l2501 bushhogging questions

[okiecraig]

OK, gents, I have only operated my L3940 GST for last 20 years. Next week I have to use a L2501 HST to bushhog about 20 acres in Colorado of fairly level land mostly former hayfield of timothy, orchard and brome grasses. This will be winter prep cut of 4-6 inches. I will set the back end of the cutter higher than the front.

1. Fuel tank holds about 10 gal of diesel. Any estimates how much fuel I might need for 20 acres running about 1500 RPMs?
2. Any tips on HST operation as opposed to a GST.

Thanks

 

[SPYDERLK]

OK, gents, I have only operated my L3940 GST for last 20 years. Next week I have to use a L2501 HST to bushhog about 20 acres in Colorado of fairly level land mostly former hayfield of timothy, orchard and brome grasses. This will be winter prep cut of 4-6 inches. I will set the back end of the cutter higher than the front.

1. Fuel tank holds about 10 gal of diesel. Any estimates how much fuel I might need for 20 acres running about 1500 RPMs?
2. Any tips on HST operation as opposed to a GST.

Thanks

NO EXCUSE to run below correct PTO rpm - cut will suffer.

Also, in general, the lower hp HST is going to force a slower travel speed. -- Fortunately the HST gives you infinite and seamless control of that.

 

[anomad]

What size bush hog and how thick is the field?

 

[paulsharvey]

OK, gents, I have only operated my L3940 GST for last 20 years. Next week I have to use a L2501 HST to bushhog about 20 acres in Colorado of fairly level land mostly former hayfield of timothy, orchard and brome grasses. This will be winter prep cut of 4-6 inches. I will set the back end of the cutter higher than the front.

1. Fuel tank holds about 10 gal of diesel. Any estimates how much fuel I might need for 20 acres running about 1500 RPMs?
2. Any tips on HST operation as opposed to a GST.

Thanks

Ok, so lets assume 5 ft cutter, 5 mph; your cutting; your going to get about 2.8 to 3.3 acres per hour. So, 20 acres; should be about 7 hours at 2200 rpm. Almost all equipment full tanks are sized to run 8 hours at PTO rpm; so you should use almost exactly 1 full tank of diesel.

Now, all that is dependent on field shape, condition, and if you can take a full 5 ft bite while running at speed. In real life, it might be more like 9 hours; and 1.25 tanks.

 

[okiecraig]

NO EXCUSE to run below correct PTO rpm - cut will suffer.

Also, in general, the lower hp HST is going to force a slower travel speed. -- Fortunately the HST gives you infinite and seamless control of that.

I hate to get spanked, but wth.....I have for years only used a cutter at 1500 rpms. figured i was being easy on my engine. SO, what is "correct" PTO rpm - 540?

 

[okiecraig]

Ok, so lets assume 5 ft cutter, 5 mph; your cutting; your going to get about 2.8 to 3.3 acres per hour. So, 20 acres; should be about 7 hours at 2200 rpm. Almost all equipment full tanks are sized to run 8 hours at PTO rpm; so you should use almost exactly 1 full tank of diesel.

Now, all that is dependent on field shape, condition, and if you can take a full 5 ft bite while running at speed. In real life, it might be more like 9 hours; and 1.25 tanks.

thank you, It is a five foot cutter but I will probably run about 3 mph since it is a new field with rental equipment.

 

[okiecraig]

What size bush hog and how thick is the field?5 ft cutter

 

[okiecraig]

5 ft cutter. growth is dormant grasses with thin orchard and timothy about 15 inches high and thick brome about 6-8 inches high.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

The brush hog will perform much better with the rear PTO turning 540 RPM, which means your engine will be near max RPM, my 5" Bush Hog brand has blades that have "lift " like a regular lawn mower blade, this needs speed to get and keep the grass to stand up to get cut.

IIRC my Massey Ferguson GC 1725 MB engine has a redline about 3200 RPM, the PTO needs about 2900 RPM ... My Kubota L5030 engine has a redline about 2700 rpm, and PTO needs about 2600 RPM.

My 1.1L 25 HP SCUT burns about 3/4 gallon of fuel an hour ...

The L2501 has a slightly larger engine displacement of 1.6L

Here is a picture of a L2501 dash, notice on the tachometer the indicator for 540 PTO at 2000 RPM ...

 

[paulsharvey]

thank you, It is a five foot cutter but I will probably run about 3 mph since it is a new field with rental equipment.

Ok; sounds like you should be able to take a full about 4.5 ft cut; probably about 80% actively cutting (turns, backing, slowing around trees/fences, ect); i get 1.31 acres per hour. So, 15-16 hours of mowing; or roughly two tanks of full. Maybe running at 1500 rpm (is that the 540E rpm on a l2501?) vs 2200 rpm (the rpm for the pto to be at 540) might save 30% fuel?

Couple notes; 60" rotary cutter in grass is a pretty full load on a 2501; your cut may or maynot be great at reduced speed; you might need the full rpm to avoid bogging. Id pretty much set it at 540 mark or 540e mark, and let her eat

 

[okiecraig]

hells bells, learned more here about using a cutter in a couple hours than I have trial and error for 20 years.

Thank you, all!

 

[paulsharvey]

If its a rental; why baby it? Run that throttle handle to max, put that sucker in medium range, engage, drop, and pedal down (or forward on Kubota). Mow as fast as your butt can handle; but not need to baby a rental machine.

 

[Yander]

15 - 20 gallons.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I hope you have strong right calf.
I don't envy you. Hoping the L2501 rental has cruise cause making 15hrs of field work with a hst w/o cruise is not really enjoyable.
If from a rental fleet maybe ask for one with cruise if available.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

My 5' Bush Hog brand rotary cutter has an actual cut width of 56" ... Then figure in overlap ...

On my SCUT I run it at 3 MPH with 19.6 PTO HP I get about 1.5 acres an hour, if I put it behind my CUT with 42.5 PTO HP, and the much larger tires, I run 6 mph ... The smaller tires and my butt comfort is the biggest reason I go slower with the SCUT ... CUT has a suspension seat also!

Power wise I could, and have run faster with my SCUT, I'd think you could easily bump the speed up to the 4 - 4.5 mph range to save time and fuel with the bigger tires on the L2501 ... I'd not worry about babying the rental either ...

 

[Yander]

I hate to get spanked, but wth.....I have for years only used a cutter at 1500 rpms. figured i was being easy on my engine. SO, what is "correct" PTO rpm - 540?

As far as being easy on the engine, it is actually just the opposite. It isn't good for any engine to run at too low an RPM for the task you are doing. It puts more strain on it. Probably less of a big deal on a diesel, but the tractor is still not performing optimally at too-low RPMs. A rear cutter, especially, is designed to work best off the momentum of the blades, so running them too slow really alters the functionality it was designed for.

 

[paulsharvey]

"What is the correct RPM" every tractor I've used, that had a PTO, the tachometer will have 1, or 2 marks for pto. My Kioti has 2 marks; 540E (roughly 1800 rpm if memory serves), 540 (roughly 2100 if memory serves), and it will go up another 200-300 rpm. Now, 540E, isn't actually 540; its more like 480.rpm i think at the PTO but its what they consider "close enough, but most fuel efficent). If Kubota doesnt have two marked pto speeds; then it will have either a range or 1 speed on the tach, and from what I see on Google, its 2000-2200 engine rpm for the pti to be at 540. That is the "correct" pto speed. It doesnt mean you might not be able to run a bit below, and it also doesnt mean you can't press the throttle to the limit, and pedal down

 

[paulsharvey]

RPM to get 540 PTO speed varies machine to machine, but every one ive ever used shows it on the tachometer. Some its a colored range, some have an arrow and say PTO at the correct RPM. Some its just WFO; but they all have a speed they should run at

 

[bsekf]

Your equipment manual will recommend the correct PTO rpm. It is designed to run at that speed. If you run our tiller too slow it will bound out of the ground and shake the tractor to pieces. Brush hog is like a zero turn, you have to keep the tip speed up.

 

[paulsharvey]

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