# rotary cutter



## gsuders86 (8 mo ago)

I'm searching for my 1st rotary cutter. Going to go with a 5' one for my 21 HP PTO. I've been looking at Rural King and King Kutter ones. I see they offer them with shear pin or slip clutch. Some also have King Kutter Flex-Hitch. None come with any guard so that would have to be added after the fact. I will be mainly mowing 2 - 1/2 acre or so pastures with the occasional water way. The mower will be stored in my barn and I have no experience with a slip clutch. Between all the options it's about $250 difference. So is the slip clutch worth the upgrade? Also is the flex hitch also a nice upgrade? Would you recommend rubber or chains for a guard?


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

If you are breaking shear pins with regularity, something is wrong. Either a machine failure going on or the nut behind the wheel is at fault. Either way, I would want to know. I would do sheer pins for that reason alone.


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## Vanman08 (Aug 1, 2020)

Shear pins are more reliable, also cheap and easy to replace.


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

First of all, if you are going to put a 5 foot bush hog behind a 21 PTO horse tractor then you are going to be down on power to the cutter from the start and this will probably not be an issue either way.....A good rule of thumb is 1 foot of rotary cutter for every 5 PTO horse power of tractor so I would probably drop down to a 4 foot bush hog if it was me with that tractor......Now, back to your question.......Here is some good information:


Both devices give the same outcome breaking the line of power, but carry this out in two slightly different ways. The PTO slip clutch is usually favored for convenience, especially in areas where machinery may be likely to come across lots of obstacles. For example managing an unkept area of land or working in heavily littered or compacted soil types.
Replacing sheared bolts requires stopping work, getting off the tractor and swapping bolts out. You need to keep a good supply of shear bolts to hand when using your machinery. Whereas the PTO slip clutch allows for the drive to be stopped when needed and resume the torque when free of any obstructions. This avoids too much interference when working and removes the need to be changing pins several times a day.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

Go slip clutch, these are reliable, all the machinery I Iooked after run slip clutches and there was never any problem, if left out in the weather, we always released the spring tension after a wet season and spun the clutch to release any stuck discs, this is the only concern, but yours will be shedded, so you shouldn't have any problem.


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## TX MX5200 (May 12, 2020)

I don’t have a slip clutch on mine, but it would be preferred. Also, I would go with chains if you plan on keeping it for a very long time.

as stated before…a 4’ shredder would be best size for your tractor based on hp. The good news is the 4’ will be cheaper and more than offset the cost of chains and slip clutch should you go that route.


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Not sure where you are located at but this looks like a pretty good bush hog at a decent price new....It has the slip clutch and the chains....I no nothing about the Bad Boy brand of cutters but they make a pretty good mower......










2022 BAD BOY BBRCSC48 For Sale in Dry Ridge, Kentucky


2022 BAD BOY BBRCSC48 For Sale in Dry Ridge, Kentucky at TractorHouse.com




www.tractorhouse.com


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

gsuders86 said:


> I'm searching for my 1st rotary cutter. Going to go with a 5' one for my 21 HP PTO. I've been looking at Rural King and King Kutter ones. I see they offer them with shear pin or slip clutch. Some also have King Kutter Flex-Hitch. None come with any guard so that would have to be added after the fact. I will be mainly mowing 2 - 1/2 acre or so pastures with the occasional water way. The mower will be stored in my barn and I have no experience with a slip clutch. Between all the options it's about $250 difference. So is the slip clutch worth the upgrade? Also is the flex hitch also a nice upgrade? Would you recommend rubber or chains for a guard?


For me the deciding factor would be the width of your rear tires. A 4' mower behind a 5' wide tractor kinda sucks. I would rather have the mower the same width as my tires or even a bit wider. 
You may be a little short on HP to run full width in the thick stuff but that's what they make lower gears for. You can also take less than a full cut. To me, both are preferable to being unable to cut close to obstacles.
As for the slip clutch vs shear bolts, to me the slip clutch wins hands down.
I remember my first experience with a rotary cutter.
I bought a new 5' King Kutter to go behind my 23 hp Ford 2N. I got it hooked up and mowed about 20' and hit an ant hill. Sheared the bolt. Had to go to town and buy a few more bolts. 
That KK was a good value and I did a lot of mowing with it over the course of a couple years. 
Then I upgraded tractors - to a 3 cylinder Ford 2000 and found a Very heavy Bush Hog brand mower. It had the slip clutch which was far more convenient than those shear bolts.
I eventually replaced both that tractor and mower with heavier equipment but still have a slip clutch.
Fred M pegged it as to needing to maintain a slip clutch. 
Every year at the start of mowing season I perform the ritual of releasing the bolts on the slip clutch running it to polish off any rust on the clutch plates then readjusting it.
It is imperative to have that "safety valve" - either shear bolt or slip clutch - to prevent damage to your pto - and all the way forward through the drive train.
Sorry this got so long...


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## Dan of all Trades (Jun 2, 2018)

Reading all the posts and just finished brush hogging 12 acres yesterday… First off, this is a HELP forum. I don’t understand why people want to make assumptions with derogatory comments, ‘nut behind the wheel’. Sounds like a troll.
Here is my two cents: 5HP per foot of implement is the minimum. At 5’ of implement and under 25hp at the PTO, when your grass gets tall and wet, your machine will be under heavy load the entire time which is not ideal. I don’t recommend that. Shear bolts break under shock loads. E.g. rock or chunk of tree stump buried in deep brush jumps out and shear bolt breaks (saving the equipment from catastrophic failure) and the entire operation stops to replace the shear bolt. First time I mowed this 12acre plot (Mind you, it was CRP land before it was cleared for pasture) I broke 14 shear bolts. Second time 3 shear bolts and now I haven’t broken a shear bolt in 3 years.

If you have cleared the land, and it has been mowed constantly it doesn’t matter if you get the clutch or shear bolt style. However, if you have land that sustained heavy erosion, thick brush, 5’ tall Big Bluestem grass and all sorts of debris (next to a stream, side of a hill) get the clutch. Me, personally, can’t justify the clutch because I didn’t spend $300 buying shear bolts. A bag of 25 shear bolts and nuts from your local Farm and Fleet, Tractor Supply Co. etc. cost $40 with inflation.


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## Groo (Jan 17, 2020)

I wasn't trolling. If I was doing something that cause a clutch to slip or a pin to shear, I'd want to know so I wouldn't keep doing it. It is not doing the machinery any good at all. All you did is cause the drive gears to not strip. Everything else gets shocked as well. You probably also took a notch out of a blade too.


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## Dan of all Trades (Jun 2, 2018)

There was no mention of shear bolt failure that the OP wrote. He innocently stated it was his first mower and asked if the extra money for the clutch over shear bolts was worth it…
But ‘nut behind the wheel’?
Who, exactly, did that help in the ‘help’ forum? 

Or, did I miss something?

1/2” steel, stump jumper on the mower.
Not my first rodeo, cowboy.


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## John Liebermann (Sep 17, 2018)

Hopefully you have an independent PTO or if not an overrunning clutch. 

Go to slip clutch since you have a choice.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

Dan of all Trades said:


> Or, did I miss something?


Perhaps a sense of humor?
I saw no harm, no foul in that comment.


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## DK35vince (Jan 22, 2006)

John Liebermann said:


> Hopefully you have an independent PTO or if not an overrunning clutch.
> 
> Go to slip clutch since you have a choice.


My 6' cutter originally can with a shear pin.
My tractor has independent PTO. It is either on or off with a switch, so the PTO turns on fairly harsh with a brush mower even when the tractor is at idle, and that would break my shear pins after a few on/offs.
I added a slip clutch to solve that issue and haven't had a problem since


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## Dan of all Trades (Jun 2, 2018)

The first person to reply made a shot at the OP.
no excuse for this.
My interpretation of his comment is that ‘nut behind the wheel’ and other common slang phrases, used in technical circles, implies a lack of knowledge, ignorant, or stupid, asserting that problems are the fault of the user. Is this a help forum? Are the members running off potential new members?

When you tolerate bigotry, you change everything. This creates a hostil environment.
Who did that comment help?
I haven’t seen any reply with LOL, ROTFLMAO from the OP.

Since you have been here soo long, and insist it’s funny. You are part of the problem.

Thankfully I didn’t pay for premium membership to be a part of this kind of crap.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

Dan of all Trades said:


> The first person to reply made a shot at the OP...
> 
> ...My interpretation of his comment is that ...
> 
> ...


You did not adress me directly but I assume you are replying to my last post.
Tell me sir,
Is YOUR interpretation of things the only one that counts?
Is a small, good natured dig, to You, considered bigotry? - that's a very heavily laden word you know.
And for YOU it creates a hostile environment?
And because I did not interpret it like you did, am now a part of "the problem" ie, a bigot?
Tell me also please,
How did it come to be for You to decide that We, who are predominately a bunch of older men, must become like a bunch of children whose sensitivities are so frail that even the smallest jest can make us have misgivings about ourselves? 
And when did they make you the final arbiter of how we should treat one another here?
My friend, I mean you no offense but I reject Everything you have written in this thread.
Well, everything but one;
I too am glad I didn't pay for a premium membership if you and your ilk are going to determine how we get to comport ourselves here.


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## Dan of all Trades (Jun 2, 2018)

When was the last time you went to a new business and asked a question, and the very first person to entertain your question, someone you did not know, called YOU stupid?
No professional does that.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

Dan of all Tirades,
You sent me a PM with a bunch of woke gibberish then blocked me so I couldn't reply.
That's too bad.


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## Dan of all Trades (Jun 2, 2018)

You are not blocked, Sir.
You just can’t reply to my PM
But!!! You can create a new PM. 
Still teaching and passing my knowledge.
Dan of all Tirades… HA! I see what you did there.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

Dan of all Trades said:


> You are not blocked, Sir.
> You just can’t reply to my PM
> But!!! You can create a new PM.
> Still teaching and passing my knowledge.
> Dan of all Tirades… HA! I see what you did there.


Dan,
It is not the small number of posts I've made here at TF that makes me think I know something about how forums should and do work.
It is the larger number of posts I've made on other tractor, hunting, literature, machine shop, and Pacific War forums that makes me think it is you who is at odds with the norm.
Below is one forum where I've posted more than here. Believe it or not the fellows there actually like me.









Viewing profile


Discussion topic in the forums at Yesterday's Tractors.



forums.yesterdaystractors.com


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## TX MX5200 (May 12, 2020)

Dan of all Trades said:


> You are not blocked, Sir.
> You just can’t reply to my PM
> But!!! You can create a new PM.
> Still teaching and passing my knowledge.
> Dan of all Tirades… HA! I see what you did there.


Quit turning this rotary cutter inquiry into some sort of twisted BS…I for one have to listen to that kind of garbage everywhere else and prefer to not have it here.

As for the pin vs slip clutch…either is fine but you need one or the other. On the pin, make sure the bolt grade is low enough to work (I think it’s a #8 bolt), but verify that as I am not positive. On the slip clutch, there is some maintenance to make sure it’s not rusted up.

And for the record…You shouldve gone to the local old time tractor store before the owner retired….he knew his business inside and out and if you said something stupid, he would let ya know real quick. He was the soup nazi of tractors and line was always there.


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## Dan of all Trades (Jun 2, 2018)

It’s a grade 2 bolt. Grade 8 would snap off the u joints.j


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## JLSteiner (Aug 6, 2017)

Dan of all Trades said:


> It’s a grade 3 bolt. Grade 8 would snap off the u joints.


Dan, I never heard of a grade 3 bolt, a grade 2, a grade 5. or a grade 8, a grad 2 has no lines on the head, a grade 5 has 3 lines on the head, a grade 8 has 6 lines on the head.


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## Fotoguzzi (Jan 12, 2020)

Thanks for the laughs guys.


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

Ultradog said:


> .
> Below is one forum where I've posted more than here. Believe it or not the fellows there actually like me.
> 
> 
> ...


I am sure that there are folks here that like ya.........I would be in that crowd.........LOL


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## Qcumber guy (Jun 25, 2017)

Dan of all Trades said:


> Reading all the posts and just finished brush hogging 12 acres yesterday… First off, this is a HELP forum. I don’t understand why people want to make assumptions with derogatory comments, ‘nut behind the wheel’. Sounds like a troll.
> Here is my two cents: 5HP per foot of implement is the minimum. At 5’ of implement and under 25hp at the PTO, when your grass gets tall and wet, your machine will be under heavy load the entire time which is not ideal. I don’t recommend that. Shear bolts break under shock loads. E.g. rock or chunk of tree stump buried in deep brush jumps out and shear bolt breaks (saving the equipment from catastrophic failure) and the entire operation stops to replace the shear bolt. First time I mowed this 12acre plot (Mind you, it was CRP land before it was cleared for pasture) I broke 14 shear bolts. Second time 3 shear bolts and now I haven’t broken a shear bolt in 3 years.
> 
> If you have cleared the land, and it has been mowed constantly it doesn’t matter if you get the clutch or shear bolt style. However, if you have land that sustained heavy erosion, thick brush, 5’ tall Big Bluestem grass and all sorts of debris (next to a stream, side of a hill) get the clutch. Me, personally, can’t justify the clutch because I didn’t spend $300 buying shear bolts. A bag of 25 shear bolts and nuts from your local Farm and Fleet, Tractor Supply Co. etc. cost $40 with inflation.


Ouch!!! I'm a old time observer from a distant country, but You sir(?) Sounds like a person that like to stir!!!! 
Frankly you have not been spoken to either, so that adds a word or 2 to "stir" 
Plse change your nappy and stay out of grownup conversation 
Thank you kindly


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

I think this thread has run it's course.


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