4 ft or 5 ft Brush Hog?

tjcc1978

Member
What size brush hog would be best for the 4600? It's diesel and has almost a 60 hp rating...We are looking at a Sidewinder SX42 4ft. but do not know if it's big enough for what we need. We have 3 acres we need to cut down, saplings that aren't any bigger than like 2 inches in diameter, and lots of weeds, cattails, salt cedar.
 
The 4600 is about 52hp at the
PTO. You could easily run a 7
foot Bush Hog (rotary cutter). I
would at least get one that is as
wide as your tire tracks. So
6'-7'. If you have 2" trees get
one that is rated for that size
material. You might destroy a
light weight 4'-5' rotary cutter
behind your 4600 cutting 2"
trees.
 
We were just guessing the size of the saplings but I don't think they're 2". Hubby just said he was going to cut those down before mowing with the tractor. So, a 4 ft is too small for even small saplings?
 
I run a heavy 6' behind a 3000 so your
4600 will run one as well.
Like John says you could run a 7' too
but the cost of a heavy 7' is usually a
LOT higher than a 6'.
I would hold out for a good used heavy
one. A cheap one from Tractor Supply,
etc will break down pretty quickly.
 
Tractor Supply's CountryLine cutters have poor ratings anyway. I wouldn't call a 4 ft. mower at $1,100 cheap. That's a lot of money. The one we are looking at is a FMC Sidewinder 4ft. Guy wants $325 for it but we would have to make a 3 hour drive to go get it. It's got alot of rust underneath and has surface rust on top. Blades need replaced as well. If we don't get this one, I think we are going to save for a 5-6 ft mower.
 
Here's the one we are looking at:
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i also cannot find any information on this mower online. It seems FMC went out of business, but I do not know if anyone still currently sells their parts or what..
 
Rotary cutters have a material
size rating. In other words how
big of stuff you can cut. They
also have a gear box rating. You
don't want to get one that is
under rated for what you are
cutting and for the size of your
tractor PTO hp. It is also nice
to have one that is at least as
wide as your tire tracks. You
would not have to cut the small
trees down first if you get the
right rotary cutter. If you are
not careful you could tear up a
4' with your 4600.
 
Where are you located? I have an
older 5' Bush Hog that I would
give you!!! Works but the gear
box leaks a little around the
input shaft. Ya it is beat up but
works.
 
Besides being way too small that mower
doesn't have a stump jumper. Do a bit of
research on stump jumpers. They are
important.
Mine is a Bush Hog brand. Rated for an
80 hp tractor. Weighs 1100 lbs.
A new one would likely cost $4+ Grand.
Even a 5' one from TSC for $1100 would
be puny and pathetic behind your
tractor.
I looked for a few years to find mine.
Paid $600 for it.
Good deals are out there if you are
patient.
 
I am running a 6' Woods Cadet behind my 4600.
It could handle up to an 8' double spindle.
I ran this same mower behind my 64 4000 Gas for years. In really tuff stuff it struggled.
I ran thru the same tuff stuff last year with this 4600 and it just plowed right thru it!
A four footer would be too light, in my view.
Keith
 
We run a woods mower 208-2 8ft mower on our Ford 3000, the biggest problem is that’s the mower is too heavy so the front end wants to go up. We use a hydraulic cylinder in the tail instead of the top link. You need to keep the rpms up.
 
(quoted from post at 16:32:29 04/01/19) Where are you located? I have an
older 5' Bush Hog that I would
give you!!! Works but the gear
box leaks a little around the
input shaft. Ya it is beat up but
works.

We are in bloomfield, new mexico..
 
I have a 5' Woods heavy duty rotary mower on my '73 4000, which is the precursor tho the 4600 and has about the same hp, and it will chew up anything I can drive through or over. I've driven over some saplings with 3-1/2"" trunks and they came out as wood chips after a second pass. If you're just going to be cutting brush and weeds and you have 3 acres, I would go with a 7' mower to reduce the seat time unless, of course, you enjoy that much seat time.
 
So, how come I see some rotary mowers with the top links bent? Looks like they get bent from going through a valley and the mower rises up and bends the bars. I saw one that used a chain from the top link to the back of the mower. Seemed like a good idea to me but I really don't know.

What is the right way to set up a rotary mower?

'64 4000 4cyl gas.
 
(quoted from post at 21:56:12 04/01/19) So, how come I see some rotary mowers with the top links bent? Looks like they get bent from going through a valley and the mower rises up and bends the bars. I saw one that used a chain from the top link to the back of the mower. Seemed like a good idea to me but I really don't know.

What is the right way to set up a rotary mower?

'64 4000 4cyl gas.

Were you replying to someone's post in particular or just throwing the questions out there?

There are many reasons that a top link can get bent, and none of them are due to proper use. Adjust the top link so that the mower deck almost level, with the front just slightly lower than the rear when it is at the height that you want to cut at. If you have terrain that might force the rear of the mower up abruptly, then yes, chains from the top link to the rear of the mower instead of a rigid frame might be warranted. On most terrain with gradually changing slopes that shouldn't be needed.
 
A 4600 will run an 8' twin blade easily...BTDT. A 4' won't even cover your tractor's tracks. You need (opinion) a clipper wide enough to at least cover
your tire tracks and most tractors are equipped with enough HP to accomplish that. Other thing is that if you aren't at least covering your tracks, you
can't get close to fences and such.

Only reason for using a narrow cutter, like only a 6' on the 4600 would be if you have extremely uneven terrain where a wider cutter would scalp and
leave clippings standing, excessively.....I had that specific problem and downsized to a 6' on that tractor.
 
(quoted from post at 16:54:44 04/01/19) What size brush hog would be best for the 4600? It's diesel and has almost a 60 hp rating...We are looking at a Sidewinder SX42 4ft. but do not know if it's big enough for what we need. We have 3 acres we need to cut down, saplings that aren't any bigger than like 2 inches in diameter, and lots of weeds, cattails, salt cedar.

I run an 8 foot cutter on a ford 4000 and it does very well. That being said, it depends on what you are cutting. If it is a forest, any cutter you run will be overwhelmed. If its a pasture, most any cutter will work. Light brush, means you have to run in a lower gear instead of 3rd or 4th. And may also mean you have to only cut half width the first time the field is ""cleared"". you can also run the cutter higher off the ground the first time, let the cuttings dry, then come back a second time.

No cutter is made for cutting large trees down. And tall saplings will beat up the grill and about everything else on the tractor when you run over them. We clear brush at the ranch and I have torn off power steering lines, hydraulic lines, had limbs go through the radiator, broken front bolsters at the steering pivots, smashed hydraulic filters and knocked off all the lights and mirrors. But.. Those pastures reclaimed,,, are then kept up with,,, planted in improve grazing grasses for better production. There are some areas of fence we cleared,, that havent been accessible in over 50 years. Now we can drive all the fences and periodically shred pastures to maintain them. Half of the place is kept wild for the deer population, and unfortunately the wild hog population.
 

I agree with Texasmark.
I have a 4000 that easily handles a 6ft cutter, MIL has a 7ft model, with not weights it makes the 4000 a little light in the front, it's also bad about scalping or leaving uncut grass on our uneven ground.
For pasture clipping I used a trailed 10ft cutter behind the 4000 until recently, now i have a 15ft batwing I pull with my 6610.

For 3 acres go with a 6-7 ft depending on how the ground lays.
 
I would go with an 8ft cutter myself. I have a 7ft Brown on the back of a 5200 with front weights and it is a touch light out front but the cutter is a beast. Lot of weight hanging way out the back.

If not I would get a heavy duty 6ft cutter you can probably run faster with it.

When you are looking at cutters look at the specs on the blade tip speed that makes a big difference in how it cuts in my opinion.
 
(quoted from post at 12:01:45 04/02/19) I would go with an 8ft cutter myself. I have a 7ft Brown on the back of a 5200 with front weights and it is a touch light out front but the cutter is a beast. Lot of weight hanging way out the back.

If not I would get a heavy duty 6ft cutter you can probably run faster with it.

When you are looking at cutters look at the specs on the blade tip speed that makes a big difference in how it cuts in my opinion.

7ft cutters are a bit rare down here.. because they are so long that they bounce and tend to beat them selves apart when the county guys drive wide open down the road. So I see more 6 foot or 8 foot cutters. Ford did make a 7 foot i believe, or least they sold one to the city and county guys for years. But other than those, which are beat to a pulp, you just dont see 7 ft cutters very often around here. My 4000 does better with the ""shorter" 8 foot cutter hanging on it as it is basically two 4 foot cutters side by side, much closer to the tractor (3 foot closer), so the leverage is not nearly so bad even though it weighs a tad more. Front end is not so light I believe than a seven.. but I dont know that I can prove it as the sevens' dont come along. There is a company on the internet that still shows seven's for sale. Maybe some one can compare them against an eight. But the 4000 runs the 8 foot really well with plenty of power for shredding normal fields. I do have a special 7 foot "HARDY" right of way shredder that is made for severe work and it bounces the 6640 front end off the ground often. BUt that machine is a monster for clearing heavy growth and has a 250 hp box on it. I have actually broken the blades twice now right where the bolt holes are. I'm hitting 6 inch stumps and it literally shreds them as it should. I am more worried about the drive shaft on the tractor. every year I have to replace the euro drive shaft as its twisted so bad it wont slide any more, but its a roll pin set up and takes minutes to replace.
 
Many years ago I went with a friend who wanted to buy a 7' single blade. I realized right then as you say, they are monsters. So, when I upped to go to
an 8' I went for a dual blade....problem solved. I have another unproven theory but I'm probably right. A single blade vs twin blade of a certain size takes
less HP to operate because of the square of the length of the blade in terms of resistance from the material to be cut.

Example 2ea 4' blades are 4x2 = 8 units of resistance. A single 8' is 4 x 4 = 16 besides the length getting to be a problem in turns and on uneven terrain,
scalping in one place and leaving product standing in others.

Aree on cutting trees down with a clipper is hard on them and the drive train, stump jumper or not......and like Bill said, hard on your tractors front end
sheet metal if you don't have a grille guard....BTDT.
 

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