Largest Bush Hog
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Bird
Rest in Peace
Dan, it depends to a great extent on what you intend to cut with it. Naturally you don't want one so heavy your 3-point hitch can't pick it up and/or so heavy that when you do pick it up, the tractor's front wheels come off the ground. And the thicker the stuff you intend to cut, the heavier duty mower you want, but the narrower width you want. For a personal opinion, if you only intend to mow grass and weeds, I might try a light duty as big as a 5' mower, realizing that might be pushing the envelope a bit. For anything else, I'd probably stay with a light to medium duty 4' mower.
Anonymous Poster
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I found this info in the Yanmar forum:
Generally speaking, you should have about 5 pto hp per foot of rotary cutter, and try to keep the cutter within the width of your rear wheels if they are reversed.
and
That 5 hp per foot is not a bad general guideline, but certainly not an absolute. It depends on how heavy duty a rotary cutter you want to use, how tough (or large) is the stuff you want to cut, flat level ground or hilly, how fast you want to go, etc. The smallest PTO powered rotary cutter for tractors that I've personally know of is 42" and the smallest I've actually seen was 48", but my little B7100 handled that 48" Bush Hog just fine (and it was only 13 PTO hp).
It came from this <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=yanmar&Number=219520&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1/>thread</A>
Generally speaking, you should have about 5 pto hp per foot of rotary cutter, and try to keep the cutter within the width of your rear wheels if they are reversed.
and
That 5 hp per foot is not a bad general guideline, but certainly not an absolute. It depends on how heavy duty a rotary cutter you want to use, how tough (or large) is the stuff you want to cut, flat level ground or hilly, how fast you want to go, etc. The smallest PTO powered rotary cutter for tractors that I've personally know of is 42" and the smallest I've actually seen was 48", but my little B7100 handled that 48" Bush Hog just fine (and it was only 13 PTO hp).
It came from this <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=yanmar&Number=219520&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1/>thread</A>
Stonewall
Silver Member
For grass and weeds on flat open ground you could probably pull a 5' rotary cutter (bush hog) without a whole lot of strain but you would need to go slow. For more general use, use a 4' unit that you can get almost anywhere. You will find that most MFRs only offer the 4' in "light" or "standard" duty ratings. If you want to go the other way (smaller), Land Pride and Rhino offer 42" units and King Kutter has a 40" unit. These are all rated as light duty. Woods has a 40" Medium duty unit that it sells to the grove and orchard markets for cutting in the groves and mulching the prunings off the trees. I have a 1215 Massey w/ 15 PTO HP and I am looking at the King Kutter 4' rotary cutter and a Land Pride 5' "Patriot" rear discharge finish mower (side discharge would cut it down to 4').
FamilyFarm
Platinum Member
I have a medium duty Fred Cain 48" cutter for use with the BX22 (17 pto hp). It is a very appropriate size in my opinion. For really heavy cutting, you need a larger tractor and cutter. For average use, this setup is fine. I did mow a few acres of Bahia grass about 4 ft tall once and I had to go slow. Bahia is a tough, thick grass to cut and I should have cut it higher the first round. I had too much hay clogging the cutter before being discharged.
Terry
Terry
MikePA
Super Moderator
<font color=blue>What does one cut with a light duty cutter? </font color=blue>
What a cutter is capable of is usually listed on the manufacturer's web site and the Owner's Manual. A light duty cutter is usually designed to handle grasses, weeds and light brush (up to an inch in diameter).
What a cutter is capable of is usually listed on the manufacturer's web site and the Owner's Manual. A light duty cutter is usually designed to handle grasses, weeds and light brush (up to an inch in diameter).
Bird
Rest in Peace
My Howse 500 rotary cutter manual only mentioned "grass"; nothing in the manual even mentioned brush, saplings, etc. However, I mowed down Johnson grass that was over 6' tall, lots of small mesquite up to an inch or so in diameter, and even ran over and chopped up one pile of 2 x 4s that I didn't seen in the tall grass and never had a problem with the mower.
Personally, I sorta consider light duty = up to 1", medium duty = up to 2", and heavy duty = up to 3" and over 3" is time for the chain saw/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif, but if you look at some of the manufacturers' specs, it varies. I've noticed on Bush Hog's web site that some light duty say up to 1", but at least one of their medium duty says up to 3", and a 6' heavy duty up to 4".
In other words, there are no exact numbers.
Personally, I sorta consider light duty = up to 1", medium duty = up to 2", and heavy duty = up to 3" and over 3" is time for the chain saw/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif, but if you look at some of the manufacturers' specs, it varies. I've noticed on Bush Hog's web site that some light duty say up to 1", but at least one of their medium duty says up to 3", and a 6' heavy duty up to 4".
In other words, there are no exact numbers.
Stonewall
Silver Member
After I spoke yesterday I researched a little more and found that Howse makes medium duty 4' cutters as well as light duty 4'ers. If you want a good laugh about what you can "cut" with your bush hog do a search on "worst thing ever run over with a bush hog" (or something like that). We had a good time laying our cards on the table with that one. I think the original thread was under related topics. When I was a kid my Dad cut up a concrete elecrical service box with ours!
looch
Veteran Member
My Bush Hog SQ480 manual says, as Bird indicated, brush up to one inch think.
Using some common sense, I do go over this limit. For example, what's the difference in hardness between a 3/4" diameter mesquite branch and the same diameter Basswood? I take down 2" - 3" D spruce trees. When approaching a larger tree, I ease into it and "nibble" it away.
I am not advising on how to operate a brush cutter - just saying how I use mine. YMMV.
Using some common sense, I do go over this limit. For example, what's the difference in hardness between a 3/4" diameter mesquite branch and the same diameter Basswood? I take down 2" - 3" D spruce trees. When approaching a larger tree, I ease into it and "nibble" it away.
I am not advising on how to operate a brush cutter - just saying how I use mine. YMMV.