Question about bush hog size

[paulBurns]

I have a YM3110 36 HP. 2 wheel drive, hydrotransmission with 12 fwd ranges, I am going to buy a rotary cutter (bush hog) next week. I will be cutting hilly land with heavy grasses and weeds. It is only cut once a year.
Question-----standard or heavy duty cutter
---------------5 ft or 6 ft width
I understand that I will need to add about 300 lb. of weight to the front end of the tractor. What is the max weight of bush hog I can safely use.

 

[bebster]

I would think that you could drive the heavy duty 6' model with the HP you have. But if it were me, and just cutting grass/weeds once a year, I'd save the money and go with the light duty model. It's lighter, and will need less weight on the front to balance it -- that could be an advantage on hills.

I have a medium-duty 5' on my JD 4410 (35HP) and it works fine, but then I am clearly deep brush with it and it takes a beating.

 

[Slamfire]

It is a pretty good idea not to have a rotary cutter much wider than the rear wheel tread width of your tractor. I struggled along for years pulling a 6' mower, until it died. Then I went to a 5' mower and can get into areas I couldn't reach before.

 

[bebster]

On the other hand, I'd stay away from a 4' wide rotary cutter for most sized tractors, since you can't get them close to the edge of anything, since most tractors are wider than the cutter. And that's usually what you want to cut much of the time.

 

[JerryG]

Paul,
If the land is hilly and you are not going to mow it that often, get a 5'. The 6' one will be harder on the hills to drag around. It will also, bog the engine if the material your cutting is only done once or twice a year. Heavy grass is one of the most power robbing things that you can cut. Bermuda grass is the worst that I cut.

 

[bebster]

Another consideration for getting a smaller cutter on hilly terrain is that it follows the contours better. Plus you are using more of your available HP sometimes going up a hill leaving less available to power a big cutter. Don't get me wrong, I think the big cutters are great for larger level fields.

 

[RonR]

I\'d go 6 ft

We don't have hills, but for versatility, I'd suggest you could always gear down and let the 6 ft handle it when it's heavy, and gear up for lighter cutting.

With a smaller mower, you couldn't gear up enough to cut in light stuff to cut well.


My two cents.

Ron

 

[chim]

Nothing to add, just bugs me to see the title of a topic in the index change to another name when going to it.....................chim

 

[DavidJ]

And I thought I was the only one that it bothered /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[chim]

Nope.................chim

 

[RonR]

I'll stop doing it.

I thought it would aid in people deciding if they wanted to read my post or not by the subject line. If the subject line doesn't indicate the intent of the response, seems to me you have to read more than necessary to see if you are interested. Just like this post, it has nothing to do with mowing, so I've wasted some people's time.

I'm on a sailboat BB and that's the standard practice there to change the subject line.

Apparently, that's not cool here, so I'll quit it.

Thanks for pointing it out; it's the first I've read about it. I don't want to start a meta-discussion about it, so I won't respond for or against this ever again.

Ron

 

[Gatorboy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I thought it would aid in people deciding if they wanted to read my post or not by the subject line. )</font>

Seeing that a large number users view posts in the past X hours View -- The title "I'd Go with 6 Ft" looks like it was from a BRAND NEW thread-- especially since there wasn't even a Re: on the subject line.

If everyone viewed in Threaded View then most likely this would not be an issue. I suspect your BB uses the threaded view exclusively.

 

[Soundguy]

You've got enought hp to do 6'.

My NH 1920 will pull a 6' but I bought a 5' so my other tractors can pull it.. Now I wish I would have gotten the 6'.. as I ONLY mow with the NH.. and would cut some of the time off my 13ac flat mowing.

I would go with a lighter/medium duty model. Like KK. I've used both my neighbors NH brand 59X rotary cutter which is nice and beefy.. and like my cheaper KK just as much.

Soundguy

 

[paulBurns]

I asked for help on sizing and I got it. Thanks a lot to each of you for the help. In the morning I will be going and getting a five footer in a med to light weight, unless the dealer changes my mind.