Box blade and Rotary cutter

Nromes · Aug 5, 2016

Have 40 hp tractor and am looking for 6' BB and 5' RC. I need cheap but decent. I cannot afford high quality. I understand you get what you pay for, but need something that will last sometime until I can get high quality.

Craig's list is sketchy at the moment.

Looking to even our front yard, maintain driveway and other rough roads on property that have been deeply dug out by rain.
I have several acres to mow but pretty rough, uneven terrain.
Can "King Kutter" or "County Line" attachments handle a little abuse? Is LMC worth it?
Open to suggestions/inputs and reviews.

Thank you.

4570Man · Aug 5, 2016

Can they handle a little abuse? Maybe behind a BX. A well ballasted 40 hp tractor will tear them up pretty quick. Don't get a BB with pins only supported on one side like this one.

TripleR · Aug 6, 2016

Depends on how how hard you use them, how long you need them to last, how good you are at metal work and do you own a welder. My brother uses them and saves a lot of money, but he can quickly repair anything that happens. I on the other hand...

tman1020 · Aug 6, 2016

I have not had much of a problem with what I have used of there's. But I don't have a 40 hp tractor. I don't baby any of my equipment but I do try to use my head. You can break anything if you try hard enough. If I had to purchase again I would.

Turbys_1700 · Aug 6, 2016

You're right about Craigslist. I've been looking for a 6 or 7 foot box blade for my Workmaster to replace my Woods 5 foot unit. What few I've found the folks on there want close to new prices. My 5 foot Woods is adequate at 550#. Not heavy duty but medium duty. My rule of thumb is 100# per 1 foot of blade for medium duty. The newer Woods box blades are Gannon's and the 65 HB weighs in at over 1000# for a 65" unit. Heavy duty.

You can get lighter weight units at lower prices. Work them easy, don't abuse them, and they will give you adequate service. Hook them up to a higher HP tractor and you can tear them up pretty quickly.

MF283 · Aug 6, 2016

I've pulled 7' cutters with a 35 HP tractor, slower ground speed on higher grass & able to do the job quicker with less fuel burned.
I can't tell you how hard i was on the cutter, did have to weld a few things over the 20 years i ran it & it wasn't a heavy duty unit.
Agree with 4570 man, BB with dual pin holders on each side, bush hog to if you can find one.
You typically want to cover the width of your rear tires with the cutter, the 7'r i have now extends past the width of my 60HP tractor allowing closer work to fence rows & occasionally snapping a T post when i don't pay attention

Ronnie

Xfaxman · Aug 6, 2016

Nromes said:
Have 40 hp tractor and am looking for 6' BB and 5' RC. I need cheap but decent. I cannot afford high quality. I understand you get what you pay for, but need something that will last sometime until I can get high quality.
----------------

Open to suggestions/inputs and reviews.

Thank you.

Why so narrow?

MESSMAKER · Aug 6, 2016

Look at the weight on the items. 100# of extra weight makes a difference. The a frame and tail wheel on the cutter will fare poorly if you mow across ditches and uneven ground. If it is somewhere you could mow with your lawnmower, you will be fine.

Piston · Aug 6, 2016

Try to stay patient and keep searching craigslist/eBay. Your better off with a rusty used heavy duty BB than any new county line.

Nromes · Aug 7, 2016

Xfaxman said:
Why so narrow?

Narrow cutter for a few reasons. Not concerned about covering tracks. Have trails to maintain that a five footer would be easier off the back and need to save any money possible due to a second child on the way. If it means not getting a six foot I'm fine with it.

Nromes · Aug 7, 2016

Piston said:
Try to stay patient and keep searching craigslist/eBay. Your better off with a rusty used heavy duty BB than any new county line.

That's a good point, waiting for heavy duty.

Gary Fowler · Aug 7, 2016

Nromes said:
Narrow cutter for a few reasons. Not concerned about covering tracks. Have trails to maintain that a five footer would be easier off the back and need to save any money possible due to a second child on the way. If it means not getting a six foot I'm fine with it.

I think you will have better luck finding a used 6 foot BH than a 5 footer since 6 foot is most popular size and it would be better for your 40 HP tractor.
AS for a box blade, I bought a new 6' Howse BB and I think it was $500 in 2008 (likely a bit higher now) when I had my 45 HP tractor and it has worked OK for me. I have used it on my 70 HP now to dig up rocks in the garden using the scarifiers set as deep as they will go. So far I have only broken 2 of the scarifiers when running a bit fast and in 4 WD. Now I run slower and in 2 WD so when I hit a BIG rock, it slips the tires and doesn't break the scarifiers. It is a bit light but still it will dig more than a 40 HP can pull. I really cant see spending thousands for a super duty box blade unless you plan to use it everyday for digging, levelling, grading.

I also bought a new Howse light duty bush hog at the same time and it cut 4" trees and anything I could push over with my 45 HP tractor and never even sheared a pin. I did bend up the sheet metal once backing into some brush (not recommended to do that unless you are sure that there isn't a stump in the pile) but it was easily straightened.

From my experience, I recommend the Howse line of equipment as they seem to be well built for the price.

LD1 · Aug 7, 2016

I dont know about 6' being more popular than 5'.......but they are both pretty popular. So I'd be shopping both. Prices seem to be pretty similar condition for condition on the used market.

Where in NC you from, perhaps others can help you look?

Boxblades rarely come up used in my area. But bushhogs are always on clist in about every conditoin and price imaginable in the 5-6' range.

Dont know how you are searching, but you need to search ALL of the following: bushhog, bush hog, brushhog, brush hog, rotary cutter, rotary mower. If you aint doing that, you'd be surprised how many you are overlooking.

Nromes · Aug 7, 2016

LD1 said:
I dont know about 6' being more popular than 5'.......but they are both pretty popular. So I'd be shopping both. Prices seem to be pretty similar condition for condition on the used market.

Where in NC you from, perhaps others can help you look?

Boxblades rarely come up used in my area. But bushhogs are always on clist in about every conditoin and price imaginable in the 5-6' range.

Dont know how you are searching, but you need to search ALL of the following: bushhog, bush hog, brushhog, brush hog, rotary cutter, rotary mower. If you aint doing that, you'd be surprised how many you are overlooking.

Easiest way to explain where I live is I'm about 15 min south of Danville, VA.
I have not been searching all of those, so thank you for that. There are a few box blades that I am curious about on CL, but I'm still a little sketchy especially since I'm new to all of this.

Piston · Aug 7, 2016

Luckily, there isn't much that can go wrong with a box blade. It's one of the best implements to buy used.

Basically just want something HEAVY! And if it's not all bent and mangled you should get years out of it.

If it IS all bent and mangled, then it's probably not HEaVY!

LD1 · Aug 7, 2016

Dont know if any of these are close to you, or within your budget. But seems to be alot of ~$500 cutters in that general area

5' King Cutter Bush Hog
5 ' heavy duty Taylor Way bush hog
Bush hog
Hardee 5ft Bush hog
BUSH HOG/ Hardee 6' Cutter
http://danville.craigslist.org/grd/5665369374.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/grd/5709023774.html
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/grd/5703634783.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5656692442.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5656678370.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5718360524.html
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/grd/5696284396.html
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/grd/5710486782.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5671300982.html

Xfaxman · Aug 7, 2016

About six years ago I was looking for a lightweight box blade to level dirt that I was hauling in. Saw an eight footer on craigslist for $350, wondered what was wrong with it, besides missing one scarifer. Went to look at it and saw that it had snagged something immovable and bent the cross frame. Bought it, brought it home and straightened it. :thumbsup:

It only weighs 638 pounds.

Nromes · Aug 7, 2016

LD1 said:
Dont know if any of these are close to you, or within your budget. But seems to be alot of ~$500 cutters in that general area

5' King Cutter Bush Hog
5 ' heavy duty Taylor Way bush hog
Bush hog
Hardee 5ft Bush hog
BUSH HOG/ Hardee 6' Cutter
http://danville.craigslist.org/grd/5665369374.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/grd/5709023774.html
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/grd/5703634783.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5656692442.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5656678370.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5718360524.html
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/grd/5696284396.html
http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/grd/5710486782.html
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5671300982.html

You could definitely say I was not searching the right way. Didn't realize how many call every rotary cutter a bushhog. These seem like better options than buying new. I greatly appreciate the help.

Fallon · Aug 9, 2016

LD1 said:
I dont know about 6' being more popular than 5'.......but they are both pretty popular. So I'd be shopping both. Prices seem to be pretty similar condition for condition on the used market.

Where in NC you from, perhaps others can help you look?

Boxblades rarely come up used in my area. But bushhogs are always on clist in about every conditoin and price imaginable in the 5-6' range.

Dont know how you are searching, but you need to search ALL of the following: bushhog, bush hog, brushhog, brush hog, rotary cutter, rotary mower. If you aint doing that, you'd be surprised how many you are overlooking.

The proper search syntax is...

(bushhog) | (brush hog) | (bush hog) | (rotary cutter) | (rotary mower)

I have mine running on all for sale, although limiting it to farm and garden, heavy equipment & maybe tools would cut some false matches. I also search all nearby areas. Saving the search & having it email you us a great way to get a feel for the market. I'd highly recommend setting one up for all 3pt & SSQA implements if you might be buying stuff in the future. You'll end up with a better idea of price ranges. Quality can be hard to judge at times without seeing in person.

Piston · Aug 9, 2016

Fallon said:
The proper search syntax is...

(bushhog) | (brush hog) | (bush hog) | (rotary cutter) | (rotary mower)

I have mine running on all for sale, although limiting it to farm and garden, heavy equipment & maybe tools would cut some false matches. I also search all nearby areas. Saving the search & having it email you us a great way to get a feel for the market. I'd highly recommend setting one up for all 3pt & SSQA implements if you might be buying stuff in the future. You'll end up with a better idea of price ranges. Quality can be hard to judge at times without seeing in person.

Do you use an app, or just type that into search tempest? How do you have it email you?

I use "Csmart" which was working pretty well but the notifications weren't working for me.