Batwing cutter 15 foot--Whoos best?

[Builder]

J,

I know what you mean about the Kubota financing. They let me finance my new Cam Superline trailer for 0% along with my new L-39. Hard to pass-up.

 

[gabby]

How big is your tractor?
How many acres are you maintaining?

I had a batwing for years and got rid of it. I got a JD HX-10 and like it better. It follows uneven ground surprisingly well. I'm pulling it with a 85 HP Ford 7610 and it will bog down in thick cutting. You need at least 8 HP per foot of width.
gabby

 

[jgh]

20060325

It's 80 PTO, a NH TN90F (orchard/vineyard model).

Dealers I have talked to and BH corp (as well as all spec sheets I have read) all feel I have enough hp and wt, but as with everything else, my mileage may vary....

If you've seen the hot discussion with "jimg" about hp requirements for square balers, you'll know how much even mfrs can disagree about how much twist (or should that be umph, since twist is torque, not hp...) is needed for implements/machinery.

We've got about 80-90 ac to maintain, with hay on or to be on, a majority of them. I squeezed one of my photos into a pdf that would pass under the attachment size restriction, some of the stuff I will be cutting down in the river valley.

Right now there is a lot to clean up, and my 1287 7 footer worked me last year. Sloooowwwww! I've heard conflicting stuff on 10 ft cutters about how well they follow and with at least one guy telling me that the JD 10s blow stuff at the rear window. I can observe that even my 7 footer is a little funky about some of the places I have to cut. A guy I went to see who had a 15 foot JD HX-15 and an H or MX-10, decided not to sell his batwing, bt will gladly, anxiously, sell me his 10 foot cutter, since he hates it (it blows back on him).

My BIL manages over 800 acres, pasture for fancy horses, and loves his 1518, which he runs with a JD 5410, no cab. That one has at least 25 fewer horses than mine. He also speaks against a 10 footer due to contours on our land.

So you can see I've been pushed both ways!

Thanks for coming in on this and please beg to differ as you see fit.

Jim

 

[gabby]

Pulling a batwing with too little tractor is like pulling a big trailer with too little truck. I've done it. It's no fun when you get in the thick stuff and you have to slow down to a crawl, or even stop to let the engine lug back up. Sounds like you've got hills to pull as well as thick growth to cut. I think you'll be trading soon for a bigger tractor if you get a batwing. Batwing mfr's and salespeople will tell you it ain't so but they're spinning.
gabby

 

[jgh]

20060325

Now I know how to get the missus to agree to more tractor!

Seriously I'll question them further, but maybe some folks will chime in on what pairings they use.

We DO have hills, and I have had some fun with the 1287 on those, though it is not heavy enough to flail me around, of course.

When I ran track in school at VT, we had "runner-upper" near the fieldhouse that we used for "strength" training. We called it Chicken S___ Hill. There's one on our Mt Burgha Farm that I believe is its offspring. There are estates and farms around this area (near Charlottesville/Albemarle County) that have driveways bordering on vertical, so I can just imagine what the rest of their land looks like.

You need one of those tractors that has one side's tires bigger than the other (kind of like mountain cows....) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

J

 

[Gatorboy]

Your 80 HP PTO is plenty for a 15' batwing mower.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

That depends on what you're cutting. I had a 125 HP tractor for a couple years back in the 1980's. I used it to pull a 15' batwing from time to time. It would lug the daylights out of the tractor in heavy fescue. I hooked my 60 HP 2440 Deere to it later on, clipping pastures. Not even a good work-out for that tractor.

 

[deere755]

For my money you can't go wrong with either Bush Hog or John Deere. We had an M&W and it was worthless. We would mow half a day and work on it the other half. I don't know much about the woods bat wings but I have had good luck with the smaller mowers.

 

[HayDR]

Servis-Rhino is #1 in Flex-wing cutter sales. Bush Hog is #2. Deere #3, Woods #4, Landpride #5

Ask for a deck ring it is worth the $250. Also if you are going to transport a Flex-wing cutter via towing on the road get foam filler airplane tires. Laminated tires will fall apart if you pull them over 20 MPH.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have a 3180 I bought used maybe four years ago or so that I pull with my 108hp Case 2096. I snapped the main driveshaft once when I engaged the PTO to quickly. I don't know about other makes but on my Woods, I need to be level for both wings to drop or else one will hang for a bit then slam to the ground. Other than that, I really never had a problem with it.

Wish I could say the same about my Woods "Mow-N-Machine" but that is another thread.