Rotary cutter mess

[ejb]

Is it just me or do rotary cutters do a terrible job of cutting grass? Last year I cut most of my 30+ acres of fields with a 2WD Yanmar, turf tires, with a 60inch Woods belly mower. After spending upwards of 15 hours a week and countless mishaps (i.e. getting the machine stuck on a rock or in the mud), I really felt I was going to kill the machine, or at least put in need of major repairs.

SO I decided to buy an additional machine, a big one (JD 5410) and a 7 foot rotary cutter (also JD, a 717). I am not sure if it is operator error or what, but instead of getting nice trim looking fields, I am getting ruts where the tractor digs in, the cutter digs in or both....I didn't expect the JD to do finish mowing, but it seems like I must be doing something wrong?? or is that just what big rotary cutters do??

My land is not particulary flat and the fields are not particularly square, and it seems that the JD really makes a mess when I need to turn, which is often, or when the ground is uneven...

Thoughts anyone?? Maybe their really is such a thing as too big a tractor?

(I also have another 145 acres of woodland and a very long driveway, wich is why I went with the bigger machine in the first place).

 

[dellaratta]

It's a tough call. We would often swap out our 5' Woods under-belly mower and hook up a 5' Bush Hog for our larger fields when they got away from us, and the difference in quality was glaring. We also would create a number of problems for ourselves in the swapping-out process, through less-than-perfect installations. I don;t feel that rear-mounted rotary mowers save a significant amount of time--invariably you've got to go back for finish work and getting into the corners the bush hog can't reach.

Have you thought about reels? If your fields are clear of rocks, they may be a solution, and in addition you won't need alot of tractor to pull them. We've got an old set from a golf course we've tinkered with--the blades just need sharpening. The thing of it is you've got to stay very on-top of any growth. If the grass is too high it clogs the reels and at that point you're just a contestant in a one-man tractor pull.

 

[W5FL]

I have the same size tractor, except it is the Kubota M6800SD and use a six foot medium duty Bush Hog rotary cutter. It has uplift blades, they are sharp, and the front and rear are set to work at 1 inch clearance to the ground. This gives a mulching action and keeps the blades over the cut area the maximum amount of time. Uses more HP, but we don't care since we have plenty of reserve.

The cut is very nice. It is possible to dig in with the sides if you just drop the front end and let it run on the skids, but the 3 point should hold the mower nicely from 1 to 2 inches off the dirt and give you a nice cut. I would not cut my tiff bermuda small front lawn with it since it gets cut so short, but all my other grass gets mowed with the rotary cutter. A belly mower would be a disaster on my place with rocks, uneven terrain, and an occassional piece of steel that the mower hits. A reel mower would be trashed pretty quickly here.

Don't get me wrong, this is pretty clean, flat pasture, but it has it's share of things that can tear up a finish mower.

 

[roysallis]

My JD5210 with a MX6 rotary cutter was digging in also until I got it adjusted right. I had the front and rear level but found out that the front should be 1 or 2 inches higher that the rear. After adjusting the upper link it now does much better.

 

[Alan L.]

My manual says to set the front of my Rhino 5' cutter 3/4" lower than the rear. I do have some of the problem of the leading edge of the sides of the deck gouging into the ground some, but the cut is really pretty nice looking.

 

[W5FL]

The only thing the upper link should be set as long as possible to allow the rear wheel to be picked up a few inches off the ground. The rear should be adjusted with the rear wheel and the front with the three point lower arm position. Yes, setting it an inch or two higher than the rear gives a good mulching action and takes more HP to run (you have plenty anyway)./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Billc]

ejb, I've the same problem you have. I pull a 6' heavy duty Bush Hog rotary cutter. The front is set about 2" lower than the rear. My land slopes front to back and side to side and everything in between, lots of little dips and rises. Never have found a way to keep from bottoming out in places except to learn those places and adjust as I go over them. My hand stays on the 3 point height adjustment and I'm always working it. I dream of big, flat, square, unrocky pastures at night.

Do think I will try to raise the front and lower the rear next time I mow.

 

[PaulB]

OK guys, how about a lesson in rotary mowers 101 for me. The rear of the machine I see adjusts with the rear wheel, which has a subframe that bolts on higher or lower on the deck. The front end I assume I adjust with my 3 point, right? I don't know about the 3 point, but I do know that the front loader will slowly sag to the ground if I leave the tractor off or even at idle. I do not know if the loader would sag with the tractor at higher rpm - never tried it. Will the 3 point stay set to the position i want once it is set, or am I going to constantly have to readjust it to compensate for hydraulic letdown (and no Bill I don't mean the sort of "Hydraulic letdown" you are taking Viagra for). My tractor does have position control if that makes a difference.

 

[ejb]

Well I have made some adjustments (leveling the cutter) and have started to get into the habit of lifiting the cutter and slowing down whenever I turn, so that it helping a bit...when the land starts to try out that should help as well...if this darn rain would ever stop....a little more practive and a few more adjustments may help even more.

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[gerard]

I rigged up a set of "check chains" using some 1/4 inch cable and a turnbuckle. It runs from the two bottom link pins on the bush hog to a top link pin on the tractor. This way I just have to let the 3 pt all the way down and don't have to worry about it either sinking on it's own or going too low. The turnbuckle makes for easy height adjustment and I no longer have the skids digging in.