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I went through this decision about 2 weeks ago. I was looking for something for my Farmall M that has about 40hp at the PTO and has an aftermarket 3 pt hitch. I ended up with a 6' off brand economy cutter from the local Case/IH dealer for $850. The Rhino, Bush Hog, John Deere, etc. cutters are going to start at $1,250+ for a 6' model. On all of them if you go past 6' the price goes up dramatically. You could probably run a 7' with a 50hp tractor IMO. My M runs the 6' pretty good in fairly thick brush. If I'm mowing small mesquite trees and really thick stuff I have to gear down though. The 8' and 10' cutters use 2 sets of blades instead of 1 set of blades on the 7' and under models so they actually use less hp than a 7'. The rhino 8' model states that it will run on 35hp. Of course you are well over $2,000 when you get to the 8' models. Since that was more than I paid for my tractor I quit looking at that range. I did see some 10' name brand models that were over $4,000. Other options are looking for used mowers that might be more affordable but it seems to me that the prices on 5 or 6 year old mowers that look pretty rough are still 50% or more of a brand new mower and so I just ended up going with a brand new economy one. The brand I ended up with was a "Cimarron". HTH, Nathan
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