I run a little 50Hp MX5000 and BW12. If the blades are kept sharp you can cut Zero turn smooth and low in H2 at 2500rpms. BW12 is a must have item for a huge expanse of grass you want to cut “yard close”. Everything else is just seems like Dickn’ around wasting time.
It doesn't really get pushed around at all. I find that it handles it better overall than a 6ft 3pt hog especially on hills. I have a couple of really steep hills I mow regularly and feel more confident with it than the 3pt which does throw it around a little when you get into rough territory.
That video was made 2 days after I bought it. So far I'm impressed that my tractor handles it as well as it does. It's very easy on horsepower. I was looking for a 600 series to better power match my tractor, but they are practically non-existent around here. It does do a beautiful job mowing, and I wish I'd bought one years ago.
@@jamesholden3049 I totally hear that! The 600/610 seems pretty rare - pretty easy to understand with only 5hp difference to thr 700/710. The 610 doesn’t work my tractors too hard either - even the 165 at ~50 pto HP. For me it was mostly cost and fitting through barways 😅. Anyway, glad it’s been working out for you too!
@@windrowfarm LOL! I finally decided the same thing, but I think my little tractor is only rated at 29 PTO horsepower from the factory. I've got it turned up a bit, but I still felt like it was pretty ambitious to think I could pull it. I can cut at around 5 MPH with the 700 in average conditions and the worst patches I've encountered have taken me down to 3 MPH. Not exactly OWNING it, but I'm very pleased with the performance. If you have any tips for me on the setup, I'd be happy to try them.
@@jamesholden3049 woah!! That’s impressive! I didn’t realize that when watching the video. Not sure I have any great tips - Other than setting the floatation as light as I can get away with, but I’m in rocky country. I did get the swath board add-on, and glad I did - was having an issue of trampling un-mowed hay in thick material because it was dropping the hay so close to the un-cut edge.
@@windrowfarm Some of my fields are pretty rocky too, and I've been trying to find the right balance of pressure thinking that may help avoid causing damage, prolong the life, and reduce the power needed to drag it. I didn't know there was a swathboard option! I will have to check into that! I had the same problem with very heavy or wet material. I have been able to overcome it by driving the tractor right next to the cut to trample the cut material and aligning the mower behind me to do a shallow overlap. Basically driving it just like you'd setup a 3pt sickle bar mower. The tractor will walk it down enough to keep it from bunching up under the shoe, but a swathboard would be MUCH easier!
Thank you! I'm still loving it. I changed from a 4" to 3" cylinder about a month ago to trade in some of the excess power for speed. It was so ridiculously overpowered that it would cut oak crossways. Now it's TWICE as fast and powered just about perfectly for normal splitting. You can stop it in a really nasty knot, but I generally throw that crap away anyway.
Hi James, great video! I’m trying to duplicate your setup on a smaller Cat 301.7d two ton machine. Finally found a Harbor Freight bidirectional splitter and now I need to mount it. Can you make a video of your bracket connection? How easy is it to take on and off? You use your thumb controls to work the splitter correct? Any input would be appreciated and thanks for the great idea. Love RU-vid
Sorry, I'm not sure why I didn't see these comments before! The easiest way to connect it is to either take a broken bucket and cut the ears off of it or buy a set of ears or breaker bracket from someone like USA Attachments. If you've got a pin on bucket it's pretty easy to fabricate your own like I did on the original design for a backhoe. Quick attach couplers like the one on my machine are wonderful, but they are more complex and I recommend just buying a bracket or broken bucket. Then all I did was weld some plates on it to bolt the splitter to and plumbing the hydraulic hoses to the aux/thumb connections.
Yep ... I have the 9' one attached to a Kioti Rx7320 tractor. Made the change from a 12' swather/conditioner. Cutting this way dries out the grass hay better than having it in a wind row and still racking 2 rows into one. Now .... use a 10' hay rack and still get 20' distance between rows and hay dries quicker. Maybe a day to dry vs a couple.
Now that is slick. Cuts both ways. Cool. Only thing i would add is some steel off the back that would meet the thumb and act like a log loader so that you could grab and position any odd ball workpiece or even move long logs that a helper could hit with a saw.
Not for sissies says the one in a cab I expected no cab getting slapped with shit stung by shit only sissies mow with a cab should be name of this one 😆
Done that plenty... So sorry I didn't have an open cab tractor available to show. I still couldn't see if I was running over a car or driving off a cliff, but thanks for the comment. ;)
@@jamesholden3049 oh I got ya just given you shit 😆... I'm cutting 6ft tall thickness right now on a mf135 wishing I was on my buddies ford 4610 cab be glad you have a cab it'll beat you to death without one and so will the sun I enjoy it with or without a cab though lol
@@arvillenoe2542 I enjoy it too, but this was some of the thickest, tallest shit I've ever encountered. Hence the video, but it really doesn't do justice to how hard it was just to tell if I was in the cut, not to mention the chances of actually seeing any obstacle other than a tree. Speaking of me being a sissy, I've since upgraded to a Woods Batwing, and that's without doubt the cat's meow.
@@jamesholden3049 I've tried videoing mine for a buddy and no video ever does it justice it's always way worse in person can't and to see that field of yours and what I'm dealing with now i can only imagine I scared to death I'm going to find the old fence by mistake because mine is just like yours I mean you just can't see anything I will say I do wish I had that cats meow you got worse thing I hit so far yellow jackets and those little bitches hurt worse than a bill for broken shit I do believe lol
@@arvillenoe2542 Yeah, add to it that this was not my field nor had I ever seen it before, so I had no idea what I would find, run over, or fall into. That's what put the pucker factor to it for me. I'm 6'5" tall, and I lacked at least a foot being able to reach the seed heads in the taller areas. Someone had also tried to mow it before me and given up after about 3 rounds.
Double action means both the blades and the guards move back and forth. Advantage to that is each only has to move half the distance and therefore can cycle twice as fast. Another added benefit is the movement of the guards shakes off any material that would normally cause a clog in a conventional sickle bar mower.
Any reason why you did not use the thumb and bucket with a stationary splitter using just the the curl of the bucket. I like the way you did yours but I have seen others just using a cutting blade attached to where the thumb is
I thought about doing it that way, but after some experimentation, it looked like the range of distance from the machine where it would work was going to be very limited. If the log was too close or too far away, there wasn't enough thumb or bucket travel to reach it without moving the machine. Also, my thumb is much more difficult to remove than this attachment.
The Bi-directional splitter is brilliant! 👍 I've been researching the screw type splitters, seem more popular overseas. But something like this would be mint. Alot cheaper. You just steal the hoses from the thumb for that right? It doesn't require constant flow like a hammer?
i have a kubota BX2350 i bet i could mow that crap, but i would have to have the deck all the way up and take multiple passes. the way your tractor just literally eats that stuff is impressive
Hi James I've just found you on You Tube & i am amazed , unfortunately I live in France but is it possiblefor you to help me out with some drawings or sketches to enable to try & make one myself to fit on my mini digger thanks Allen
Hello Larry, I have a mini excavator volvo ec 35 and I fixed a Split Fire 4203 , You can see that on youtube "chêne split" or type SPLIT FIRE 4203 . I explain how fix this log splitter on mini excavator with no risk breaking Téflon. Soon😀👋
Caleb Johnson: Full comp, full chisel, 8 tooth sprocket, and 42" bar. Skip doesn't seem to be faster in Oak for me. Full comp seems to run smoother and stay sharp longer. It does seem to be better in soft wood, and it does help a little if you are short on power.
do you think a wedge with wings would have any power issues? I am building one as well, what size cylinder 4-5 do you have any plans or drawings to help a guy out? and any revisions you would do over
Andy Garcia it's a Kubota L3430 cab version with a 6' brush hog. Factory horsepower was 35, but I've done a little tweaking and it's probably sitting comfortably in the 40s now.
@@jamesholden3049 That's the d1703 in that Kubota right? I just bought an l2501, has the d1703. But it's now rated at like 24 horsepower and limited at 2200 RPM for emissions. Did you do more than just turn the fuel up? I'm about to make mine rev out to at least 2500rpm. The d1703 supposedly makes like 35hp at 2800 stock. I'm sure you can just add fuel from there.
