Bat wing mowers

[Richard]

In the string trimmer post I saw a Rhino bat wing mower that as I recall, has roughly 10 foot cut.

Are these typically finish mowers or rotary mowers?
(seems a finish mower is also a rotary mower isn't it??) /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

None the less, Marion's uncle cuts the farm, typically takes him a week to do so. He uses I/H 444 (roughly 35 hp at the motor???) coupled with an old 5' rotary cutter, brand unknown.

I have cut some of the fields and became immediately aware that though I didn't "mind" doing it, I don't relish the idea of (when he is no longer able to) cutting 5' at a whack if I can double the cut and in theory, halve the time.

Since we are on hills, stability is foremost to me. Would the 444 deal with one of those? Any merit in looking at an older tractor that has double rear tires? (again, stability is foremost to me). I've done the slide sideways down the hill in Brutus because of rain/mud and now have a much clearer understanding of the definition of "Pucker Factor". I don't want to look at a field mowing machine and fear it sliding.

Would an M series pull a bat wing and would that setup be significantly more stable than an L series? (presuming that an L could also pull a bat wing)

Richard

 

[RobS]

Based on the shape of the decks and the "anti-scalp rollers" I'd have to conclude it's a finish mower. It's stictly a pull behind, so it should have very little influence on the tractor stability. I've seen the highway crews around here with standard tractors (no duals) but the wheels are set waaaay out, probably special axles or something. I would think duals would be very stable, but may tear up the turf when turning. Here's another shot of that mower /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Come to think of it, I have seen rotary cutters with wings also. Again, pull behind and three huge blades.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by RobS on 07/12/01 12:47 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Knight9]

There are a lot of "bat-wing" rotary cutters on the market. The most popular in our area is Shulte. All the crews that cut the highway ditches use them. You can see them at Shulte Rotary Cutters.

Kevin

 

[Bird]

Goodness, Kevin, 26'2" cut at a time/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif; that ought to get the job done in record time. The most popular "bat-wing" mowers in this area are the 15' pull behind models (three 5' sections). And I assume anyone seriously thinking of buying one will, in addition to considering whether his tractor is big enough to handle it, also consider whether it requires a 1000 rpm PTO vs. the 540 rpm PTO.

Bird

 

[MReeter]

Richard,These are Tri-Deck Finish Mowers,not Rotary mowers.Each deck has 3 blades,same as any 4'-5'-6' finish mower.Most of these finish mowers will not properly mow on steep slopes,with all the gauge wheels,they will roll sideways down a hill.They are more suited for wide open, rolling conditions.The mower in the add. is a Bush Hog TD 1500,not a Rhino.I've looked at Bush Hog,Landpride,Rhino,Befco and Rhino is by far the best built of these 4.To handle the smallest of these mowers,11',it takes a minimun of 30 PTO H.P. If you move up to 13'-15' you will need a tractor larger than the L Series,something in the 50-75 H.P. range.