Rotary Cutter Which 5' cutter to get

[iwalsh]

Hello all, my parents and I just got some land with house and buildings on it and looking to get some advice and do some research. We have owned property before and all the joys to go with it, (IE tractors and cutters, etc.)

I am trying to find out information on what type and possibly what brand(s) to get. We have 24 acres, but only about 20 of those we will be cutting with the tractor. It is relatively open grassy area, slight slopes, no saplings, major rocks or obstacles. We plan on keeping it up, meaning cutting about every other week or so. We are NOT looking at a finishing mower. We are trying to see what the recommendation should be on light duty, medium duty, or heavy duty. I know everyone has their own preference's on brand. Is there a certain brand that is the "go to" one that "you can't go wrong" with? I have seen the "Country Line" at Tractor Supply (TSC), and the price alone is attractive, at about $900. We have seen some like the "Bush-Hog" for around $2000 and higher. Is there certain things that we need to be looking for on the cutters if we look at used ones? Certain steel strengths, types of PTO's, spin rate, etc.?

I know you are wondering what type of tractor we will be using, and I know that means a lot. We are looking a New Holland TC30 (30hp) with a removable front end loader. It only has about 300hrs on it and looks basically brand new. From what I have researched on them, New Holland seem to be very good tractors. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[TripleR]

We have used everything from no name discount to Land Pride and Woods. I will now only buy Land Pride or Woods, Bush Hog is also a great cutter, but there are no good dealers in my area.

I also prefer a slip clutch to shear pin, but if you are only mowing grass a shear pin will be cheaper with no maintenance such as is required with a slip clutch.

Since you are mowing grass a light duty will be fine and will be less expensive and weigh less.

There are several old threads on here with a lot of differing opinions, so please take the time to research them if you don't get a lot of replies; lots of good info on this forum.

Good luck.

 

[Soundguy]

I think I might look at a 6' mower. using a 5' to cut 20 ac every other week.. well.. you will be devoting at least an entire day to each cut and that's a full day of doing pretty much NOTHING else, bring yer breakfast, lunch, dinner and a roll of TP with you on the tractor to save time... 6' will par that down to just a good day of mowing each..

for clean pasture all you need is a light duty mower.

I've used KK and kodiak and howse for the cheaper models.. all 3 are usually price point sellers. Note that both KK and howse that Iknow of have HD lines available as well. I also own a Howse HD mower, as well as an older Servis HD mower.

HD mowers are usefull if you are taming brush and thicket and more than the occasional thicker obstacle.. ie.. up to 2" green and flexible.. or 1" woody. A light duty will knock stuff in that range out too.. but if you feed it a steady diet of that.. it will beat it to death fast.

pasture clipping, row maintenance.. etc.. holding back the straggling invading vines at the margin of a woodsy area? light/medium duty is fine.

if you want to get into trail cutting and real continous use brush taming.. go medium / heavy duty.

a LD mower will also be easier to lift and control than a HD mower as there is less metal to lift up. A tc30 should handle a ld 6' hog style mower, just choose a gear range and ground speed that doesn't bog the engine.

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

With no real tough stuff to cut, even on the first cutting, you don't need an industrial grade mower. You're essentially just going to be mowing long grass....Just about ANY light duty cutter will "cut it".

I'm a big fan of Bush Hog brand mowers. That said, there isn't a great deal of difference in any of the light duty cutters. But there are some..... Even in light mowing conditions, the more hours you use a mower, the greater the likelyhood of damage, wear and tear....

SOME of the "high end" brands use better quality steel, smoother running gearboxes, better designs of things like the 3-point hitch components, ect.... Like the old saying...You get what you pay for. Question is, how much mower do you NEED? Chances are you'll get a good many years service out of the cheapest of mowers.

Long story short, You're in a rare position where it's very UNlikely you'll pick the wrong mower....Just find one that has a price you can live with and start mowing.

 

[leonz]

Hello all, my parents and I just got some land with house and buildings on it and looking to get some advice and do some research. We have owned property before and all the joys to go with it, (IE tractors and cutters, etc.)

I am trying to find out information on what type and possibly what brand(s) to get. We have 24 acres, but only about 20 of those we will be cutting with the tractor. It is relatively open grassy area, slight slopes, no saplings, major rocks or obstacles. We plan on keeping it up, meaning cutting about every other week or so. We are NOT looking at a finishing mower. We are trying to see what the recommendation should be on light duty, medium duty, or heavy duty. I know everyone has their own preference's on brand. Is there a certain brand that is the "go to" one that "you can't go wrong" with? I have seen the "Country Line" at Tractor Supply (TSC), and the price alone is attractive, at about $900. We have seen some like the "Bush-Hog" for around $2000 and higher. Is there certain things that we need to be looking for on the cutters if we look at used ones? Certain steel strengths, types of PTO's, spin rate, etc.?

I know you are wondering what type of tractor we will be using, and I know that means a lot. We are looking a New Holland TC30 (30hp) with a removable front end loader. It only has about 300hrs on it and looks basically brand new. From what I have researched on them, New Holland seem to be very good tractors. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

The issue involves your budget for the tractor
and the mower that is the issue.






The biggest worries about used rotary cutters are:
1. the welds and their condition.
2. metal fatigue from flexing/twisting/racking.
3. the gearbox and the condition of the right angle gearing
and the amount of existing gear backlash which should
be zero in any case.
4. metal fragments in the gear oil.
5. the oil seals.
6. the condition of the Propeller shaft halves, the yokes
and the plastic guards surrounding the shafts and yokes.
7. is there a retainer chain for the yoke guard or guards?

A rotary cutter brush mower operates at 540 R.P.M.,
with a right angle gear box.


A flailmower operates at a much higher speed of cut due to
V belt driveincreasing the speed of the flail mowers rotor which
carries the grass slicers.


A rotary cutter will throw anything it impacts for long distances at very high speeds.

A rotary cutter also is very noisy in use and will throw debris it impacts
forward while mowing and to the rear.


A rotary cutter will lose a cutter blade if the implement is not examined
prior to use or after it is used for loose parts/wear of blade mounting
holes/ cracked cutter blades.


If you purchase a rotary cutter you need to purchase a rotary cutter with rubber flaps or safety chains over the entry and discharge ends of the mower.


A flail mower will not throw anything it impacts as the flail mowers
rotor will ride up and over the object and the object may become stuck
under the flailmowers shroud and will need to be removed.



A flail mower can be used for finish mowing and brush mowing with
no modification other than adjusting position of the rear roller
which is used to carry the flailmower on the ground as it mows.


A flailmower set at its maximum height adjustment
which is the lowest mounting position on the flail mower frame
will shred all the brush it encounted into very tiny pieces and
it will degrade to compost quickly.


A flailmower has more measurable cutting edge exposed to the
brush or grass it is slicing than a rotary cutter. this added to the
high speed of rotation for the flail mower rotor allows it to slice
and shred brush quickly with very low noise levels.



The typically "recommended" horsepower is five
horse power per foot. This is well debated issue here
on the forum.


The above horsepower rating will be affected by the
amount of brush and its thickness which will require
you to slow to a crawl in some cases.


Mowing after a winter kill frost eliminates a lot of
the above issue as the vegetation has little to no
moisture in the stalks and low brush.


You need enough power to run the tractor and the
mower both.

Mowing in a spiral pattern from a property centered
location saves on fuel, braking and time, as you do
not have to stop and turn around.


_________________________________________________________________
Once you go flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:

 

[Soundguy]

i am so not a fan of flail mowers..

aside fromthe fact that you can get an offset flail mower way easier than an offset .. we've had em at work, and got rid of them and used rotary..

rubber or chain guards are easy to make / install...

soundguy

 

[creekbend]

Rest assured that all the previous members have given sound advice. As previously stated, be sure to check all the forums on TBN. The only thing that I would add is that you should take into consideration that the TC30 has only 25.5 PTO HP. Just a thought.:tractor:

 

[creekbend]

Rest assured that all the previous members have given sound advice. As previously stated, be sure to check all the forums on TBN. The only thing that I would add is that you should take into consideration that the TC30 has only 25.5 PTO HP. Just a thought.:tractor:

And if it has HST, it will probably have 1-- one less PTP HP.

 

[iwalsh]

Thank everyone so far. To Creekbend I did notice that the PTO is only 25hp and that is one reason why I listed the tractor we were most likely going to get at this point. I have already started looking at different post's to help with my questions, and with that I still had some so I figured I would ask directly what I needed. So far it is starting to sound like a regular/light duty will do the job. We thought about a 6' but for the tractor we are wanting we think it might be pushing it slightly, maybe if we go with a bigger tractor. As far as taking all day to cut it, 2 good things that we have going is that it is sectioned into 3 different areas by fence's and also my parents look at it as "their relaxing time", so I say have at it.

 

[greg_g]

Based upon my own experience, I'm going to respectfully suggest that a 30hp HST New Holland isn't enough tractor for 20 acres, especially if there's any hillside work involved. I have 30 acres, about half of them in pasture. I thought a 25hp 4wd geared tractor would be about right for pasture maintenance. Not so, the hills (and gear spacing) were its downfall. I traded up to a 45hp 4wd geared tractor and never looked back. Later I added a 35hp 4wd geared tractor to the stable, but it too wasn't up to some of the taskings. In the end, it's the 45hp that turned out to be the real workhorse.

If your pasture grass thin AND you top it off faithfully - you might consider a heavy duty finish mower. I had an 84" First Choice (GM35-84) that did a super job. Bought it 2nd hand for $1000. The heat treated blades would slice through 1" saplings and woody stems like they weren't there. I set the gauge wheels up at the highest (6") height and set my ground speed as fast as my butt would tolerate the bumps. That said I think the 900 pound GM35-84 might be a bit heavy for a 30hp New Holland (unless you mow with the front loader mounted).

And to add evidence to what Leonz posted, I also have a 74" Ford 917H flail that would do what you ask too. But even though it's as heavy, the swath is obviously 10" less than the GM35-84. And equivalent flails have a much higher initial purchase price. When all else fails, I bring out the Kodiak MD60 rotary cutter. It's tough, has a slip clutch, hasn't met much it couldn't tear apart - but as others have pointed out, it can't do more than five feet at a time. And you may find you have to overlap swaths too, as deck suction on the first pass often isn't enough to pull back up what you just leveled with your tractor tires.

//greg//

 

[RoyJackson]

Based upon my own experience, I'm going to respectfully suggest that a 30hp HST New Holland isn't enough tractor for 20 acres, especially if there's any hillside work involved.
greg//

Although I agree that the TC-30 or similarly sized tractor is small for 30 acres, it's possible that's what iwalsh and family can best afford.

However, I would suggest they look for an older full sized utility tractor in 2WD instead. One of our TBN members, Sound Guy, is very knowledgeable about the older Fords/New Hollands and he would be a great source of information.
There's a downside to that, of course. A larger tractor will require larger implements...but on 30 acres, a 10' cutter would be advantageous.
Personally, in iwalsh's situation, I don't see any advantage to a flail mower especially considering the higher initial cost and more maintenance involved.

It's really going to depend on their budget.

Back to the TC-30....iwalsh, do a search on TBN for this tractor. There was a rash of them breaking the main engine or transmission castings when equipped with a loader. Not being a big NH fan, I didn't follow these threads but it is something you should be aware of...

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm in the commercial mowing business and have had the luxury of demoing some of the most expensive, top-of-the-line flail mowers available, as well as using them right along side of some mid level (as well as upper end) rotary mowers IN THE SAME CONDITIONS....Plan WAS to market my business with the "alleged advantages" of flail mowers....I tried 'em and I sent 'em back with a thanks but no thanks note attached. They're HIGHLY over-rated......

Flails are higher initial cost, slower in terms of acres per hour due to slow ground speeds they're limited to, MUCH higher in terms of maintenance cost (and TIME) and require quite a bit more hp if you have any hopes of equalling acres of productivity per ft.(ie bigger MORE EXPENSIVE tractor to do the same job. OR...go ridiculously slow in heavy grass/weeds.) ...Flails don't give you the flexibility of uses that a rotary cutter will. (Varying condition require various knives....Rotary mowers need but one blade type. BTDT, gave up on the flail mowers....The simple fact that a flail mower has hundreds of moving parts compared to just a few on a rotary cutter is self explanitory as far as maintenance time/cost...Not to mention flails are far more susceptible to damage in anything less than ideal conditions.

After side by side comparison (over several WEEKS) if I had to hang a percentage value on them, it was my finding that a flail mower is probably 50% to 60% more INefficent in terms of acres per hour. If you're already looking at a tractor that is "marginally productive" with a rotary cutter, expect to grow very tired of mowing with a flail behind the same tractor...If you have nothing but time on your hands, and want to find a rationalization for spending hours upon hours on the tractor.....There ya go!

A well maintained rotary cutter will give you great results, cut more ground in the same amount of time, and do so at a much lower cost.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I cut about 4 acres of moderate hilly ground with a 34 HP engine 29 HP PTO Kubota 4wd geared tractor. The cutter is a 6' Kodiak light duty. I only cut about 4 times a year so it gets pretty wooly at times. I bog down sometimes with that setup so I am probably on the edge of needing a little larger tractor, but it's not enough of a problem to cause me any major concerns. Just a point of reference for you in considering the equipment to buy.

 

[beppington]

I'm in the commercial mowing business and have had the luxury of demoing some of the most expensive, top-of-the-line flail mowers available, as well as using them right along side of some mid level (as well as upper end) rotary mowers IN THE SAME CONDITIONS....Plan WAS to market my business with the "alleged advantages" of flail mowers....I tried 'em and I sent 'em back with a thanks but no thanks note attached. They're HIGHLY over-rated......

Flails are higher initial cost, slower in terms of acres per hour due to slow ground speeds they're limited to, MUCH higher in terms of maintenance cost (and TIME) and require quite a bit more hp if you have any hopes of equalling acres of productivity per ft.(ie bigger MORE EXPENSIVE tractor to do the same job. OR...go ridiculously slow in heavy grass/weeds.) ...Flails don't give you the flexibility of uses that a rotary cutter will. (Varying condition require various knives....Rotary mowers need but one blade type. BTDT, gave up on the flail mowers....The simple fact that a flail mower has hundreds of moving parts compared to just a few on a rotary cutter is self explanitory as far as maintenance time/cost...Not to mention flails are far more susceptible to damage in anything less than ideal conditions.

After side by side comparison (over several WEEKS) if I had to hang a percentage value on them, it was my finding that a flail mower is probably 50% to 60% more INefficent in terms of acres per hour. If you're already looking at a tractor that is "marginally productive" with a rotary cutter, expect to grow very tired of mowing with a flail behind the same tractor...If you have nothing but time on your hands, and want to find a rationalization for spending hours upon hours on the tractor.....There ya go!

Boy you really hate flail mowers! Actually, you're the only person on TBN I can recall that does seem to actually hate them! I like rotary cutters just fine for their suited purpose, but just so nobody comes along & reads only your anti-flail post, I'll respond below with the comparable pro's of a flail mower ...

A well maintained rotary cutter will give you great results, cut more ground in the same amount of time, and do so at a much lower cost.

All true, but compared to a flail mower it will also provide a rougher quality cut, potentially throw large objects out from under the deck possibly damaging something or someone, occasionally gouge your turf, & extend further off the back of your tractor for lesser maneuverability. A flail mower will result in a very-near-finish-mower cut quality; The buyer needs to decide whether that's needed. If you're mowing an entire acre or more where people aren't standing on or amongst the actual "lawn", a rotary cutter can make a lawn-looking result from a distance. Close up, though, the flail mower cut is very close to a finish mower.

 

[Soundguy]

Boy you really hate flail mowers! Actually, you're the only person on TBN I can recall that does seem to actually hate them! I.

As I stated earlier.. I'mnot fond of them either. The co I work for, while not int he commercial mowing business, does tend to have to do alot of mowing on ROW for road jobs, or when doing DRA maintenance.

We ALSO demo'd, and even used flail and offset flail mowers a bit.

as FWJ said. highher initial cost, higher maint cost.. more parts to fix / replace.. and let me tell you.. if you think hitting a discarded tire is a teeth rattling affair on a rotary cutter.. hit it with a flail.. at least on the rotary cutter you might just pop a shear pin or slip the clutch, scare the bajeebers out of you and/or leave a blunt ont he blade to file out. In the flail.. you might be left make a strip where it ain't cutting..

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Although I agree that the TC-30 or similarly sized tractor is small for 30 acres, it's possible that's what iwalsh and family can best afford.

However, I would suggest they look for an older full sized utility tractor in 2WD instead. One of our TBN members, Sound Guy, is very knowledgeable about the older Fords/New Hollands and he would be a great source of information.
There's a downside to that, of course. A larger tractor will require larger implements...but on 30 acres, a 10' cutter would be advantageous...........

It's really going to depend on their budget.

As cheap.. er affordable as some antiques and classics are, it's possible he may be able to swing a nice ford in the 8XX series.. or a MF in the 35/135/++ series.

good machines.. generally low priced. I've seen units in the 2500$ range that need cosmetic help and a wrech passed over them.. but are otherwise ready to mow pasture.

all depends on budget.

IMHO.. to get into a 10' cutter.. he'd really need to go bigger.. like 50-70hp. I pull a 10' mower with a ford 5000 Had entertained the idea of using the 4600 with it. while the 4600 will spin it up.. it's way too heavy and big, and I have a feeling it's a bit abusive tot he pto clutch pack too..

a machine in the price range to run a 10' mower is likely going to be in the 5000-8000$ range.. not to mention a 10' mower, new is going to be 2600$+and probably closer to 3400$ for anything half way decent. that's getting into real extra money there.

Guys like me don't mind buying a 1200$ batwing mower, fixing it.. a 4000$ tractor, fixing it, and then running them.. but for some people.. it is not their cup of tea.

still.. if that's what the op wants to do.. there are plenty here to help.. some of us.. like FWJ and too many others to name could sure help him with the old iron mongering.

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

WWhile I'm sure it happens. In my local area I can't recall a single mower blade related death resulting from a rotary cutter blae flying off, in any kind of recent history.

Course... most guys here use chain, rubber, or solid metal guards too.

soundguy

 

[leonz]

The arbor of a rotary cutter outfitted for 540 rpm
using a 22 tooth reduction to a 15 tooth final drive creates
792 Revolutions Per Minute which creates a horizontal
blade tip speed of:

170 miles per hour which equals
897,600 feet per hour
14,960 per minute
249.33 feet per second at impact

At impact the cutter blade may fold back slightly while
rotating and as the prime mover advances the blade
even though folding back may still propel the object
out from under the mower deck before it finishes rotating
or shears a pin or the Eurocardan clutch slips.


Alamo could make a much more efficient rough work flail mower
using a flail mower rotor with a larger outside diameter but they
will not since they have no competition after they "In my opinion"
destroyed the Mott Mower Company.

 

[Soundguy]

If they were mankillers as bad as you are making them out. county maintenance wouldn't have a fleet of them. too much liability.

a piece of popcorn can kill you. lets not get out of perspective here.

ANYTHING CAN kill you.

soundguy