Go BottomWhich brush hog for a John Deere 4200
 | Gary in Indiana
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2001-12-30 34143
I just got a Deere 4200 MFWD with HST and wondered which size, brand and type brush hog might work best for me. Right now I have eleven acres which are fairly level but just unkempt over recent years. I'd like to get something that's 5' wide to cover my tracks but don't know if I'll have the power to do it. What experiences or thoughts do you have?
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2001-12-31 34145
Here's a few links to manufacturer sites, but several of them may not make rotary cutters. I think all sites have specs for their cutters that give the diameter of material they will cut and recommend HP ranges. Going through the sites is a pretty good way to get familiar with cutters.
http://www.monroetufline.com/
http://servis-rhino.com/
http://www.landpride.com/lp/index.html
http://www.bushhog.com/
http://www.buhler.com/sitefiles/index1.htm
A lot of the HP requirements depend on the type of material cut. The HP required for a 5' light duty that will cut brush and for a 5' heavy-duty that will cut 3" saplings are very different.
However, manufacturer recommendations tend to be conservative because they don't want unhappy customers. Many people use implements that are recommended for higher HP then their have by going slower, taking smaller bites etc. In fact, I do exactly that by having a 6’ box scraper on my 24 HP tractor. My tire tracks are 5’, but the extra foot width of the blade is much better for a lot of grading. I’m willing to go slower when I need to do a heavy cut. It's good to keep in mind that a cutter that's big for the tractor is harder on the PTO clutch than one with lighter blades. In addition, the shear pin or slip clutch on an implement that is heavy for the tractor may too heavy for the PTO drive.
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962 
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2001-12-31 34147
Gary, if it's overgrown, what type of growth, weeds and grass, saplings (if so, how big?), etc.? I agree with you that I'd want a 5' brush hog. If you get into heavy cutting, you might have to go slower than you would with a 4' one, or use more overlap (cut half a mower's width at a time) and things like that, but at least for me personally I sure wouldn't want one that wasn't at least as wide as the tractor. As for brand and type; depends on how big the stuff is you want to cut and how much money you want to spend. Bush Hog, Landpride, Woods, King Kutter, and Howse all seem to be well known brands, or you can buy one with John Deere's own name on it. Of course, there are a lot of other brands, too. Most, if not all, the manufacturers also make light, medium, and heavy duty models (priced accordingly, of course). Now I'd never tell YOU to exceed a manufacturer's specs, but I can tell you that most of us DO. Example: if you have a brush hog "rated" for 1" material, it's not unusual to occasionally cut 2" material if you go slowly and carefully. When you go shopping, look at things like the gearbox maximum HP rating (they're probably all rated for more than your tractor has), blade tip speed, gauge (or thickness) of metal in the deck, size of blades (width and thickness), and whether you want a slip clutch or shear pin on the driveline. I'd strongly recommend chain guards (usually about $100 extra).
Personally, I used to have a 4' Bush Hog Squealer for a B7100 Kubota and now have a 5' Howse 500 for my B2710. The Howse is a cheap, light duty model, but it's quite sufficient for my needs. And I made my own chain guards for both of them. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-12-31 34149
Bird's comment led me to thinking about warranties. Use of an implement that's big for the tractor might void a warranty. Generally, to use anything on a tractor is to risk breaking it. Both operators and manufacturers accept those risks.
An experienced operator may recognize and accept the additional risks to the tractor from using an oversized implement, and compensate for them by changing operating technique. However, during a warranty period, the manufacturer also has an interest in an operator's use of a tractor. Abuse is a gray area in warranty coverage, and it's wise to make sure that nothing done is likely to void coverage. Dealer recommendations are a pretty safe way to go, and my dealer's recommendations have always been good for me, even though it's for a used tractor without warranty coverage.
Weight of the cutter is another spec to look at. Cutters weigh a lot and some heavier duty cutters may excess 3ph capacity on some compacts. However, 3ph ratings may not be the best way to judge. The weight on some cutters may be centred further back than the 2’ behind the lower-link pins, which is a common definition for 3ph ratings, and the effective weight on the 3ph would be greater.
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| kay
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-12-31 34169
For sure you can run a 5' rotary cutter, and the JD 513 would work (get the stump jumper pan) or you might also look at the new JD Frontier line. The literature I picked up today (and saw the unit at the JD dealer) looks pretty impressive. Might even make the JD513 sweat a little to keep up with its cheaper cousin. I think Woods makes the Frontier line for JD (may even be part of JD as far as I know).
As far as warranty, I don't think JD would throw any curves at you for "abuse". Often abuse is what breaks things, but JD fixes them under warranty anyway. A year ago, I helped pick up a busted 4100, that was sitting beside a 3' (36") diam stump that the owner of the 4100 was trying to remove with his FEL and many, many concrete slabs on the 3pt for ballast. It was apparent from the marks in the lawn that he was ramming this stump pretty hard. JD fixed the internal gears of the rearend without questioning the abuse reported to the service manager.
Like Bird says, if you come short on power, back off and go a little slower. Most of the time you will have plenty of power to run a 5' rotary. Now, you might have to have a little weight on the front end in the form of a FEL or some hanging weights. This will keep you from doing wheelies and help steering (good to know how to use the individual rear wheel brakes too). You will not lack for traction with the rotary cutter hanging off the back end. ....
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