3-Point Hitch L3560 Box Blade, Rototiller, and Finish Mower

[tycoonbob]

Hi all, new to the tractor world and recently got my L3560. I have another thread in the tractor buying section, but felt it was appropriate to start one over here. Love my L3560, tons of weight for the size, but it's not the highest HP tractor out there. The 5 hours I have put on it, I haven't seen a shortage of power, though that's all been loader work.

I have some older 6' bush hog, but I don't really need a bush hog. I have 12 acres here, and it's all pretty much open field. We just bought this place a few months back and the previous owner used to maintain the whole thing with a ZTR. I'll eventually fence off a couple sections, one for running a few head of cattle and another for food rows.

Anyway, I have my eye on 3 implements; a box blade, a rototiller, and a finish mower. Looking for advice here.

Box Blade; My Kubota dealer is trying to put me into a Land Pride BB2572 for around $1500. No qualms with the BB2572, seems an appropriate match for this tractor, but the price is definitely on the high side for my budget. The alternative I'm looking at is the CountryLine 6' from TSC at $900. Thoughts? Recommendations? Looking for a 6' to cover my tracks, and want something in the 500-600lb+ range.

Rototiller; My Kubota dealer suggested the Land Pride RGA1274, which was around $2450. He called his Land Pride rep while I was there because I was concerned about power requirements. The Land Pride rep said that he definitely wouldn't do a reverse tiller, but a forward one such as the RGA1274 SHOULD do okay with my L3560, just take it slow. That sounds to me they just want to make a sale on something they have in stock, which has me concerned. Is the RGA1274 too much tiller for my tractor? If I got any smaller, I'm not gonna cover my tire tracks so having some kind of offset would be nice. Is there a 5' offset rototiller out there that I should look at? Is there a 6' that my puny 29hp PTO can handle well?
Kubota L60 data sheet suggests I get the "FC1521C" or "BK60C" Rotary Tiller, but I have no idea what those are...can't find info on them anywhere. Interestingly, it suggests the same tillers for all the L60 line, including the L6060...just doesn't sound right.
TSC has a 6' CountryLine tiller for $2200, so really no cheaper than that Land Pride. The CountryLine says it works on 25-50hp tractors, so I assume it's referring to PTO HP? I'm just so unclear what I should get here. This is something that will get used a couple times a year for up to 2 acres of land. Initially it will be used to break up virgin soil.
Would it be easier/better to go the plow/harrow/disc route? Can't imagine it'd be much cheaper to go that way.

And lastly, Finish Mower; Really hoping for a 7 foot, but I really have no idea where to start. Would really like Land Pride for this guy, so I can finance 0% at 24m with my Kubota dealer. I'm expecting a finish mower to be more in the $2500-5000 range, so it's gonna have to be financed (box blade will be cash, tiller...not sure yet, could go either way).

I'm new to all this, so please help? Thanks!

 

[nybirdman]

We have owned three Kubotas;30-44 H.P.;ran a six foot tiller(Bush-Hog standard rotation),six foot box blade(Land-Pride) with no problem.Tillers don't take a lot of horse power to run;box blade can be a problem with a very full load but still doable with your tractor.
You may have to break the sod with an inexpensive "middle buster/potato plow"before tilling.
Have no experience with a rear finish mower but with the L3560 and HST+;I think you would be o.k.
I purchased my roto-tiller in 2004 and have had zero problems with it;used every year on food plots and large garden.

 

[jeff9366]

tycoonbob

New to the tractor world and recently got my L3560. I have another thread in the tractor buying section, but felt it was appropriate to start one over here. Love my L3560, tons of weight for the size, but it's not the highest HP tractor out there.


It is always good to mention how FLAT you land is. If your land is significantly sloped, recommendations change.

Tractor weight and implement weight are the key specs for ground engaging tasks.
Horsepower is mainly important for powering PTO-powered implements. Mowing DRY grass, as opposed to brush, does not require great tractor power.

When researching implements, Everythingattachments.com, in North Carolina, is where I start. EA brand has less than 50% of my implements, BUT MORE THAN ANY OTHER IMPLEMENT SUPPLIER. Very helpful videos.

VENDER LINK: Attachments for 3 Point Hitches of Tractors

I have some older 6' bush hog, but I don't really need a bush hog. I have 12 acres here, and it's all pretty much open field. We just bought this place a few months back and the previous owner used to maintain the whole thing with a ZTR.

Pretty unusual for an owner to have twelve acres smooth enough to maintain with a ZTR. Perhaps you should mow the 12 acres once or twice with your Bush Hog to see how smooth mowing feels to you with large tires. A ZTR with small tires will feel bouncier.

If you will mainly be cutting grass it will be worth having Rotary Cutter blades sharpened or replaced which will improve cut quality before trial.

Anyway, I have my eye on 3 implements; a box blade, a rototiller, and a finish mower. Looking for advice here.

Box Blade; My Kubota dealer is trying to put me into a Land Pride BB2572 for around $1500. No qualms with the BB2572, seems an appropriate match for this tractor, but the price is definitely on the high side for my budget. The alternative I'm looking at is the CountryLine 6' from TSC at $900. Thoughts? Recommendations? Looking for a 6' to cover my tracks, and want something in the 500-600lb+ range.

My L3560 has an outside-to-outside tire width with R4 tires of 62". As the Box Blade moves about somewhat as the tractor moves forward, a 60" operating width Box Blade completely covers 62" tires tracks. A 72" Box Blade will do equally well. TSC's CountyLine implements are made or assembled by Tarter in Kentucky. If you look closely at the implements they have Tarter labels on them.

For heavy-duty applications a heavier constructed Box Blade would be my choice. I suggest researching Rollover Box Blades for heavy-duty grading. PHOTOS

5′
Tarter Box Blade
MSRP: $824.99
Item #: BB5
PTO HP Rating: 18-35
Height: 33″
Approx. Weight: 395 lbs.
Width: 62″
Length: 31″
6′
Tarter Box Blade
MSRP: $1,024.99
Item #: BB6
PTO HP Rating: 18-35
Height: 33″
Approx. Weight: 445 lbs.
Width: 74″
Length: 31″

TARTER: Box Blades Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment | American Made Quality Since 1945

If you decide Tarter is "enough" you might contact Tarter to see if they will supply you at the factory gate with a discount due to "0" freight.

Rototiller; My Kubota dealer suggested the Land Pride RGA1274, which was around $2450. He called his Land Pride rep while I was there because I was concerned about power requirements. The Land Pride rep said that he definitely wouldn't do a reverse tiller, but a forward one such as the RGA1274 SHOULD do okay with my L3560, just take it slow. That sounds to me they just want to make a sale on something they have in stock, which has me concerned. Is the RGA1274 too much tiller for my tractor? If I got any smaller, I'm not gonna cover my tire tracks so having some kind of offset would be nice. Is there a 5' offset rototiller out there that I should look at? Is there a 6' that my puny 29hp PTO can handle well?

Forward rotation Roto-tillers require modest tractor power. The forward rotating tines are pushing the tractor forward. A 72" roto-tiller will be fine behind your L3560.

TSC has a 6' CountryLine tiller for $2200, so really no cheaper than that Land Pride. The CountryLine says it works on 25-50hp tractors, so I assume it's referring to PTO HP? I'm just so unclear what I should get here. This is something that will get used a couple times a year for up to 2 acres of land. Initially it will be used to break up virgin soil.

Would it be easier/better to go the plow/harrow/disc route? Can't imagine it'd be much cheaper to go that way.

If you only till two (2) acres and are patient enough to wait for optimally MOIST soil almost any brand roto-tiller will suffice. Two acres is too small to opt for plow/harrow/disc.

If animals have grazed the two acres, compacting the soil, consider contracting for moldboard plow work once, to speed up roto-tilling of virgin land and eliminate strain on the roto-tiller breaking virgin ground, which is the one-time heaviest application it will experience.

Also consider a <$350 Middlebuster (Potato Plow) to break two acres before tilling.

VIDEO: tractor middlebuster plowing - YouTube

And lastly, Finish Mower; Really hoping for a 7 foot, but I really have no idea where to start. Would really like Land Pride for this guy, so I can finance 0% at 24m with my Kubota dealer. I'm expecting a finish mower to be more in the $2500-5000 range, so it's gonna have to be financed (box blade will be cash, tiller...not sure yet, could go either way).

This is unclear to me.

Tractor implement Three Point Hitch finish mower?

Dedicated, non-tractor finish mower?

Unless your field is unusually smooth, or you adjust mower very high, a very wide finish mower will scalp in varying sectors.

A properly adjusted Rotary Cutter with sharp blades, operating over reasonably smooth land can give a good cut, perhaps acceptable to you.

 

[Fallon]

I had a L3200 & upgraded to a L4060HSTC. I had a 72" King Kutter box blade on both (will be equivalent to County Line or any cheap farm store box blade). It did ok & I dug a lot of dirt with it. It struggled badly on my driveway & our dirt road. It was just to light even with a bunch of steel strapped on for more weight. I got a good deal on an old heavy 74" Gannon & have been much happier. Its heavy & cuts so much better.

I still have the 5' King Kutter forward rotation tiller. It works fine except is a foot to skinny (bought it to match the old tractor). I really should try to upgrade it, but can't be bothered. It works fine for grooming horse arenas, which is all I use it for now.

Spend the money on the box rather than the tiller. I bet you dont end up using the tiller nearly as much. Look used, especially for a good box blade.

I've never owned a finish mower other than my flails (which do a great job but have never seen a lawn only pastures & fields). I'm a fan of going wide though. You just go slow to compensate for the lack of power. Smoother ride for you & the machines. Manuverability can be reduced though.

 

[tycoonbob]

I appreciate the responses.

Let me iterate that while the previous owner used a ZTR to keep this all mowed and looking nice, that's not my intention going forward. I expect in the spring to fence off for a few cattle, so that's 4-5 acres that I won't be mowing unless I absolutely need to. ~1 to 2 acres in the back of the property will be turned into foot plots, so overall I might have 4-5 acres that I want to mow and look nice. I will use my Cub Cadet ST54 to cut around the house, but we have a decent sized area between the house and road that I'd rather cut with the tractor, but I want a nice cut. Everything else doesn't have to be well groomed, but I don't want it to look rough, if that makes any sense.

Here is a picture of my property from my drone:
Shared album - Derek Horn - Google Photos

We have the lot in the middle of the screen, house, 2 barns with 3 silos, some other buildings. At the corner of the driveway where there is a dirt pad, that's where I'm building a new workshop. But that's the layout. Essentially, in front of the barn with silos and up to the tree close to the house, I'm going to fence that area in for livestock. Not all of it, but a lot if it. Back in the upper left corner of the property, that's where our garden will be. The rest, I need to cut with the tractor (except for nearest to the house where I will use my Cub ST54 that I already own and don't want to sell. Here is another picture I took today that shows the slope of the land. Rolling, but relatively flat.
Shared album - Derek Horn - Google Photos

Hope that helps.


Now as far as box blades, I have 2 I'm primarily looking at.
CountyLine 6 ft - Best I can tell, weighs around 450lb and is $900.
Land Pride BB2572 6 ft - 549 lb and is ~$1500.

Yes, the Land Pride is 100lb heavier, but I have a HARD time seeing the additional $600 value in it over the CountyLine/Tarter. Interesting, Tarter manufacturing is about 30 minutes south of me, but that obviously doesn't make it a better product. I stopped at my local TSC today and looked at the CountyLine and it looked heavy build, and I figure I could put 80# cement bags on it if I really needed more weight.
Look at EA, I see their XTreme Duty Box Blades and the 6' model is 515 lb at $1027 shipped. So a good middle point, but I still don't see the value increase over the CountyLine. TSC, I can occasionally find 10-15% off coupons which can bring the CountyLine under $800, nearly half the cost of the Land Pride. What am I missing? Why are these others this much more expensive? Another factor is I have a TSC CC and can get 0% financing for 12 mo, while the Land Pride I can finance through Kubota at 0% for 24 mo (but that's another credit pull that I'd rather not do).
I'm just not seeing the value in spending so much more for something that should be so basic (as long as it's decent quality metal and properly welded).


As far as rototillers, I don't see a ton of use in my future, but I will use one. So I will likely go cheaper on this. Just not seeing the point of spending more for something beefier when a lighter duty unit will work for the 3-4 times it will get used in a year.


Mowers, yeah...still at a loss there. Not sure if I should go for a 7' finish, try my 6' rotary cutter with sharpened blades, or maybe even a flail mower? TBH, the box blade is my current top priority. I have a need for one to fix up my driveway, and to level out some top soil I'm currently backfill around a new building. So many choices out there...

 

[jeff9366]

Regarding box blades, I have 2 I'm primarily looking at.
CountyLine 6 ft - Best I can tell, weighs around 450lb and is $900.
Land Pride BB2572 6 ft - 549 lb and is ~$1500.

A box blade is my current top priority. I need one to fix up my driveway, and to level top soil I'm backfilling around a new building.

Yes, the Land Pride is 100lb heavier, but I have a HARD time seeing the additional $600 value in it over the CountyLine/Tarter. Interesting, Tarter manufacturing is about 30 minutes south of me, but that obviously doesn't make it a better product. I stopped at my local TSC today and looked at the CountyLine and it looked heavy build, and I figure I could put 80# cement bags on it if I really needed more weight. TSC, I can occasionally find 10-15% off coupons which can bring the CountyLine under $800, nearly half the cost of the Land Pride. What am I missing? Another factor is I have a TSC CC and can get 0% financing for 12 months.

Why are these others this much more expensive?


Looked at EA, I see their XTreme Duty Box Blades and the 6' model is 515 lb at $1027 shipped. So a good middle point, but I still don't see the value increase over the CountyLine. while the Land Pride I can finance through Kubota at 0% for 24 mo (but that's another credit pull that I'd rather not do).
I'm just not seeing the value in spending so much more for something that should be so basic (as long as it's decent quality metal and properly welded).

CountyLine private label for TSC and Tarter brand Box Blades weigh the same. The key metric is weight per unit of operating width.

As cutting performance is fairly proportional to Box Blade weight the two issues you face are: 1) Will you Box Blade be heavy enough as counterbalance to make maximum FEL lifts with LA555? 2) How much time do you want to spend grading?

Box Blades tend to be abused. There are occasional reports here of Countyline TPH towers separating from the implement, which I am sure are true, but under what conditions of use? Abusive use? I would not buy a Box Blade if I thought it needed supplemental weight added, which is inviting problems. If your intended use is light or medium duty grading, and you have the time for additional passes, which would not be needed with a heavier, deeper Box Blade, the CountyLine/Tarter brand may be ample. Even I, an implement wonk, would have to allow for: " I occasionally find 10-15% off TSC coupons which can bring the CountyLine under $800, nearly half the cost of the Land Pride."
Your money, your time, your call.

The difference in price is steel thickness, equals weight, the height of the box, equals soil capacity, replaceable wear parts versus non-replaceable wear parts, and steel quality. An L3560 with loaded tires will have ample power and traction to pull 60"/66"/72" Box Blade full of dirt except, perhaps, commercial construction models such as Gannon.

T-B-N ARCHIVE: CountyLine Box Blade site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

 

[BRMyers]

Glad you are liking your new tractor.

I have the L3560HSTC. Here is the mower I use:




I have only used the mower through one mowing season, but so far it has worked great. The tractor has had no issues pulling it. I have mowed through weeds/grass as I has the cab.





We just got a box blade a couple of months ago and been loving it. The box blade has been very handy. We got the 72" Bush Hog model.





Hopefully this will help you see what your tractor can handle. One final note, I would spend the money and get the nicer implements that are going to last as long or longer than your tractor. When we were looking at box blades, you can see a different difference in quality and you will pay more for the quality.

 

[chim]

congrats on the property and equipment. I've been using finish mowers since building here in '89. First was a belly mower on a Cub 154 Loboy. I was OK but I prefer rear mowers. Around 1991 I bought a new 5' Caroni and used it steadily for 10 years. Since then it's been a beater for the little Ford it was bought for and is finally ready to retire. I did find another used one last Summer that is in better shape. I'll save good parts from the original.

Next were two LandPrides. First was an "AT" side discharge and the second a rear discharge. Good stuff, quite heavy.

A little over a year ago I stumbled onto a very used Caroni 91" that I couldn't pass up. The whole underside needed re-baffled and it needed other repairs. It was well worth the effort. I wouldn't hesitate to get a Caroni.

 

[Smokeydog]

Consider a EA land leveler. Beats a yard box for driveway maintenance and leveling. A box blade better at carrying material a distance. FEL can do that. Haven’t used my yardbox after getting a land leveler.

Woods rd7200 finish mower has been going strong for over 20 years of rough use. Had to upgrade the wheel spindle bearings, a weak point on all mowers used for trimming as much as ours. One belt, about 8 sets of blades and regular lube. If it broke would buy another.

 

[Fallon]

CountyLine private label for TSC and Tarter brand Box Blades weigh the same. The key metric is weight per unit of operating width.

As cutting performance is fairly proportional to Box Blade weight the two issues you face are: 1) Will you Box Blade be heavy enough as counterbalance to make maximum FEL lifts with LA555? 2) How much time do you want to spend grading?

Box Blades tend to be abused. There are occasional reports here of Countyline TPH towers separating from the implement, which I am sure are true, but under what conditions of use? Abusive use? I would not buy a Box Blade if I thought it needed supplemental weight added, which is inviting problems. If your intended use is light or medium duty grading, and you have the time for additional passes, which would not be needed with a heavier, deeper Box Blade, the CountyLine/Tarter brand may be ample. Even I, an implement wonk, would have to allow for: " I occasionally find 10-15% off TSC coupons which can bring the CountyLine under $800, nearly half the cost of the Land Pride."
Your money, your time, your call.

The difference in price is steel thickness, equals weight, the height of the box, equals soil capacity, replaceable wear parts versus non-replaceable wear parts, and steel quality. An L3560 with loaded tires will have ample power and traction to pull 60"/66"/72" Box Blade full of dirt except, perhaps, commercial construction models such as Gannon.

T-B-N ARCHIVE: CountyLine Box Blade site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

Tarter gate & King Kutter are the OEMs fir TSCs County Line label. It varies from time & place. But you'll often see King Kutter branded manuals on some of em around here. Really they are pretty similar, at least for box blades. Weight is a very good proxy for strength in this case & they weigh about the same. Weight is also important for cutting.

While I dont regret getting my King Kutter box blade I did replace it. Heavier is better if your tractor can lift it.

Box blades do get abused, but it's not like they are fancy precision things. Used may look ugly but will function just fine at a fraction of the price. Of all the impliments 3pt blades are going to be the best things to get used. No bearings, shafts or moving parts to wear out.

Does it have its scarfiers? $200ish for a new set
Is it bent? Walk away unless it's really cheap.
Is the cutting edge worn out? $300 for a new one (they can often be flipped though). Walk away if its welded on though.