Shredder for Farmall M

It has a 3 point setup on it and I know I will need to get an overrun clutch to put on the PTO.

I've priced out a Howse - 6' light duty for $800 and a King Kutter 6' medium duty for $900. When I get to 8' the price goes way up and I have a hard time justifying spending nearly as much on the shredder as I did for the tractor.

I searched back and read a few posts knocking the Howse brand and a few knocking the King Kutter brand. I have a few small mesquite trees (3' tall or less) and that would be the worst thing to shred and I might just go around those with the tractor and come back and do them by hand so I don't get flats in the nearly brand new tires.

So, any thoughts or comments that would help me decide between these? Should I get a bigger shredder even if it costs an arm and a leg?

Thanks, Nathan

Well I ended up getting a Cimarron 6' economy mower for $850 from the local Case Tractor dealer. Seemed like a pretty good deal, the salesman I had talked to was out when I went to buy it and they had to check with him to make sure that was the price he had agreed too.

I mowed 12 acres this afternoon and was pretty happy with how it went. Mowed down some big dead tumbleweeds and would do pretty well in 4th gear on the regular stuff. Was still pretty slow though, took me about 6 hours to get the 12 acres done. I think I can go a little faster now that I have it figured out but I doubt I'll be doing much more than 3 acres per hour with this setup. Had 15 gallons of gas and didn't run out so that was good I thought.

Took a few pics of the mower hooked up. The dogs figured out to stay a bit farther away once the mower was running! ;-)

Another pic of the mower

Pic from behind the tractor:

I've been shopping around some more. What about the Cimarron brand? I found a 6' model locally for $850.

Steping up to the Rhino is $1,195 (with shear pins) and the Bush Hog is $1,450 (with slip clutch).

How much of a difference is there really in the brands?

I think I've been talked out of the Howse brand by the local dealers who say that they are just to hard to get parts for if they do break.

Another place had an Armstrong brand and a Mohawk brand that was $1,150.

Thanks, Nathan

the sheepsheads and bedsprings take care of that

actually bot a "new" set of OEM blades but they are too nice to use, just keep grinding the wide mushroomed spots down with angle grinder and checking the balance with my fishing scale

the sheepsheads and bedsprings take care of that

actually bot a "new" set of OEM blades but they are too nice to use, just keep grinding the wide mushroomed spots down with angle grinder and checking the balance with my fishing scale

I started with plan to cut some weeds/light brush and after I ran out of that, I got ambitious tore into those hedges, wound up cutting sizable trees down, as long as the front axle will knock it down, the Squealer will grind it up, I do not think the King Kutter gearbox will hold up under abuse like that

shear pin unit is cheaper but pain to keep pins in, I seem to find edges of rock ledges and even old bedsprings hidden in there, sheeps head boulders hard on blades and left side of mower, slip clutch was set too tight at first and never slipped, that is hard on driveline/gearbox

dealer has new Squealer at fair price but my unit keeps chugging away and parts are available not too far away

if you can"t find used hog, baby the King, wide front M would have plenty of power

Thanks for the comments so far.

Any specific features that I would need to be looking for? The Howse has a 12g deck and the King Kutter has a 10g deck. Chain guards are a $150 option on the Howse and I'm not sure if they are available on the King Kutter or not.

I thought buying a used shredder was bad news? Guys out there mowing trees and rocks and stuff with them then selling them when they are pretty much used up and beyond repair?

I'm pretty sure it is a Cat II 3 pt.

Not sure exactly how beefy the hydraulics are but seem pretty decent.

Here is a pic of it with the post hole digger hooked up if that helps any:

Thanks, Nathan