bushhog-rotary cutter

[dlay]

What size rotary cutter do most use on m7040? I have a 6 ft but want larger maybe 7,8, or 10 ft, don't want to go to bat wing as I do a lot of close and rough work. I will probably stick to 3 pt hitch, does anyone have any suggestions on this? Thanks

 

[TripleR]

What will you be cutting?

 

[jeff9366]

How much of your 'hogging will be done on slopes? How severe are the slopes?

How much PTO horsepower does your Kubota M7040 have?

 

[dlay]

Will be cutting tall grass, weeds small shumate trees on rough hilly ground, several acres a year, also trimming fence rows. Tractor is 72 hp, don't remember pto hp. 63 I think.

 

[bilrus61]

I have a Landpride 3596 behind my M7040 Kubota. I got the 3 pt hitch so I can still use it as a loader tractor here doing things like pushing downed trees out of trails. Kubota handles the mower easy. Even in super thick tough stuff I can mow without it lugging the tractor. Plenty of power. I go slow when I'm mowing larger saplings. It took down many trees in the 2 to 3.5 inch range so far. As a bonus it mows VERY smooth and nice. Desperses the clippings even. Only bad thing is it seems to blow some of the grass back onto the rear of the tractor/operator. A minor complaint. It has chain guards on it. The 3596 was only about 500 more than the 3096. Just seemed like a bargain to me. Much larger gear boxes. Larger output shaft. I know its only rated as having 1/2 inch more capacity but those same gearboxes/output shafts are used on Landprides batwings and they are rated up to 4 inchs. I traded in my "trusty" MX6 to it. Just lots more fun to have a very heavy duty mower you can use without as much fear of the output shaft breaking. To be honest my JD MX6 mowed lots of things without any complaint. Glad I'm mowing today with the 8 foot Landpride heavy duty mower however. My Kubota M7040 has cast wheels, fluid, loader with bucket on it while I mow. When I'm just clipping smooth pasture I can mow in 4th gear/low range. In heavy stuff I usually mow in 2nd gear/low range. When I'm going over 12 foot talk boxelders I put it in 1st. Any other questions I'll be glad to answer.

 

[jeff9366]

If you are wed to a SINGLE SPINDLE Rotary Cutter you can only increase cut width by 12", to 84".

The widest SINGLE SPINDLE Rotary Cutter made by Land Pride and Bush Hog is 84". Weight 1,500 - 2,000 pounds.

M7040 has overall width of 73" If you pull a 84" 'hog it will protrude about 5-1/2" outside the tractor, so you can trim along the fencerows by that much.

M7040 3-Pt. lift, when new, is 3,307 pounds so an 84", 1,500 -2,000 pound 'hog is probably all you want over rough ground and up and down slopes.

You might want to shop for one toward the lighter end of the scale.....Land Pride has both "Light Duty" and "Medium Duty" 'hogs in 84". For the uses you specified in Post #4, "Light Duty" from Land Pride should be enough.

RCR1884 Rotary Cutters | Land Pride

RCR2684 Rotary Cutters | Land Pride

Rotary Cutters Single Spindle 320 Series

 

[whis]

6ft is big enough for tall grass, if you go bigger you'll have to real slow in the tall stuff. We have 7040 with 6ft and in spring time waste deep grass have to run in low 1st

 

[jeff9366]

6ft is big enough for tall grass, if you go bigger you'll have to real slow in the tall stuff. We have 7040 with 6ft and in spring time waste deep grass have to run in low 1st

When was the last time you "sharpened" the blade?

You do not want the blade sharp like on a finish mower, but neither too blunt for grass.

 

[LD1]

6ft is big enough for tall grass, if you go bigger you'll have to real slow in the tall stuff. We have 7040 with 6ft and in spring time waste deep grass have to run in low 1st

I think he has pleanty of power to not have to be in low 1st. I have a 6' cutter with half the power. And never ran lower than low 2nd.

I think a 8' twin spindle is the way to go for thick dense grass and that tractor. Should be comfortable and can trailer if necessary. And not too big for tight areas.

If it is a wide open field, and nothing too dense, and traveling or trailering isnt a concern, 10' should do fine also. Still giving you 6HP per ft of cutter.

 

[Sysop]

If your primary goal is to get the cutting width beyond the travel of the tractor, you might also investigate some of the offset mowers. Walco has a "tool arm" that can run most rotary cutters offset from the tractor's line of travel.

See here >> Walco Equipment | Agriculture, Lawn & Garden, NB, NFLD, NS, PEI, Walco - Tool Arm

 

[lostcreekranch]

We have a Bush Hog 3008 dual spindle, 8 ft., 3PL cutter. It cuts well and disperses cuttings fairly evenly. I have backed over clumps of Yaupon up to 4" with cutter raised. Then hit it again lowered. Then I turn around a dig up roots with the 84" grapple.

The 8 ft. width covers the back tires and allows getting pretty close to fences. I run in mid range / 3rd gear in open pasture and in 2nd gear if maneuvering around trees, etc. it is also Quick Hitch compatible. Just got the SpeeCo Cat 2 QH from Tractor Supply.

The cutter is the one in avatar.

 

[TripleR]

We use a pull type Woods DS1260 on our M8540 as well as a Woods 121 10' 3PH and based on our use with this tractor in hills and flat land, for the OP's tractor and use, I would pick an 8 foot as mentioned. I like Land Pride and Woods, but others make good cutters as well.

For really steep stuff, we have found the pull types feel more stable, but I can sure understand the need for a 3PH cutter.

 

[lostcreekranch]

We use a pull type Woods DS1260 on our M8540 as well as a Woods 121 10' 3PH and based on our use with this tractor in hills and flat land, for the OP's tractor and use, I would pick an 8 foot as mentioned. I like Land Pride and Woods, but others make good cutters as well. For really steep stuff, we have found the pull types feel more stable, but I can sure understand the need for a 3PH cutter.

Triple R;

Until I got the quick hitch I was ready to go buy a pull type because the 3PH was always a PIA to get hooked up. Now just back up, raise the 3 PH, jump down and hook up the PTO and go mow. Tractor has quick lift feature on 3PH so I can quickly raise the cutter then just push button to return to previous cutting level.

Rick

 

[TripleR]

Triple R;

Until I got the quick hitch I was ready to go buy a pull type because the 3PH was always a PIA to get hooked up. Now just back up, raise the 3 PH, jump down and hook up the PTO and go mow. Tractor has quick lift feature on 3PH so I can quickly raise the cutter then just push button to return to previous cutting level.

Rick

We went with the pull type due to the weight of one robust enough to cut our 3" brush being too heavy for the tractor we had at that time, a Case CX80, our Woods 121 just wouldn't do it. We were a little concerned about a pull type but really like it. Our Case had the same type 3PH as on yours and was operated by a rocker switch once you set the limits, really was handy.

 

[SDT]

What size rotary cutter do most use on m7040? I have a 6 ft but want larger maybe 7,8, or 10 ft, don't want to go to bat wing as I do a lot of close and rough work. I will probably stick to 3 pt hitch, does anyone have any suggestions on this? Thanks

It depends mostly upon what you plan to cut, how often you plan to cut it and how fast you want to travel.

Contrary to popular opinion, mowing tall weeds and brush takes far less power than mowing well established heavy grass.

I've been operating rough cut mowers with various tractors and mowers for over 40 years and would not recommend anything larger than a 7' mounted cutter in your case. Even in this case you will find yourself moving slowly if you get into heavy grass that has not been cut in awhile.

Considering the weight of your tractor and hills, do not even consider a 10' mounted cutter. Your tractor is not heavy enough even fully weighted and you have insufficient power. A light twin spindle 8' cutter is doable with front weights but expect slow ground speed with 63 PTO HP.

Currently, I run a 6' Woods BB720X with a 45 PTO HP MF 533 and an 8' Woods BB840X with a 60 PTO HP MF 2635. I sometimes find myself geared down much more than I would like with either. I keep the blades SHARP but do set the mowers to cut as close as is possible.

Setting up your mower properly will help it clear and keeping the blades sharp will produce a better cut while using a bit less HP and fuel. Of course you do not want sharp blades if cutting saplings.

SDT

 

[whis]

Blades are not bad, but when I cut I like it to look good. Its like SDT said heavy grass. A good rule of thump is 10 hp per foot. I know most will laugh but if you have to crawl whats the point of having bigger hog. I have read on here where some pull 15ft batwing with 60-80 hp but I'll bet anything you wont cut where I have

 

[bigbull338]

i would not put an 8 or 10ft 3pt shredder on a 7040.to my way of thinking thats to much weight on the 3pt.id get a 10ft pull type shredder.now we have 2 shredders running 1 is a 3pt 6ft the other is a 3214 ridgid pull type.we have 2 tractors both 4x4 with fels.1 is a jx80 case the other is my new 7040 SU.both have the same hp.so both will pull the 14ft ridgid shredder no prob.the jx80 pulled it last fall with no prob.an it also pulled a 567 jd round baler this summer.

 

[dlay]

When was the last time you "sharpened" the blade?

You do not want the blade sharp like on a finish mower, but neither too blunt for grass.

I mowed some very thick Ironweed, tall grass and other weeds, ran in 3rd and 4th gears, and my blades need sharpening. Power is not a problem on the m7040 with a 6 ft cutter, don't know how big I should go, 7,8,10. First gear is overkill, would have never gotten done, took 8 hrs as was, have a lot more to do, will be lighter mowing now, just steep.

 

[Dave M7040]

Remember that the M7040 3pt hitch has two positions for the lift arms connecting to the lower arms. In one position you can lift less higher and in the other lift more but not as high.
With a snow blower I had to use the lift high position and give up the load. When the top of the blower is covered with heavy wet snow the hitch struggles. The tractor stats seem optimistic to me.
Dave M7040

 

[dlay]

Dave, have got mine in the high position now.