Need help sizing a rotary cutter

[Apsterbobed]

4' cutters seem to always go for more than 5' cutters. Just not as many of them around, and not as popular. Same with 6' cutters. But 5' ers are plentiful about everywhere.

I have seen quite a few 4/5 for sale most have been brand new top dollar a few rusty beat old ones for cheep but not any great deals. Not too many 6 out there.

 

[IslandTractor]

$900 is a great price, I haven't even seen a decent 4 for that!

That's why I have a 5 footer rather than the 6 footer I was looking for. I knew that routine mowing would be with my 6+ft flail so I wasn't that concerned about number of acres per hour mowed etc. And as it turns out, in thick brush it is sometime better to have a slightly undersized bush hog just to concentrate power and increase maneuverability. All things being equal I'd have gone for a six footer but the price on the barely used BB600 was just too good to turn down.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

That's why I have a 5 footer rather than the 6 footer I was looking for. I knew that routine mowing would be with my 6+ft flail so I wasn't that concerned about number of acres per hour mowed etc. And as it turns out, in thick brush it is sometime better to have a slightly undersized bush hog just to concentrate power and increase maneuverability. All things being equal I'd have gone for a six footer but the price on the barely used BB600 was just too good to turn down.

$900 is a really good price for a BB600X. I paid $3500 for my BB720X. Size wise, I do like that the cutter is as wide as my wheels for my ability to quickly clear spaces. I'm running my tractor at 2000 rpm in the following video the only time I bog down is when I'm mowing dirt, rocks, and large windfalls.

 

[IslandTractor]

No doubt the BB720 is the preferred and standard bush hog size for a 40+hp CUT.

The way I use my BB600 however is mostly in backing into thick brush. I cannot walk the area before cutting as it is thick brambles and briar and so I couldn't be sure about absence of obstacles anyway. I call my technique reconnaissance by mowing. I simply make what looks like the start of a Y turn, back into the brush about 8-10 feet then pull out, move 5 feet along and then back in again.

As I don't drive forward with the brush mower often the narrow width doesn't bother me.

 

[RSKY]

Wider and slower is better. Your tractor should pull 6' easy in all but thickest brush. Then you just slow down.

 

[Apsterbobed]

$900 is a really good price for a BB600X. I paid $3500 for my BB720X. Size wise, I do like that the cutter is as wide as my wheels for my ability to quickly clear spaces. I'm running my tractor at 2000 rpm in the following video the only time I bog down is when I'm mowing dirt, rocks, and large windfalls.

That video is great! It sounds like a vacuum while in high speed!

 

[WM75Guy]

I vote for the 6'. My TC40DA is HST with 33hp PTO and it handles my 6' Bush Hog OK. I mow at 3 mph, any faster and I can't walk the next day. In tall grass it will bog down occasionally but I just slow down and let it catch up. Even my Boomer 8N with 40hp PTO gets bogged down occasionally with it. Just more time on the tractor enjoying my music.

The TC40DA has an FEL, the Boomer does not. The Boomer 8N was light in the front end so the mower would push it around some. So far I have added 200# of tractor weights on the front of the Boomer 8N. I have to buy a bracket to add another 300# of weights on the front.

 

[Apsterbobed]

I don't think I will need weight out front, the tractor is about 6500 lbs, my finish mower is about 600 (I know it doesn't hang as far back) and I can't even tell it's back there. I usually drop the bucket off the loader so I can get closer to the fence and it's never felt light up front. Last year I borrowed a 25hp (engine) new holland and put my 6' mower on it and that tractor could really tell it was back there! I didn't lift the mower more than a few inches if at all and needed 4x4 to steer! That tractor was tougher than I would have guest, it ran that mower well everywhere but the tall thick grass.

 

[IndyIan]

I can't drive fast enough to make my 5' one make the tractor work. I regret not getting a 6'. I also have a braber/agriease chinesium model with a 40hp gear box and it runs cool and there's nothing scary in the oil when I change it. It's no heavy duty beast but its snapped a few shear pins on dirt and has a proper round stump jumper. Its eaten 2" brush and "finish" mows my neighbors trails when I sharpen the blades. Of the light duty ones I looked at, it was the heaviest built and had the best paint, and had decent welds. If you are mostly just mowing fields and trails like me, I don't think there's any need to spend $2k on it.

 

[TJP89]

6ft is fine for a finish mower, it could probably handle 7 if you wanted, but no need. 6 would be fine for a brushog, but 7 would be really pushing it there. You don't want to go narrower than the rear width of the tires. I have 5ft brushog on my CK35 (600# homemade deal, used for $200), and no issues with power. 6ft would be pushing it, but if I got a RFM I'd go 6ft. The rule is 5 PTO HP for every 1ft of mower width, by that you're good at 6ft for both a RC and RFM. One of these days I want to dig data on recommended HP for a bunch of mowers and crunch numbers on whether that is actually a workable rule, but that's for when I have more time. For now, I just run with it.