Go Bottompasture mower for B7800
 | LapinFarmer
Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 22 Kenmore WA 
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2004-06-28 89569
I'm buying a new B7800 this week - delivery by Friday. The dealer stocks Bushhog implements and is suggesting an RZ-60 rear mower. I'll be using this on 4-6 acres of hilly horse pasture and some overgrown areas nearby. I've already cleared out the big rocks in the pastures but if I work into the adjacent overgrown areas I'll face shrubs, blackberries, and small trees (alder and fir).
I don't expect to actually clear new pasture myself - we'd need really big equipment to pull stumps like we did for the first 4 acres.
Is this a reasonable choice for a field mower?
Thanks - Neal
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| LapinFarmer
Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 22 Kenmore WA
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2004-06-29 89630
Actually, my real questions are about the RZ-60 itself. It is listed as a light duty cutter, up to 1" dia. cutting.
Do I want a heavier duty unit, under the theory that it will hold up better over time? Can the B7800 run a cutter able to handle things bigger than 1"?
Thanks
-Neal ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York 
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2004-06-29 89648
I prefer the Squealer but that is only rated for the same 1" stock. I doubt that if you clear it to begin with that you will have any trouble with other then the deck maybe getting bent which can easily be straightened or patched. The heavier mowers do use bigger gear boxes and do weigh more then your chosen model but don't worry about it. ....
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 | JParker
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 152 Richmond, VA
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2004-06-29 89679
The book on my B7800 says 4' rotary cutter max, but I wanted one big enough to cover my wheel tracks. I bought a 5' Razorback. The cutters PTO Hp recommendation is 18-35 and weight was within tractor specs so I went for it.
IMHO its a great pairing for cutting an already cleared pasture like I do and trying to work my way back to the old fencelines through light brush. If I let the grass get too high where its very thick, it starts to bog down a little, but then I just let off the hydrostatic a little and she picks right back up to speed. I can usually cruise in mid range, pedal full down at full throttle. Cutting about 6 acres in 3.5 hours (not counting the trimming). Add a set of hearing protectors with a radio and you're all set.
Only complaint so far was getting hitched. Then I found a gimick called "Pat's Easy Change System" or a "Quick Hitch" from Northern Tool. A Google search will get you a hit if interested. Kind of like an I-Match but simpler and no impliment modifications required.
I'll post a link if I can.
Also, as someone here suggested in another post, use a chain in place of the top link if the field has a few hills. It really helped me. ....
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| JParker
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 152 Richmond, VA
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2004-06-30 89755
I found the Northern Tool link to the "Quick Hitch"
Item# 12610 ....
Link: Northern Tool - Quick Hitch
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| LapinFarmer
Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 22 Kenmore WA
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2004-06-30 89760
I found the link to "Pat's Easy Change System". The other tractor board is running a special on it (oops - can I say that here?). After I get comfortable with my new rig I'll look into that and the NT "Quick Hitch" further.
And thanks for the chain-on-the-top-link suggestion - that might be useful to.
Now for another question. Can I use my pasture mower for trimming back brush along the side of a gravel road? I'd be tracking with half the cutter over gravel and half in brush. Is it going to kick up the gravel or will the blades just whirr harmlessly over it?
I know the big boys at the highway department have articulated cutters on hydraulic arm. Does anyone make a simpler unit for a CUT?
Thanks ....
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| JParker
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 152 Richmond, VA
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2004-06-30 89766
FYI the NT "Quick Hitch" has got to be made by Pat since they look identical, or else he has a good lawsuit comming up.
As far as the gravel road question. My driveway gives me fits. It is just rough graded for now with fist size stone (a little too big, don't go there if you haven't already) and I have trouble cutting it even with the deck fairly high. I don't know if that is due to stone size or not.
You will know pretty quickly if ou want a Quick hitch or not. I'm not that big & burly, so trying to muscle a 600# bushhog or a 3500# tractor a fraction of an inch to get everything lined up just right doesn't work for me. If you have a big wide open concrete pad to store impliments on that would be another story.
I did find one trick that helps if you have a FEL. Turn the bucket down and stick it in the ground. A little curl will inch the tractor forward or back just a little, but I still like the Quick Hitch. ....
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| JParker
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 152 Richmond, VA
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2004-06-30 89771
I just stumbled on this homemade bank cutting device.
I'd been thinking about a similar rig I could mount off the side of my FEL, but like how this looks. ....
Link: Bank Cutter
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| LapinFarmer
Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 22 Kenmore WA
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2004-06-30 89780
I like that side-cut mower, although I'd add some hanging guards to control thrown objects and a counter weight to reduce torque on the mounting point.
In my dreams it would run from the PTO too :-)
....
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| LapinFarmer
Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 22 Kenmore WA
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2004-06-30 89781
JParker - I'm not a very big person either, and I had a fun time last year with my rented CUT getting plows and tillers and seed spreaders on and off. The tiller was the worst because the PTO also had to line up too. Your suggestion with the FEL is a good one. A Quick-Hitch rig would have been grand.
I'll find out this weekend how badly I need it.
The cure for the driveway is to overlay with 2" crushed rock and then 5/8"-minus. Or you can ask for 2"-minus that will include the "fines" that bind it all together. Big rocks with no fines won't compact and stay put. With a mix of sizes you can compact it and the surface will form up and stay put. A roller and a little moisture help too.
Our construction drive was a 4" rock base with 2" overlay during construction. It has compacted down from the heavy trucks and filled in with local sand & dirt. We'll overlay with the 5/8" this summer when the construction is done. We have already gone to the 5/8" on the common access road and it is holding up quite well. ....
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| JParker
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 152 Richmond, VA
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2004-06-30 89791
We will be going back with crusher run or something similar later. I just meant that I overshot the size of the base layer stones. The first season after clearing, the soil was very soft so I went with big rock and it swallowed a good bit of it. I've plowed off most of the loose top stuff, but a few trouble makers keep popping up. I thought getting them out before adding the mixed stone would be a good idea so they couldn't find their way back to the top.
I may just give up and bury my mistake, but I'm not quite ready to give up yet. ....
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| LapinFarmer
Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 22 Kenmore WA
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2004-06-30 89792
If the soil was swallowing the big rocks at first then you were right to use them.
In your shoes I'd just bury them with the smaller rock and leave 'em be. If they really do want to pop up, then you can worry about removing them, but for now the ones that are not a menace are doing their job.
....
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| BenEAmonette
Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 34 Radford, VA
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2004-11-02 99732
Lapinfarmer, how is life with your B7800? Have you discovered its limits, or does it have more muscle than you need? Do you have a FEL? Do any heavy work with it? ....
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| Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2004-11-02 99752
I liked the looks of that mower but my mind just started wondering. To go to the bush hog mower that is 42" wide or the even the larger one with electric start. Set up a electric over hydraulic valve bank so you could put cylinders in place of the turn buckle so you could run them from the seat. Murf you were looking for a project here you go!! ....
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