Rotary Cutter Say No to Rear Bands on Rotary Cutters, Get Chains!

[ruffdog]

Sometimes bigger is cheaper in the long run, like this Hydro-ax

 

[Shaneard]

I took the rear band off mine last year, wish I would have done it sooner. It lets more debris out. I did put chains on the front for protection in case something comes out. I have see blades break and come out the front before as well as the side, back, wherever.

 

[Rmart30]

I used my new landpride once with the band on it and promptly took it off. I have chains on the front and the back is open like all my other cutters have been.

 

[Rmart30]

This just reminded of how my grandfather had his rotary mower set up -- which if I'm recalling correctly was with short blades connected to the spindle which then held a chain with a set of Y-shaped knives (like would be on a flail mower) at the ends.

There is a overseas company that still makes them like that. Their videos used to be all over online. It was very rocky soil they were cutting in and I guess regular cutter with blades didnt hold up well there.

 

[Liquidsilver]

It handles it with absolutely no problem. I've cut 3" stuff easily, some times even 4" going a bit slower.

We do mow a lot slower because most of the time we are just backing up against brush higher than the tractor. Sometimes there are some hidden surprises there like open old water wells anywhere from 6 ft to 15ft wide.

Here is a video. Not mine and it's a bigger JD though but doesn't matter anyway.

Limpeza de Terreno em SIntra muitos carrascos - YouTube

I too see how this thread changed from chain *guards* to chain *blades*... but dang that stuff you're cutting looks like it'd be very hard on tires after it's cut.

How do the chains hold up over time, do they get frayed and broken over time?

 

[YLee Kioti]

It handles it with absolutely no problem. I've cut 3" stuff easily, some times even 4" going a bit slower.

We do mow a lot slower because most of the time we are just backing up against brush higher than the tractor. Sometimes there are some hidden surprises there like open old water wells anywhere from 6 ft to 15ft wide.

Here is a video. Not mine and it's a bigger JD though but doesn't matter anyway.

Limpeza de Terreno em SIntra muitos carrascos - YouTube

Excellent video and man that is a serious land clearing cutter!

 

[YLee Kioti]

I too see how this thread changed from chain *guards* to chain *blades*... but dang that stuff you're cutting looks like it'd be very hard on tires after it's cut.

How do the chains hold up over time, do they get frayed and broken over time?

If those chains shatter like a blade then the tires should be OK.
Just cut 7 acres with 2 to 3 inch mesquite and slowly backed into them at a high level and then lowered. The stumps had a nice 4-7 large splintered pieces looking like a flower. Tires just flattened the out easily with no danger to tires.

 

[ning]

The small chain we use is 3/4" high strength chain.

To clarify - here chain size measures the diameter of the metal in the link (the "wire" size), not the distance across of or the length of the link; each 3/4" chain link would be about 4" (10cm) long.
Does your cutter use that, or something more like a 9mm (wire size) chain?

 

[ptsg]

I too see how this thread changed from chain *guards* to chain *blades*... but dang that stuff you're cutting looks like it'd be very hard on tires after it's cut.

How do the chains hold up over time, do they get frayed and broken over time?

The chains hold fine and are not too expensive to replace. With time and work, the last link of the chain ( the one that gets the most abuse) will get thinner and actually sharper over time. I need to take a picture of mine, next time I take the mower out again. It is getting a shape of a blade lol.

It's also not that expensive to replace. For instance, my 50" mower, takes two pieces of chain about a little over a foot each.

To clarify - here chain size measures the diameter of the metal in the link (the "wire" size), not the distance across of or the length of the link; each 3/4" chain link would be about 4" (10cm) long.
Does your cutter use that, or something more like a 9mm (wire size) chain?

Yes, I know that but that's a good point to clarify. It's actually the diameter of the "wire" as you called it. So it's a big a chain. The length of the chain link I don't really know but looking at specs, they mentioned a bit over 2". Doesn't seem to be anywhere near 4" though. It's been a year since I've use mower. I will only start my mowing/land clearing "season" in a month or so.

It's grade 80 chain by the way.

Here a link from a US supplier I've found. It's easier for you to get an idea.

KWB Chain By The Foot - 3/4" Grade 8

And picture:

 

[ning]

The chains hold fine and are not too expensive to replace. With time and work, the last link of the chain ( the one that gets the most abuse) will get thinner and actually sharper over time. I need to take a picture of mine, next time I take the mower out again. It is getting a shape of a blade lol.

It's also not that expensive to replace. For instance, my 50" mower, takes two pieces of chain about a little over a foot each.




Yes, I know that but that's a good point to clarify. It's actually the diameter of the "wire" as you called it. So it's a big a chain. The length of the chain link I don't really know but looking at specs, they mentioned a bit over 2". Doesn't seem to be anywhere near 4" though. It's been a year since I've use mower. I will only start my mowing/land clearing "season" in a month or so.

It's grade 80 chain by the way.

Here a link from a US supplier I've found. It's easier for you to get an idea.

KWB Chain By The Foot - 3/4" Grade 8

And picture:

View attachment 615237

Thanks for clarifying; I couldn't get a good notion of the chain size from the pic where it's attached to the mower - lacked perspective.

 

[searcyfarms]

wow we mow a lot of brush/crp ground with trees/saplings, that looks like it would work great, do they make batwings with chains instead of blades for the cutting part?

 

[ptsg]

Thanks for clarifying; I couldn't get a good notion of the chain size from the pic where it's attached to the mower - lacked perspective.

My bad for not doing it before.

wow we mow a lot of brush/crp ground with trees/saplings, that looks like it would work great, do they make batwings with chains instead of blades for the cutting part?

We don't have bat wing mowers here as we need compact stuff to move around in tight corners. This style of mower go as wide as 2.50 meters ( around 8ft). The wider ones will have two spindles side by side which reduces the length of the mower by a lot, thus making it more maneuverable. Some manufacturers will go as wide as 13 ft but at a much higher cost.

I can't quite remember how the spindle/rotor is set up on your style mower, but I don't think it would be too difficult to retrofit the chains, as long it's used some nice quality and high strength hardware. The thing with mowers and chains is that once you flip the switch to the On position with electric over hydraulic PTOs, the chains slam hard on the top sheet metal making a huge bang. But not a big deal.

 

[npalen]

First, let me clarify that those mowers are never intended to use as finish mowers. They are mowers built for land clearing. They will eat everything in their way.

The reasons we use high strength chains, instead of blades are that chains can handle rocks easier than blades and chains will also shred the brush to pieces. But then again, it's not a finish mower and won't leave a nice finish. The small chain we use is 3/4" high strength chain. It will get bigger size chain with bigger mowers.

We run our brush mowers hard. We use them as true brush mowers instead of a finish mower. Having a tail wheel, would mean that it would be destroyed in a matter of a couple hours. We back these things up close to walls, trees and some hidden stuff that we can't even see. These mowers are built simpler and strong.

Most manufacturers will offer 3 model ranges:

Light duty usually built with 1/4" thick steel.
Medium duty usually built with 5/16" thick steel
And Heavy duty built with 3/8" or more thick steel.

As far as prices, mine is a light duty (which is still really strong) 4.5 ft and cost me about 700$

Most models come with 2 chains, but we can also add another 2 chains making a total of 4. Usually used with higher HP tractors. There are also some manufacturers that make a spindle for 3 chains but it limits you to always use 3 chains. Others also have side shift ability.

Depending on the brush in the land that is being cleared, some people will carry a set of blades and chains. They just select whatever fit the job better.

Chains will eat lots of HP, so we just get the mowers either the width of the tractor or about a foot smaller, depending on the tractor's HP.

View attachment 614667View attachment 614668View attachment 614669

Interesting! Had not seen side shift capability on a "bush hog" type mower. What brand is that?

 

[ptsg]

Interesting! Had not seen side shift capability on a "bush hog" type mower. What brand is that?

All Portuguese brands like Galucho, Joper, Agroramoa, Agriduarte. Just to name a few of the best ones.

 

[Ford850]

Are the chains used to cut grass and weed areas too, or just the heavy thick brush?

 

[ptsg]

Are the chains used to cut grass and weed areas too, or just the heavy thick brush?

Can be used pretty much on everything but it won't leave a nice smooth finish that the blades will do.

This is what I did last year. The grass/weed starts about a foot high on the left side (not including the canes) goes as high as 3 ft on the right side. The right side had lots of cotton type weeds that plugged my radiator screen every 150 ft pass.

 

[Ford850]

That looks pretty good.

 

[searcyfarms]

dang right, i would be more than happy with that kind of cutting in my CRP fields and taking down up to 2inch saplings - our batwing type 15 foot rotary mowers/cutter for the most part have what we call stump jumpers in the middle ( round disk with center shaft from gearbox connected to it ) then two blades that extend from teh stump jumper so the shaft from teh gearbox doesnt come in direct contact with a stump or dirtpile, it rides over it