Mowing Bush hog size for L3560

[dlundblad]

My L takes a 5’ rotary cutter so your larger Grand L should be fine with a 6’.

Your rear wheels will be covered and if it’s ever too much for the tractor, go slower or take half at a time.

 

[Turbys_1700]

The cutter you are looking at weighs 745#. Your wheelbase is 71". Your tractor weighs 3500# to 3900# according to Tractor Data un-ballasted. My advise. Load the rears. Keep the FEL and bucket on. You will struggle in thick grass but you will be OK. Without the FEL you will get light in the front end if you raise the cutter high. The FEL and bucket will give you the needed front ballast to handle a 750# cutter. I ran an 1100# Brown 472 with a Ford 4610SU. My Ford was ballasted at 6K pounds with loaded rears and front weights. It had a wheel base of 77.5". Plenty of power but the front end got light even with front weights. A FEL with a front bucket would have helped a lot. That Brown cuter was a nice heavy unit.

 

[jeff9366]

I ran a Bush Hog medium duty behind an L3800 Hydro on ground that hadn't been cut in years last summer. 30 PTO horsepower.

I didn't have a lot of issues bogging down.

The only thing I didn't like was the 3 point geometry didn't let it pick it up very high.

How wide was the mower? The OP's issue is 5' or 6' implement width.



Are L3800 left and right Lifting Rods positioned in the top hole? Top hole will provide 7" of additional lift for a mower, relative to lower holes.
(PHOTOS #1, #2) ((HIGHER HOLE = HIGHER LIFT))

Is the inboard end of your Top Link in the lowest of the three or four paired Draft Control holes? Lowest pair of inboard Top Link holes (PHOTOS #3, #4) will provide 4" of additional mower lift, relative to top pair of holes. (PHOTOS #5, #6)

 

[BRMyers]

I'm new to the forum and to owning a tractor. I purchased the Grand L3560 and a Land Pride 72" rotary mower. I have been using it for two days now mowing grass from a few inches to over 4 ft tall.

I had to mow in low gear, but the tractor did fine. My dad was able to mow faster on his old MF265, but he has about double the HP that I do.

The areas that had been kept up, I was able to mow in medium gear, but honestly learning the tractor and how it feels, I mowed mostly in low.

So, maybe that will help you with decision. If I did it right, there should be a picture of me mowing in my tractor and my dad on his (not the best picture).

 

[Will_C]

I bought a Woods 72" cutter a week ago. Have only used it on a couple of acres, but no problem with power- I went 3.5-4 mph while cutting 2-3' grasses. You definitely know you have something behind you, but no problem turning uphill, etc.
Thanks for all the advice.

Will

 

[cathy liebchen]

we run a 5' cutter behind our L3901, a LP 1860- works great even in 4 foot grass. We did replace the rear braces with heavier duty 3/8" steel ones because the stock mild steel 1/4 ones were constantly bent up. Some of our game trails would be too narrow to mow with a 6'

 

[jeff9366]

A comment on NEW Rotary Cutters: New Rotary Cutters with sharp, smooth blades will cut tall grass and brush OK. After 150 hours of use, when the blades are not smooth and may not be sharp, it can be a different story.

It is not hard to sharpen Rotary Cutter blades with a grinder but getting under a Rotary Cutter is something I do not do. I have the Rotary Cutter sharpened by the dealer when my tractor is in for fluid changes. The mechanic is in a pit when the blades are sharpened.

I find brush cleanly cut with sharp blades tends to grow back. Brush flayed with rounded blades dies after one pass more often.

As blades dull you need either more tractor throttle (or more tractor horsepower) or heavier mower blades with more rotational inertia, or both.

 

[art]

Depending on what you cut will make a difference on the cutter you need. In pasture conditions we often go to the twin spindle 7' landpride or bush hog style mowers and they do fine with that size tractor.. Mind you that is pasture ground and where there is good hay or grass there is not much to cut. Most mow in medium as the overall pulling load is light only the horsepower is needed for the cutter.

 

[Fallon]

A comment on NEW Rotary Cutters: New Rotary Cutters with sharp, smooth blades will cut tall grass and brush OK. After 150 hours of use, when the blades are not smooth and may not be sharp, it can be a different story.

It is not hard to sharpen Rotary Cutter blades with a grinder but getting under a Rotary Cutter is something I do not do. I have the Rotary Cutter sharpened by the dealer when my tractor is in for fluid changes. The mechanic is in a pit when the blades are sharpened.

I find brush cleanly cut with sharp blades tends to grow back. Brush flayed with rounded blades dies after one pass more often.

As blades dull you need either more tractor throttle (or more tractor horsepower) or heavier mower blades with more rotational inertia, or both.

Sharp blades make for sharp stumps. Sharp stumps make for holes in your tires (possibly feet).

Sharpening will improve your speed in grass, but generally isnt a good idea for brush & woody material. Shattered frayed stumps from dull blades are safer & more effective against regrowth.