CentralNC said:
My Dad was a die hard Bush Hog user. All of our farm implements were Bush Hog brand and they lasted forever. We still have (at my Dad's place) an old 5ft Bush Hog that is at least 25 years old and it still works. We used these mowers a lot and they were absolutely abused.
I need to purchase a rotary cutter for use in clearing off some land we just purchased. I would expect to cut trees in the 1-2" category with the rotary mower. Anything larger would get a chain saw. Most of the land is covered in tall, thick grass. I am stuck on deciding which rotary mower to buy. The choices are a Bush Hog Squealer 160 (5') or an American Farmland 5' cutter from Southern States. The BH is $1250 and the AF is $700.
My thoughts are that they BH is a much better mower, but I could buy 2 of the AF (or King Kutter) mowers at those prices. I am also worried that I could wreck any new mower in doing what I need to do with the initial cut. Once I get the land cut and cleared....either mower should do a decent job in maintaining it. King Kutters are also available at Tractor Supply in the $700 price range.
I guess this is the classic "good" vs. "good enough" arguement. Any thoughts or comments? I appreciate your advice.
I just recently purchased a rotary cutter and went through the process of searching what one to buy. I looked at Bushhog, Woods, Rhino, King Kutter and what was available at Tractor Supply Company.
Bushhog, Woods and Rhino all offered a 5 year warranty on the gear box. They ranged in pricing for a four foot rotary mower from $975 to $1,250 (the Rhino was a five foot mower). I liked the Rhino, but thought the weight would be too much for my tractor.
I also looked a King Kutter and it was a lighter unit, but seemed to be strong enough for what I needed for my property. I went to the newly opened TSC store in New Hampshire and they had all of the literature on the KK rotary mower on hand, but no equipment. It was a case of having to order it and wait and see what it looked like. So I went ahead and ordered it from TSC.
It took less than two weeks to get here and I when I went down and to pick it up I was informed it was a distributed item by Tarter Gate and that is why it had the Farm Force logo on the side. Had no idea who Tarter Gate was!
I was a bit upset with the situation and after it was loaded on my trailer I went into the service desk to discuss a few things regarding the poor manual and no parts list! The salesman called Tarter Gate and put me on the phone with them. At that point I told the woman that I had just purchased a KK rotary mower and wanted to know what size and grade shear bolt was I to use with it. She immediately told me that I had called the wrong company! The salesman told me to say it was a Farm Force, which I did and she immediately told me it was a 31/2 inch grade two bolt! Turns out that the bolt with the mower is a grade 5 bolt!
The mower being sold by TSC, (the Farm Force) is manufactured by Tarter Gate only for Tractor Supply Company. I believe it is the same as American Farmland model that Tarter Gate manufactures to sale under their name, but not sure if they are the same or not.
As for warranty the American Farmland seems to have a one-year limited warranty and no mention of any additional warranty on the gearbox. The Farm Force does not mention any warranty and although I have requested this information from Tractor Supply Company as of this writing I have not been contacted by the store with warranty information.
Physically, the American Farmland and the King Kutter look almost the same. The one difference I see is the support arms for the upper link. Down at the base of the front arms on the KK there is an additional support bracket that attached to the arms and the platform of the cutter.
I decided to just go ahead and keep the mower as it is doing a good job and I just did not want to arrange to bring it back to them once I got it home. The price was right at $700 and I figure it will serve my needs.
If you are into having good operators manuals, parts manuals then you should really be careful and ask TSC about the warranty, and to see the manuals.
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