Rotary cutter, batwing or fixed?? Pros and cons??

[Blackjackfarm]

Looking at two different rotary cutters, a John Deere MX 15 and a Bush Hog 3414, the JD is a 15 foot batwing cutter and and the Bushhog is a 14 foot solid cutter, both have 3 spindles with two blades each, the JD is about $13,500 and the Bush Hog $12,500.

Looked at a couple other batwing 15 foot mowers and they are comparable in price.

Trying to decide between batwing or non-batwing. Leery of the extra moving parts on a batwing, two extra cylinders, two extra drive lines, thinking long term, how will it last, but I do have a couple of spots, ditches and berms where the flex wing would be handy.

Can you give me your experiece with batwing mowers? Pros and cons of both?

Thanks!!!

 

[aczlan]

I wouldn't get a solid cotter that big. Our place isnt exactly flat, so a solid cutter would be scalping frequently.
Also, a solid cutter will be a bear to transport if you ever need to take it anywhere whereas most flex cutters fold up to ~8' wide.

Aaron Z

 

[leonz]

Looking at two different rotary cutters, a John Deere MX 15 and a Bush Hog 3414, the JD is a 15 foot batwing cutter and and the Bushhog is a 14 foot solid cutter, both have 3 spindles with two blades each, the JD is about $13,500 and the Bush Hog $12,500.

Looked at a couple other batwing 15 foot mowers and they are comparable in price.

Trying to decide between batwing or non-batwing.
Leery of the extra moving parts on a batwing,
two extra cylinders, two extra drive lines,
thinking long term, how will it last, but I do
have a couple of spots, ditches and berms
where the flex wing would be handy.

Can you give me your experiece with batwing mowers? Pros and cons of both?

Thanks!!!

Another option is the Hiniker flail chopper. The unit is road towable
by simply lowering the twin transport wheels thus allowing you to tow it
with one narrow end using its towing hitch.


The Model AR1700 is available in either a 15 or 20 foot cutting width and requires a 1,000 rpm
power take off.


The Model AR2000 with a minimum cutting width of 18 feet has abrasion resistant steel plating in its construction

The hitching options are either pull type or three point hitch when ready to work.

Options
towing hitch
center grass divider
end transport kit
road legal light kit

The AR model flail mowers when towed is directly behind the tractor in its line of travel with nothing exceeding the lanes width.

If you are not that far from Mankato it woiuld be worth your time to look at one as they factory is in Mankato, Mn.

 

[ovrszd]

I have a JD M1008 10' dual spindle rigid deck. I wouldn't like a rigid deck any wider than that. Even at 10' I have to pay attention to the terrain to keep a front corner from digging in. I cut a lot of road banks, structure dams, etc. I guess if you have perfectly flat ground and don't transport, go for it.

My Brother has a 20' Bush Hog Batwing. He rarely has any mechanical problems with it and it does a great job of cutting. I think if you stay in a good quality brand machine the maintenance of a Batwing will be minimal.

 

[aczlan]

I think if you stay in a good quality brand machine the maintenance of a Batwing will be minimal.

And keep up with greasing the pivot points...

Aaron Z

 

[bigbull338]

we have the bushhogg 3414 ridgid cutter an it works great we pull it with 70hp plus 4x4 tractors with fels on them.ill tell you this the bushhogg is alot tougher shredder than the JD.if i was you id price a new bushhogg batwing shredder.an id buy the bushhogg.

 

[gabby]

I don't think you want the MX (medium duty) type. Go heavy with HX (heavy duty). I run an HX-10 but I tried a MX-10 and there was no comparison.

Also, I hope you have a big tractor to pull the batwing. You will need way over 100 hp unless you enjoy creeping along and straining in thick stuff. I use 110 pto hp to pull my HX-10.

 

[ddivinia]

I have a mx-15 and it has been a good rig. I pull it with 75 pto. Really think I have to slow down but I am a happy customer.


D.

 

[Ken45101]

I have the Bush Hog 2515 batwing and I'm totally satisfied with it. I pull it with a Kubota 9540 (84 pto hp) and normally mow in 3rd gear without problems. This year I had a couple of patches of extremely lush, thick, tall weeds and I had to shift to 1st gear, but that was only for a couple of hundred feet.

The BH 2515 is plenty heavy duty for most field work. Unless you are clearing fields overgrown with a lot of big saplings, IDK what value a heavier duty unit would be.

I got mine with the CV joint so that I can turn more sharply.

I could not use a 14' fixed cutter here: I'd never get through gates or up and down the driveway. I also suspect that scalping would be a big problem on uneven ground.

The BH2515 can operate with the wings vertical. I use that sometimes for mowing trails, or the hillsides along our 1500 ft driveway.

 

[TripleR]

Like ovrszd, we use a 10' rotary cutter, Woods DS1260 and no way would I go bigger on a fixed cutter. Our renters use a Woods 15' bat-wing on one of our farms and it works great, I asked them about it before buying ours and theirs is very reliable. We have no need for one bigger than 10' but if we did it would be a bat-wing, even with our 10' it is too much trouble to transport between farms due to a very narrow bridge.