As the spring has come full swing I'm eyeing some new implements for the l2501. My work on the tractor barn area has stalled until I get conditions to burn a brush pile or pull the trigger on a chipper. I have a manual feed 8hp Troy built that is going on clist soon- don't want that headache of pushing limbs and chopping everything down to fit. The wallenstien copies look OK but for a few more bucks Woodmaxx sells some heavy built self feed units. Second is decision on a cutter- rotary, flail or finish? I don't have huge pasture to cut just maintain roadside and a bit under the power lines so speed isn't really a main concern. There's a really good deal on a bush hog flail a couple hours from me or for 200 less a rotary just down the road in fair shape, same for finish mower j-bar unit $400.
Mowers: Rotary is better for saplings and rocks, while flail is better for grass. I’ve only had a flail for one year, but it is my preferred mower for clipping pastures and mowing the edges of hay fields. My flail is offset, so I can reach places that I can’t reach with the rotary, and it leaves a better finish at a faster ground speed. My rotary is one of the heaviest Bush Hogs, and takes an incredible amount of abuse. I’m much less impressed with the lighter weight (e.g., squealer) rotary mowers.
I went "through" the pto chipper route, graduated up to a big Vermeer tow behind good for a 10" log, then reverted back to good old matches. The pto chipper - meh, the Vermeer flat out worked the chit out of me, then there's keeping sharp knives around..... those matches never need sharpening, and a good fire is kinda relaxing. I like a bush hog but I don't know what your mowing concerns are, ie 1 mower for everything including the lawn, or a rugged to hell with the lawn roadside & brush chopper.
I like my Wallenstein clone and don’t think it needs a hydraulic feed. Just something else to maintain imho. But I’m probably not going to do over a dozen trees a year or so and I burn everything 3” and up. I won’t be putting much green through it either if any at all.
So far I am loving mine as well, and I got it on a "dinged" item price from ebay, so for under a grand I can chip up to 4". The big boys are nice, my tractor is small, and I didn't want to spend several thousand more on something that was much more want than need. The Woodmaxx hydraulic deals look awesome, and I was tempted, but they are still Chinese. Also, the Wallenstein and knockoff gravity feeds work extremely well. So far 1 clog caused by me seeing how much of the pine tops I could actually do. The needles clogged the chute, but the drum kept spinning. And I love my 3pt snow blower, but basod forgot what that even looks like, so he's all set there.
I have a bear cat 5540 chipper shredder. Also have the blower attachment on it. Anything 2" or less goes in the shredder.....fast as heck.
i have bear cat 5670B self contained vs the one above works great for me , have not jammed up yet. 1 bolt and the whole chipper shredder compartment is accessible. I have run 4+" buck thorn both dry and green with no problems to report.
Mowers? It sounds like a flail may work for you, but they are the most complex of the units. Personally, I'd be leery of a used one. You could use a finish mower at a high setting and be pretty safe around most rocks. The other route is sharpen the bush hog blades sharper than usual if you are just mowing grass. That will give a nicer cut-but your blades will chip and dull quickly of you do get into rougher material.
I think I'm going to wait on the chipper, finally had a decent day to burn I found a decent deal on a Titan rotary cutter for 1k. Lightly used. It's hard to gauge online reviews for any brand as it seems 50/50 if the owners added gearbox oil on most models.
I’ve had or used all the types of tractor mowers. The rotary/ bush hog mower will mow down thick grass and small brush, but will leave clumps and can launch rocks across the road when mowing roadsides. The finish mowers can mow some medium height grass, but are best used in the same area as a riding mower. The sickle mowers are fast to knock down tall grass, but it doesn’t chop it up- used mostly for cutting hay. The rotary disc mower is similar to a sickle mower, but has swing away cutting blades. It can be used to cut down 2” saplings, although it is not designed for that abuse. There are 2 different types of flail mowers. There is a finishing flail that makes a manicured lawn, micro chopping up the clippings. The other is a heavier mower that can cut almost anything that you can drive over. It also looks almost like a lawn after miwing, but is not always perfectly level. The plus to a flail is that it will not throw rocks or trash thru windows, siding, cars or neighbor dogs...(my bush-hog threw a rock and left a large welt on their basset hound)
Are all your guards in place on your brush hog rotary cutter?? I got a gravel drive and mow edges with rotary.. No stones going every where.. Dog goes with me.. My 7 foot meteor blower puts lots of stones in field..
I like my Bushhog Brand Rotary mower. My grandfather bought it new in the 1960's and last year it broke the last ear on the gear box flange. No big deal, there was enough steel in the cast gear box to mill it down and weld on a new flange. Over 50 years later the mower is as good as new...few implements can say that considering the abusive life it has lived.
All factory guards installed, plus a rubber flap added over the chains at the back to try to keep the flying objects down. The rock I threw was part of a bigger rock that the county roadgrader left on my side of the road I now prefer to mow our pasture and roadsides with a late 50’s or early 60’s Mott flail mower. I can leave a patch of brush looking like a yard after 2 passes. The bush-hog would leave pieces of sticks everywhere and not mulch up anything, leaving big clumps.
Seems like to me if you are mowing a finished area, just get a finish mower. May have to mow it more times than if you had a flail or rotary, but thats just more tractor time.
Alabama bud, we're 4-6weeks ahead of you guys up North. Last week we could sort of "see" through the woods, Its now a blanket of fresh leaves. The privacy factor of foliage and sound deadening is hard to beat
Yeah I ran tire driven king kutters on the farm in my teens - when you smelled rubber or hung a blade into the opposite radius you knew pretty quick -we don't have a shaky drunk dude emogi a
