Rotary cutter..what to expect?

biggziff · Jul 14, 2019

Did my first work with the Kioti RC1060 rotary cutter tonight. Field with grass 3-6' tall. Hasn't been cut in several years. After cutting it, the center of each pass I mowed had standing grass, etc. Is that normal for taller field grass (upstate NY)

I mowed with RPMS around 2200 in medium range (HST trans) and maybe 3-5 MPH. Mower never bogged down, level field with no obstructions in it.

Thanks

suburbanfarmer · Jul 14, 2019

Need to go slower when its that high.

biggziff · Jul 14, 2019

suburbanfarmer said:
Need to go slower when its that high.

Slower than 3 MPH?

jeff9366 · Jul 14, 2019

biggziff said:
Did my first work with the Kioti RC1060 rotary cutter tonight.
Field with grass 3-6' tall. Hasn't been cut in several years.
After cutting it, the center of each pass I mowed had standing grass, etc. Is that normal for taller field grass (upstate NY)

I mowed with RPMS around 2200 in medium range (HST trans) and maybe 3-5 MPH.
Mower never bogged down, level field with no obstructions in it.

"Field with grass 3-6' tall. Hasn't been cut in several years." You were mowing in extreme conditions. Likely there was some tree sprouts in the field after several years.

1) Shorten Three Point Hitch TOP LINK somewhat, so rear of mower is a 1-1/2" to 2" higher off the ground, allowing heavy load of grass cut by front of mower to exhaust out the rear more easily.
R/C tail wheel should still be in rolling contact with the field so you do not pound the R/C mast nor tractor Three Point Hitch unnecessarily.

Some grass was probably churning under the mower deck, slowing the blades.

Some churning grass may have been plastered against the sharp cutting edges, giving equivalent of dull blades.

2) Take a 50% overlap, rather than a 90% overlap. With a 50% overlap you will not be cutting at the center of the mower where blades are moving slowest. (In dry 24" tall grass you can take a full bite.)

3) Mow in HST/LOW rather than HST/MED. Blades will revolve more times per foot of ground covered.
I have mowed long pasture grass at 1-3/4 mph in HST/LOW.

Rain wet or dew wet grass is much harder to cut evenly than dry grass.

DieselBound · Jul 15, 2019

As Jeff suggests above, the rear of the mower needs to bet set up high enough that the cut material can eject. I can move along pretty good set down to 6 1/2" with my NX running a 6' BH, with grass up to 4' or so.

Depends a lot on the density of the grass. I mowed some of my neighbor's grass and it was as much as my B7800 running its 5' BH could do. I was doing some repairs on my NX, in which case it wasn't available at the time: it was kind of an emergency job. Made me really appreciate the cab on my NX (in addition to the power).

I once measured a stalk of canary reed grass here at 10 1/2'! Canary Reed grass. Everything grows like crazy here.

4570Man · Jul 15, 2019

jeff9366 said:
"Field with grass 3-6' tall. Hasn't been cut in several years." You were mowing in extreme conditions. Likely there was some tree sprouts in the field after several years.

1) Shorten Three Point Hitch TOP LINK somewhat, so rear of mower is a 1-1/2" to 2" higher off the ground, allowing heavy load of grass cut by front of mower to exhaust out the rear more easily.
R/C tail wheel should still be in rolling contact with the field so you do not pound the R/C mast nor tractor Three Point Hitch unnecessarily.

Some grass was probably churning under the mower deck, slowing the blades.

Some churning grass may have been plastered against the sharp cutting edges, giving equivalent of dull blades.

2) Take a 50% overlap, rather than a 90% overlap. With a 50% overlap you will not be cutting at the center of the mower where blades are moving slowest. (In dry 24" tall grass you can take a full bite.)

3) Mow in HST/LOW rather than HST/MED. Blades will revolve more times per foot of ground covered.
I have mowed long pasture grass at 1-3/4 mph in HST/LOW.

Rain wet or dew wet grass is much harder to cut evenly than dry grass.

That might be a solid plan on level ground but I usually remove the top link when mowing because it’s prone to pulling the back of the mower off the ground and causing a lousy cut. I have much better luck when the tail wheel is riding on the ground. I think cutting twice is the only way to make something that bad look decent.

biggziff · Jul 15, 2019

jeff9366 said:
"Field with grass 3-6' tall. Hasn't been cut in several years." You were mowing in extreme conditions. Likely there was some tree sprouts in the field after several years.

1) Shorten Three Point Hitch TOP LINK somewhat, so rear of mower is a 1-1/2" to 2" higher off the ground, allowing heavy load of grass cut by front of mower to exhaust out the rear more easily.
R/C tail wheel should still be in rolling contact with the field so you do not pound the R/C mast nor tractor Three Point Hitch unnecessarily.

Some grass was probably churning under the mower deck, slowing the blades.

Some churning grass may have been plastered against the sharp cutting edges, giving equivalent of dull blades.

2) Take a 50% overlap, rather than a 90% overlap. With a 50% overlap you will not be cutting at the center of the mower where blades are moving slowest. (In dry 24" tall grass you can take a full bite.)

3) Mow in HST/LOW rather than HST/MED. Blades will revolve more times per foot of ground covered.
I have mowed long pasture grass at 1-3/4 mph in HST/LOW.

Rain wet or dew wet grass is much harder to cut evenly than dry grass.

Thanks for the info. This field was bone dry, cutting in late afternoon sun. I had the rear wheel set so the mower deck was pitched 1-1.5" to the front (I read this was best for heavy cutting) I was in medium HST. Sounds like under these conditions, this is about what I can expect for results.

I appreciate all the help.

biggziff · Jul 15, 2019

You can see in the pics how tall the grass/weeds were. That red chair was marking the first in a line of 5' Ash fence posts.

One thing I was impressed with is the power this machine produces. I have been using a friends new Kubota L3650 with a 60" landpride cutter on much shorter grass/weeds and it often bogs down. Not this thing!