A nephew of mine used our new Land Pride RCR1560 rotary cutter attached to our new Kubota L2501 tractor and I noticed he attached a chain to the rotary cutter to drag tree limbs further down his property. Is this OK or does this risk damaging the implement??
Attaching chain to Brush Hog to drag tree limbs???
- Thread starter Poplarvilleman
- Start date
Tropical Jack
Active member
Equipment
Kubota L3301 w/ FEL & BH, tilt and trim, chipper, box blade, grading blade
Uh, if you aren't into beating kids, just a stern talking to would suffice.
Use a shackle/ D ring on the tow bar for that sort of thing. If they aren't massive.
Use a shackle/ D ring on the tow bar for that sort of thing. If they aren't massive.
I agree with Evil Twin. Attach to the tow bar. The 3 point attachments points aren't designed for towing.
fried1765
Well-known member
Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
I would recommend keeping your nephew FAR away from your new tractor, and implements!
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Did it for decades and still do on occasion.
In decades past when I had no FEL, I would stack field stone on the back of my IMT 6' cutter to move. Sometimes hundreds of Lbs., and sometimes carried the front end of my fully weighted Ford 860. No issues.
Of course, I do use common sense.
No issues.
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Show us the 'tree limbs'. If not massive limbs....there was no harm.
Was the method your nephew used the 'best' way to do it, no.
Likely no harm was done to the implement or tractor. I am not recommending using a rotary cutter as a 'tow bar' BUT if the 'limbs' (not trunks) were a couple hundred pounds or less, no need for concern.
TELL the Lad how to do it correctly from this point forward.
Same here, still do sometimes. Keep the cutter on the ground, keep the weight of the towed object reasonable. Be SURE you are not going to 'snag' on anything along the way.
I'm not going to disconnect my shredder just to drag a few limbs/other out of the way. Obviously there are limitations.
Agreed… and never run the shredder simultaneously…. I.E., PTO should be disengaged.
Don’t injure a family relationship over this by scolding or criticising what is common useage.
A rotary mower is one of the longest implements. pulling from the back of the mower is 5+ feet from the ends of the lift arms. That imposes a lot of additional leverage on the 3 point components. Even pulling smaller branches, assuming that they are big enough that the option to move by hand was decided against, can cause damage if they catch on things as they are being pulled. Sure it can be done. Not with my equipment, though. It's lazy. If the decision is made to pull brush with a tractor, take the couple of minutes to remove the implement.
Depends on how big the "tree limbs" are.
I welded a hitch receiver to the back of my 3PH mower and move small trailers with it no problem. If you keep in your tractor specs for 3PH towing then I don't see a problem.
I also have a receiver hitch on the back of my 3PH chipper and tow a 1 yard wagon for chips.
If I can pick up the trailer tongue by hand it won't be a problem for the tractor.
I welded a hitch receiver to the back of my 3PH mower and move small trailers with it no problem. If you keep in your tractor specs for 3PH towing then I don't see a problem.
I also have a receiver hitch on the back of my 3PH chipper and tow a 1 yard wagon for chips.
If I can pick up the trailer tongue by hand it won't be a problem for the tractor.
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
I wonder how many of the 'NO !' camp would have tossed the kid the keys to their fancy new 4wd 4dr pickup to be put into tree limb hauling service ?
The nephew must have some skills otherwise he'd not been allowed on the new tractor and operate it.
The nephew must have some skills otherwise he'd not been allowed on the new tractor and operate it.
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NCL4701
Well-known member
Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
Kind of an interesting question. Unlikely the frame of your rotary cutter provides full drawbar capacity for your tractor but it is sufficient for some light pulling. Not sure it’s a “one size fits all” answer, particularly with family and someone who might use your equipment occasionally
My reaction would likely depend on the operator. If my brother did it, I wouldn’t care. I know his skill level and have great confidence if he judged the load to be light enough for that to be acceptable it was acceptable, otherwise he wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t even mention it to him at all.
If a less experienced operator but someone who respects the equipment and is still learning, my wife for example, I might have some questions and some discussion about the appropriate thought process and alternatives if their thought process needed adjustment or confirmation they got it right if their thought process and decision was good.
If it was someone who did it because it was convenient, they don’t respect the equipment, and they still don’t give a crap after a polite discussion, they wouldn’t be using my equipment in the future.
Only other thing is if you’re REALLY particular about your equipment; as in it doesn’t matter if it was a log or a twig, you do NOT ever want to see a chain scar on anything other than a shackle. If you’re that particular and you know it, I would suggest never letting anyone borrow your equipment.
My reaction would likely depend on the operator. If my brother did it, I wouldn’t care. I know his skill level and have great confidence if he judged the load to be light enough for that to be acceptable it was acceptable, otherwise he wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t even mention it to him at all.
If a less experienced operator but someone who respects the equipment and is still learning, my wife for example, I might have some questions and some discussion about the appropriate thought process and alternatives if their thought process needed adjustment or confirmation they got it right if their thought process and decision was good.
If it was someone who did it because it was convenient, they don’t respect the equipment, and they still don’t give a crap after a polite discussion, they wouldn’t be using my equipment in the future.
Only other thing is if you’re REALLY particular about your equipment; as in it doesn’t matter if it was a log or a twig, you do NOT ever want to see a chain scar on anything other than a shackle. If you’re that particular and you know it, I would suggest never letting anyone borrow your equipment.
True, but.
I almost spit out my coffee reading this, lol. Exactly how much pressure is placed on that 3pt when operating a plow/cultivator, disc, root plow, box blade etc??
Pulling tree limbs ain't gonna hurt the 3pt a damn bit.
Chain to the shredder is not ideal though, unless it's a HD old shredder and you don't care about the paint.
There was a thread here in the not too distant past, where a tractor was damaged on a trailer, when apparently it was being transported with the brush hog lifted in the air. The combination of a strap across the brush hog pulling down and a bump in the road, were probably enough to cause the top link to pull the mounting point on the transmission housing off the back of the housing.
So I would think that what the kid did was either probably OK, or definitely not OK, depending on whether the brush hog was riding on the ground, or lifted up up off the ground.
So I would think that what the kid did was either probably OK, or definitely not OK, depending on whether the brush hog was riding on the ground, or lifted up up off the ground.