PTO Power Needed to Run a Brush Cutter

Power Take Off

• The spinning shaft can be mounted at the front, back or both sections of a tractor. An attachment, such as a weed cutter or post hole digger can be mounted with a special frame onto the frame of the tractor and mated with the PTO.

  The horsepower of the PTO is expressed as the horsepower of the engine powering it. This is useful enough, but doesn't take into account the fact that the tractor will often be taking part of that power to move itself along.

Brush Cutter

• Brush cutters work like the weed cutter used by most home owners to trim the edge of the lawn. They have a rotating bar with a sharpened edge which cuts down the weeds. The blade spins at a speed high enough to do the job without needing a second cutting edge. It's much like swinging a knife quickly enough to cut a curtain hanging in a window. The blade has to be sharpened from time to time.

PTO Requirements

• The horsepower needed at the PTO to power the brushcutter depends on the width of the swath the cutter makes. Four foot wide brushcutters require 16 to 25 horsepower; five foot cutters need 20 to 30 horsepower and six foot brushcutters have to have 25 to 40 horsepower to operate efficiently. If the output of the PTO isn't readily available, subtract five horsepower from the stated horsepower of the engine.