Would I be making a mistake with this bushhog

[LabLuvR]

I want to buy a 72" medium duty bushhog. Problem is they are rate for 40hp and above. My Kubota is 37hp. With the minimal difference in horsepower is buying the 72" a big no-no? Thanks!

 

[Gatorboy]

You want your tractor's PTO HP to be at least what the rating is of the cutter. It's better if it's higher. If you have to cut some thick stuff, you won't have the power needed.

 

[LabLuvR]

One other thing I wondered is that Bushhog's lightweight model in 72" (squealer) is rated for 30hp and above. What is the difference, weight????

 

[BB_TX]

Some questions. Do you mean Bushhog as in the brand name or bushhog as in the generic term for a rotary cutter? When you say rated for 40 hp, is that the gear box rating? Or is that from some chart that says it should be used on a tractor of 40 hp or more?
I run a 6' light duty rotary cutter on 27 PTO hp. The gear box is rated at 45 if I remember correctly. 27 PTO hp is right at the bottom end of what it takes to run a 6' cutter.
In general, the tractor PTO hp should be less than the gear box rated hp to prevent damaging the gear box. Then the shear pin or slip clutch is there to prevent the rotary cutter from tearing up the tractor PTO. If your tractor can handle the weight of the cutter and the hp ratings match up, then there should be no problem.

Edit : Oops. I was a little late. You did mean Bushhog.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> My Kubota is 37hp. </font>

Gatorboy's answer is correct, but I'm confused about your tractor. Is the engine HP rated at 37 or is it the PTO HP that is rated at 37? If the engine HP is 37 then you probably have about 32 at the PTO and you would be in terrible shape with that bush hog. If the PTO HP is 37, you'd still be in bad shape, likely could turn it in grass but I wouldn't want to try taking over much brush or anything heavy.

EDIT and some of what Bill asked just before me also puzzles me. The gearbox is often rated above the tractor's required HP so what is it that you are referring to?

Also, your question about the difference between light and medium duty . . . usually it is more than shear weight often it is the weight of the flywheel, the number and thickness of the blades, the gearbox assembly, etc.

It may end up that your tractor can easily handle this . . . or not.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Wow!, I didn't know the "Squealer" was their "lightweight" model ... I have a 48" for my BX and it's a brute ... all 440#'s of it! I couldn't ask for a beefier cutter!

 

[LabLuvR]

The 40 hp rating for the medium duty 72" cutter comes off a chart from Bushhog. My tractor hp is 37, with a pto of around 32 or 33.

 

[BB_TX]

<font color="blue"> EDIT and some of what Bill asked just before me also puzzles me. The gearbox is often rated above the tractor's required HP so what is it that you are referring to? </font>
The cutter gearbox should be rated higher than the tractor PTO hp. You would not want to run a gearbox rated at 45 hp on a PTO rated at 75 hp. That would be asking the gearbox to withstand much more than it was designed for.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I'm going to say you need to read the fine print on that chart and figure out if it says the minimimum required tractor HP is 40 . . . or if it says the minimum required PTO HP is 40 . . . or if it says the gearbox is rated for up to 40 HP . . . or if the gearbox is rated for 40hp to XXX hp.

As Bill just pointed out, implements have gearboxes rated above the HP required to run the implement, this basically says don't use this implment on too large of a tractor. But without knowing what that chart is referring to I don't know how much help we can be?



EDIT :: OK I got real curious so I went and looked up the specs for the Bush Hog brand rotary cutters. The 6' MEDIUM DUTY says it requires a 40hp MINIMUM (model 286). The light duty SQUEALER unit in the same size requires 25 to 40 HP (model SQ600). So given that they have the word MINIMUM in all capital letters I would suggest that you'd need a larger tractor to operate the medium duty unit.

 

[BillG_in_TX]

Here's the Bush Hog page he's referring to. Select "5, 6, & 7 foot - Medium Duty" in the first drop-down box.

The Model 286 has a 110 HP gearbox, and requires a tractor with 40 HP (assumed PTO) minimum to operate. It appears that if LabLuvR wants a medium duty cutter, the 285 is a better match to his tractor. The SQ720 looks like a good match if he wants a 6' cutter. It has a 65 HP gearbox and is recommended for 30-45 HP tractors.