Rotary cutter for M7040?

[canoetrpr]

Verticaltrx, thanks. I guess that provides some more perspective. My L3400 about 60 hrs of use per year. That's it! I'm golden if I'm doing what I need to do with a machine to ensure it lasts two or three of thousands of hours. Then I'll be dead!

So far I simply haven't found a decent reason other than saving fuel to go with a smaller machine for practically the same price. That and the luxury of HST. The M is sensible in every other way.

 

[TripleR]

rjkobbeman has something very similar to your proposed set up:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-buying-pricing/174697-wait-almost-over.html

 

[gwdixon]

Another factor may be the knowledge that a 6' mower behind a M7040 will not cover the tire track (unless it is the "narrow" M7040 model).

Lots of manufacturers make a 7', single blade (single gearbox) rotary cutter. It would seem to be the ideal solution for what you want. Just remember that they are rather long and bulky.

 

[slowzuki]

I've never had a bushhog / tractor combo that covered the tire tracks. Other than being faster, there is no real reason for it. As I said, offseting the hitch gets you tight to a fence if you need.

It is a big annoying though as you can get yourself pinned against the fence if your front tires are even with the rears and the mower, and on a downhill slope towards the fence. In that case I don't bother swinging the mower all the way tight to the fence.

 

[slowzuki]

Clipping pasture doesn't need a 65-75 hp gearbox. Takes maybe 5 hp tops. Sure the heavy gearbox is nice if you're going to use it for rough cut mowing brush on a big tractor but otherwise is just extra cost.

Just get one with at least a 65-75hp gear box and don't worry about it.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Clipping pasture doesn't need a 65-75 hp gearbox. Takes maybe 5 hp tops. Sure the heavy gearbox is nice if you're going to use it for rough cut mowing brush on a big tractor but otherwise is just extra cost.

I agree, but you have to be pretty careful with the lighter duty units. I put my little light duty 5' cutter (40hp gear box, shear pin) behind our 65hp 2550 JD once and it didn't work well. The tractor was so powerful that if you got into really tough grass too fast it would just snap the shear bolt. I'm sure if it had a clutch it would have fried it too. The other problem is they are generally so light duty that behind a 8-10K lb tractor you can bend stuff up easy if you aren't careful. That said, there are some 'economy' minded cutters that are cheaper than Landpride/Woods, but still have a 75hp gear box and are better quality than what you get at TSC.

 

[canoetrpr]

I've never had a bushhog / tractor combo that covered the tire tracks. Other than being faster, there is no real reason for it. As I said, offseting the hitch gets you tight to a fence if you need.

This might be a silly question but how does one go about offsetting the hitch? I'm going to feel silly if this is is a trick that I should have been doing all along with my current rig which has a 5' cutter and 5' tire width.

 

[canoetrpr]

rjkobbeman has something very similar to your proposed set up:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-buying-pricing/174697-wait-almost-over.html

Do you know if those are wheel weights that he has on his wheels?

 

[canoetrpr]

I agree, but you have to be pretty careful with the lighter duty units. I put my little light duty 5' cutter (40hp gear box, shear pin) behind our 65hp 2550 JD once and it didn't work well. The tractor was so powerful that if you got into really tough grass too fast it would just snap the shear bolt. I'm sure if it had a clutch it would have fried it too. The other problem is they are generally so light duty that behind a 8-10K lb tractor you can bend stuff up easy if you aren't careful. That said, there are some 'economy' minded cutters that are cheaper than Landpride/Woods, but still have a 75hp gear box and are better quality than what you get at TSC.

The LandPride RCR1872 I had in mind has a 65 hp gearbox. Just enough so that it is above the 62 PTO hp of the M7040. Typically I like a bit more margin of safety but given what my pasture is like I suspect that only a 5% margin of safety is fine.

What were the other economy minded cutters you had in mind.

 

[crazyal]

Is the 7040 a cat 1 or a cat 2 3pt hitch? Just curious.

I'm not sure I would worry about loading of the engine being too light. My Case BH never even comes close to loading the engine. The pressure relief kicks in long before any real loading of the engine occurs as long as the motor is running more than 1500 rpm. Anything more than 1800 is just a pointless waste of diesel.