8s in front of windows and patio doors (I have a lot of windows) when cutting by house and then check the area for rocks and objects ahead of cutting.

My question. Do rotary cutters fling in all directions? I've read that the rear should be set higher to allow for material to escape so I was going to avoid driving directly away from the house and do most of the cutting runs in parallel.

My thoughts:

1. Check the area for objects that may fling.
2. Set the cutter high (no need to cut flush to the ground).

DieselBound · Jul 29, 2018

The lower the cutter the more debris is retained within the deck. If you raise it up there's greater spacing to eject material. Of course, the former is likely to find stuff to hit, while the later less. It's kind of a toss-up.

Kind of also depends on what kind of material you're worried about and what kind of deflectors is on the cutter. My larger cutter has chain guards and these do a great job in absorbing material that is looking to eject from under the deck.

Generally stuff is ejected out the front or rear of bush hogs.

Best recourse is to scout for and remove as many potential projectiles in advance of mowing. I do this with my riding mower, not so much to keep stuff from being ejected as it is to keep from dulling the blades (unlike a bush hog, riding mowers' blades really need to be sharp and they're quite fragile comparatively).

If really concerned then get a flail mower and mow parallel to the home. Or pay someone who is bonded to deal with until things seem settled down.

I suppose your plan of action would work. Eventually, if run low, a bush hog will level things out such that you're left with little in the way of ejectable elements.

vvanders · Jul 29, 2018

The key is in the name, rotary means they can fling at any angle. Anything small enough to make the clearance between the deck and the ground.

If you don't want to take out a window you may want to look into a flail mower, more maintenance but much, much safer.

Jerry/MT · Jul 29, 2018

glenk said:
Hi all. I bought a rotary cutter for my subcompact to keep the weeds down until I can landscape on my two acre lot. I'd like to get as close to the house as much as possible. I plan to put 4 by 8s in front of windows and patio doors (I have a lot of windows) when cutting by house and then check the area for rocks and objects ahead of cutting.

My question. Do rotary cutters fling in all directions? I've read that the rear should be set higher to allow for material to escape so I was going to avoid driving directly away from the house and do most of the cutting runs in parallel.

My thoughts:

1. Check the area for objects that may fling.
2. Set the cutter high (no need to cut flush to the ground).

View attachment 564628

Rotary cutters can fling objects in all direction. Generally speaking, the side rails reduce side discharges and you should have deflectors (usually chain like devices) at the front and the rear discharge areas to minimize objects being thrown fore and aft. I agree with your items 1 & 2 but nothing is fool proof. If the picture is what you plan to mow than I doubt you'll need protection at the house with all that shrubbery between the grass and the house.

TripleR · Jul 29, 2018

I have pretty much the same setup as you, BX22002660 and 48" cutter and in the last 10 years haven't damaged anything by mowing fairly low and running parallel to buildings and as mentioned scouting the area. My son did a back yard cleanup this week, no damage, no problem.

It can be nerve wracking and you really have to pay attention. If you are going to do a new yard, I'd consider spraying it or keep it tilled.

glenk · Jul 29, 2018

Jerry/MT said:
If the picture is what you plan to mow than I doubt you'll need protection at the house with all that shrubbery between the grass and the house.

Ah, that's my neighbor's house! I'll have to hope those oleanders prevent anything flying over there.

shooterdon · Jul 29, 2018

I used a brush hog for tge first time last week and I was surprised at how large a stone it can toss out and the range.

I am definitely going to go over the area and pick things up. I may try running a landscape rake at an angle to dislodge stones close to the surface and move then to one side

glenk · Jul 29, 2018

Thanks all. I'm new to tractoring. Youtube can only help so much!

hosspuller · Jul 29, 2018

There are a couple of stones at the left of the photo. A bush hog will either throw them whole or shatter them and spit pieces at high velocity. Walk the ground and look for stuff BEFORE running the cutter over it.:thumbdown: Barbed wire is especially nasty to unwind from a cutter. I know from experience. :2cents:

jeff9366 · Jul 29, 2018

TripleR said:
I have pretty much the same setup as you, BX22002660 and 48" cutter and in the last 10 years haven't damaged anything by mowing fairly low and running parallel to buildings and as mentioned scouting the area.

You can research blade velocity of various width Rotary Cutters. Wider cutters have much higher blade velocity.

A BX will likely have 48" width R/C.

Blades within a BX Rotary Cutter will not be nearly as heavy, therefore will not store nearly as much energy, as thicker, wider blades on wider cutters.

In short, throw damage from a Rotary Cutter behind a BX is minimal.

Joe Malovich · Jul 29, 2018

Might want to look for a flail cutter instead, generally less flying debris in all directions.

bilrus61 · Jul 29, 2018

I've never tried I but I guess you could do a first mowing with low RPMs on the tractor and see what the mower hits. The cut won't look good but then the second time you could give it more fuel and cut it normal.

radios1 · Jul 29, 2018

a Reel mower would be the safest, and it's used on Golf courses, because it don't damage the grass, and makes the grass look very neatly cut.. a rotary cutter is for when you want to move the cuttings in a particular direction, or have small vegetation you want to cut down..

RalphVa · Jul 30, 2018

glenk said:
Hi all. I bought a rotary cutter for my subcompact to keep the weeds down until I can landscape on my two acre lot. I'd like to get as close to the house as much as possible. I plan to put 4 by 8s in front of windows and patio doors (I have a lot of windows) when cutting by house and then check the area for rocks and objects ahead of cutting.

My question. Do rotary cutters fling in all directions? I've read that the rear should be set higher to allow for material to escape so I was going to avoid driving directly away from the house and do most of the cutting runs in parallel.

My thoughts:

1. Check the area for objects that may fling.
2. Set the cutter high (no need to cut flush to the ground).

View attachment 564628

Put chains in both the front and the back, and you won't get much, if any, flinging.

Ralph

shooterdon · Jul 30, 2018

I look at the construction of a flail cutter and wonder just how badly those blades will fare against a 4 stone? For rough work, I still think a rotary cutter is best.

aczlan · Jul 30, 2018

RalphVa said:
Put chains in both the front and the back, and you won't get much, if any, flinging.

Ralph

I agree. We have rear chains on our rotary cutter and (except for when I have had it way up off of the ground knocking out trees) have never thrown anything more than a few feet.

Aaron Z

ptsg · Jul 30, 2018

You should see the rotary cutters we use over here to realize what fling hazard is.

We use chains instead of blades. It will eat more HP but will also deal with pretty much anything you throw at it and handles rocks better than blades, so less maintenance. The chains also spreads the shredded stuff better and doesn't get clogged up.

plowhog · Jul 30, 2018

I'd suggest a fire extinguisher on board or nearby. If you hit a rock with the blade, it can start a fire. I've done that before and barely got the fire out using multiple extinguishers.

radios1 · Jul 30, 2018

ptsg said:
You should see the rotary cutters we use over here to realize what fling hazard is.

We use chains instead of blades. It will eat more HP but will also deal with pretty much anything you throw at it and handles rocks better than blades, so less maintenance. The chains also spreads the shredded stuff better and doesn't get clogged up.

and you never heard of a chain coming off the spindle and killing someone?. this design seems very dangerous.

ptsg · Jul 30, 2018

plowhog said:
I'd suggest a fire extinguisher on board or nearby. If you hit a rock with the blade, it can start a fire. I've done that before and barely got the fire out using multiple extinguishers.

Yes, I've mounted a 28 lbs fire extinguisher on the tractor. We need to have fire extinguisher by law. And yes, we had some massive fires caused by people who didn't had a fire extinguisher.