Rotary Cutters, Medium Duty, Heavy Duty, Gearbox Sizing, etc.

[novasbc]

Just for information, your fathers 5' squealer model is a light duty cutter, not a heavy duty. As your aware there is t really a standard among manufacturers but the generally accepted "ratings" would consider the bush hog squealer a light duty model.

If all your cutting is grass and less than 1" material as it seems, then a light duty cutter like your fathers would be a good match.

I personally think the 6' model would be doable with your pto hp.

I spent yet more time online today researching. I decided that it would be iffy when the grass grows up heavily, along with the other brush.

I got a decent deal on the land pride rcf2060, and decided I'd rather cut 5' well, than 6' poorly. It also has 10ga metal on the deck, which was heavier than my father in law's shredder.

Maybe if I see a light duty 6' shredder come up on Craigslist, I'll think about it in the future for maintenance later.

I may regret not having the 6' cutting path, but I'd regret the thing performing badly even more.

All the responses and insight were very helpful in evaluating my choices!

Mark

 

[Piston]

In the grand scheme of things, 1' doesn't make that much of a difference anyways, I'm sure you'll be very happy with that LP cutter, it's a nice one! Congrats!

If you think of it, after using it a bit, let us know how you like it.

 

[sawtooth]

This is a mans shredder. Just picked it up this week. Cuts up to 4" material. . I would call it a heavy duty shredder. Lol

 

[sweettractors]

What size/HP tractor would be sufficient to safely ride over 4 inch trees to be cut with a rotary cutter? Ken Sweet

 

[sawtooth]

Good question and one I can't answer yet. I'll be using a 1983 Ford 5610 MWFD cab tractor with loader. Not sure I will see anything that big but will make contact with a lot of 2 and 3 inch material and possibly some 4". Main reason I bought it is its barely used and I picked it up for half price of new one. I couldn't believe how heavy just the driveshaft is. It's a cat 5 shaft. The gearbox is absolutely a monster. Hope I have enough horsepower to turn it. Lol.

 

[Piston]

Is that a 6' cutter sawtooth? Your 5610 will do fine. That's a mans cutter right there! I'm guessing it's an RCF3572? Or 3672?

I'd kill to have that mower! (as long as I had a tractor that could actually lift it)

 

[oosik]

I wouldn't care what type of rotary cutter I had on the 3-point. It would be a cold day in h*ll when I would ride over a 4" pine tree to cut it. I think that's what Ken is indicating. I would say that most rotary cutter manufacturers and, for sure, tractor manufacturers would hope you would back into a 4" tree to cut it. Look at the videos on the Brown mfg web site if you are looking for cutters that are designed to chop up bigger trees.

Those videos on the Brown site give one a reason to pause. I sure would want a full cab and probably bullet proof plexiglass on the rear window.

 

[sawtooth]

Yep rcf3572. Never had land Pride equipment before but it looks to be made well

 

[Piston]

What size/HP tractor would be sufficient to safely ride over 4 inch trees to be cut with a rotary cutter? Ken Sweet

Who says you need to drive over it
That's what reverse is for! (And a sore neck at the end of the day)

I routinely take down 3-4" trees with half the tractor and half the cutter. I just need to take it really slow.

2" trees are barely a hiccup for my Brown 472 (built in 2001 so no show queen anymore)


Shredding small trees with 6' mower and CUT - YouTube

Kubota Tractor Reclaiming Fields With Brown 472 Rotary Cutter - YouTube

 

[sawtooth]

Brown makes the best cutters period. The 472 and 672 are both very conservatively rated. The thing I like about Brown is that they have a higher blade tip speed than their competition and are suppose to mow just grass really well. If I was buying new and money not an issue a 672 HD would be in my future. I believe they put a cat six driveline on that unit. So how does your 472 Mow grass? I've never used one but from what I can read are the great cutters. I had 2 new Bush Hog 286 units that cut brush really well but not so great in grass. Another unit that mows grass really well is a John Deere MX 6. It's supposed to be a medium duty unit as it's got pretty good steel for the housing but a smallish gearbox. On the positive side it has a very high blade tip speed (something around 17,000 fps I believe) and cut grass better than any cutter I've had to date. Problem is I lost the gearbox twice as it's really too small for that cutter.