Rotary Cutter

[Mbj3]

Hi
Newbie here, I just bought a used B26. I need to do some mowing of tall weeds (like 6 ft plus) on an acre. I'm looking for a rotary cutter. I'm just a home user, so I don't need something super commercial grade. I'm looking at my local Cal Ranch.. they have a 5 foot cutter made by TARTAR I think for $1200... any other brands I should consider in that price range?

 

[Fordtech86]

Hi
Newbie here, I just bought a used B26. I need to do some mowing of tall weeds (like 6 ft plus) on an acre. I'm looking for a rotary cutter. I'm just a home user, so I don't need something super commercial grade. I'm looking at my local Cal Ranch.. they have a 5 foot cutter made by TARTAR I think for $1200... any other brands I should consider in that price range?

5 foot may be a little much for that tractor, especially mowing that tall of grass. Probably should be looking in the 4 foot range.

I’m just going off a quick search of hp for that machine and it showing 19 pto hp.

 

[Russell King]

You may want to look at flail mowers instead of rotary.
You can get a better cut without the windrows


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Mbj3]

5 foot may be a little much for that tractor, especially mowing that tall of grass. Probably should be looking in the 4 foot range.

I***8217;m just going off a quick search of hp for that machine and it showing 19 pto hp.

I just read you want 5 pto HP per foot of rotary cutter...so 4' cutter approx 20 pto HP 5' cutter 25 pto HP..so maybe your right. I also read it can depend on the cutter itself...heavier duty cutter blades 1/2" thick or more (heavier blades) take more pto HP to move

 

[Fordtech86]

I just read you want 5 pto HP per foot of rotary cutter...so 4' cutter approx 20 pto HP 5' cutter 25 pto HP

I know my L with the 5 ft bush hog would catch hell in 6 ft grass, I’ve mowed vines and brush taller then that with it but it’s very slow going and taking half passes when it’s really tall and thick

 

[SDT]

Hi
Newbie here, I just bought a used B26. I need to do some mowing of tall weeds (like 6 ft plus) on an acre. I'm looking for a rotary cutter. I'm just a home user, so I don't need something super commercial grade. I'm looking at my local Cal Ranch.. they have a 5 foot cutter made by TARTAR I think for $1200... any other brands I should consider in that price range?

Too wide and too heavy.

Get a 4'.

SDT

 

[Redlands]

Sure is nice when the attachment is the same width as the tractor rear tires.

You might have to mow half a row at a time the first time you mow. After that you would probably not let it get to thick ?

The 5 hp per foot does seem to be a nice rule of thumb.

 

[dirtydeed]

I just read you want 5 pto HP per foot of rotary cutter...so 4' cutter approx 20 pto HP 5' cutter 25 pto HP..so maybe your right. I also read it can depend on the cutter itself...heavier duty cutter blades 1/2" thick or more (heavier blades) take more pto HP to move

Here's a video of a B26 mowing 3 foot grass with a 62" flail mower....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZophehpnkc

I'm using a 53" flail on mine. 6 foot tall grass would be slow going for the first cut. After that, no problem.

 

[B737]

i never thought a rotary cutter and flail mower could be used interchangeably. How does a flail mower do in the woods against little saplings and stuff?

i just bought a little 42" Land Pride (RCR1242) for my BX. How do Flail mowers compare to a rotary?

 

[dirtydeed]

i never thought a rotary cutter and flail mower could be used interchangeably. How does a flail mower do in the woods against little saplings and stuff?

i just bought a little 42" Land Pride (RCR1242) for my BX. How do Flail mowers compare to a rotary?

Flail mowers do a great job job on saplings...as in, they pulverize them into mulch. Depending on the grade of flail mower, they can do up to 2-3" saplings with hammer blades.

I have a set of hammers on mine and they also do a fine job on grass.

There are lots of youtube videos comparing the mower types. Flail mowers have a rear discharge so they tend to distribute the cuttings evenly out the back. They are much shorter so they don't swing around in turns. However, you can only cut going forward with a flail mower, otherwise material tends to wrap on the drum. So, if you need to reach far under trees, a rotary would work better.

Many flail mowers have an adjustable offset, so you can have one side of the mower stick out beyond the rear tire for mowing ditches or around ponds, edge of roadway.

 

[Cathy Liebchen]

Tartar is a light duty mower. B26 needs a 48" cutter maximum.

If you are just cutting high weeds, you can do it with a light duty rotary cutter, but it will take a while. if its a lot if woody stuff, get someone to clear it with a forestry mulcher on a skid steerer and then you can easily deal with it more often once it grows back to a foot or so

Our L3901 with a 5 foot mower will plow through 8 foot maple saplings but it is a slow process

I think of a flail mower as a pasture thing but don't have any first hand knowledge of them- no one out here has one that I can see other than ALDOT.

A quality Flail mower is more expensive than a rotary cutter to buy and costly to replace the knives.

We do need the ability to back over mow things and under trees along the fence lines as well which a flail wont do

 

[dirtydeed]

Here's where I got mine...

https://betstco.com/flail-mower-fh-efg/

I got a 53" with hammers for $1100. Woodmax seems to have a decent quality unit for a fair price as well.

Yes, some flail mowers will cost more than a brush hog, but they would be the heavy duty variety and may have hydraulic offsets. It all depends on how you intend on using it...

 

[BigG]

Hi
Newbie here, I just bought a used B26. I need to do some mowing of tall weeds (like 6 ft plus) on an acre. I'm looking for a rotary cutter. I'm just a home user, so I don't need something super commercial grade. I'm looking at my local Cal Ranch.. they have a 5 foot cutter made by TARTAR I think for $1200... any other brands I should consider in that price range?

I think I would look at Craig's list. The 5 ft mower will work but it will be slow on the first cut. Once it is done the maintenance cut should be ok with the 5 footer. $1200 is a lot of money to spend to care for 1 acre. If it worries you pay someone to mow it first then just maintain the lot with your cutter.

 

[nbryan]

I'm a little late here assume, but I just got an old 60" Woods Dixie Cutter in decent condition given to me, and it did great behind my B2650. For thicker stuff I just put the trans in 1st range and used that HST to creep along.
The only change I made to the mower was to add 2 new 3-point take-off pins in the holes about 4" below the original pins so it raised higher when fully lifted. The mower was in use on a much larger Massey tractor before which has a higher stance so the orig. upper pins worked fine.

 

[SDT]

I'm a little late here assume, but I just got an old 60" Woods Dixie Cutter in decent condition given to me, and it did great behind my B2650. For thicker stuff I just put the trans in 1st range and used that HST to creep along.
The only change I made to the mower was to add 2 new 3-point take-off pins in the holes about 4" below the original pins so it raised higher when fully lifted. The mower was in use on a much larger Massey tractor before which has a higher stance so the orig. upper pins worked fine.

You will find that the weight of your 5' cutter exceeds the Kubota recommendation for your tractor.

Transient stresses exceed design specifications of the transaxle, lift, and, especially, the stabilizer system.

Be very careful.

SDT

 

[dochsml]

Years ago I bought a 4' County Line rotary cutter from Tractor Supply. It's been a good cutter for me. It has a 40HP gearbox, so it still works with my Kubota when I upgraded machines.

 

[nbryan]

You will find that the weight of your 5' cutter exceeds the Kubota recommendation for your tractor.

Transient stresses exceed design specifications of the transaxle, lift, and, especially, the stabilizer system.

Be very careful.

SDT

My M5 has a shipping weight of 481 lbs. The B2650 is rated to lift a 500 lb. 1-blade rotatry cutter.

The mower is rated minimum tractor HP of 15-60HP.

So my 19 HP pto and 500lb 3-point capacity is within spec. Not much, but you were incorrect about the mower exceeding the 3-point capacity of the B2650.

 

[gasman]

I’m in Delaware but I’m getting ready to list my 4’ frontier bushhog with slip clutch only used 3times new it was 1700
I don’t use it and looking at selling it

 

[GeoHorn]

For many years I used a Rhino 72” rotary-cutter/shredder (very HEAVY) with a little 18 hp 9-N Ford to mow 10 acres and occasionally shred rough pasture. It was much too heavy for the 800# capacity 3-pt on that tractor and everyone warned me it was too wide for it also... But it worked just fine because I used it as a “pull behind” rather than a 3-pt lifted mower. I did not hook up the upper-link and used it only on the lower lift-arms (and it’s rear supported by it’s tailwheel) as a “pull-behind” mower and I could raise it in heavy/tall stuff for a first-pass then lower it for the final cut. Did that for 15 years because the tractor was free...and the Rhino shredder was free... and I was living on a tight budget as a single parent.

 

[SDT]

My M5 has a shipping weight of 481 lbs. The B2650 is rated to lift a 500 lb. 1-blade rotatry cutter.

The mower is rated minimum tractor HP of 15-60HP.

So my 19 HP pto and 500lb 3-point capacity is within spec. Not much, but you were incorrect about the mower exceeding the 3-point capacity of the B2650.

Could be but 48* Lbs. is very light for a 5' rough cut rotary mower. Most decent 5' cutters are well above 500 Lbs.

Do as you like but I advise care, especially when traversing uneven ground while the mower is lifted.

SDT