Buying Advice Just got some pricing on a 84" Woods Bush Hog

[High Brook Hills]

I just came back from the local dealer to get some pricing on bush hog style mowers. They suggested I needed an 84" (I was asking about pricing on 96") as they thought my 60HP Case was too small for 96". The other reason given was they did not have any 96" mowers. They then proceeded to quote me north of $3,000.00 for an 84" Woods mower. Seems rather high to me...

I have looked at mowers at Tractor Supply and they were well south of this.

Any thoughts on pricing and quality? I have a 60HP Case.


There is a Deere dealer south of me who had a used ~ 96" gull wing finishing mower, I might call them and get some pricing.

 

[TripleR]

Which model?

We own Woods as well as Land Pride and there is no comparison in quality with those at TSC.

Check the website and it should tell you the HP requirements.

 

[High Brook Hills]

I did not write the model number down. I know the Woods is supposed to be a higher quality but the metal was the same guage as the TSC.

Deere dealer quoted me nearly same price for a new Woods 10' rotary bush hog. They also have several used 8' and 7'available for view for significantly less. I'll be making a trip down there tomorrow.


I thought my tractor could handle an 8' mower.

 

[hrcarver]

Depends on the model. There are good ones and cheap ones with every brand. Many people might not use one but 40 hrs a year. You need to match the quality with amount and severity the use.

You will get what you pay for. Mowing a 5 acre pasture is different from reclaiming rocky powerlines.

 

[RoyJackson]

I did not write the model number down. I know the Woods is supposed to be a higher quality but the metal was the same guage as the TSC.

Deere dealer quoted me nearly same price for a new Woods 10' rotary bush hog. They also have several used 8' and 7'available for view for significantly less. I'll be making a trip down there tomorrow.

Don't make the mistake that the metal thickness is all there is to it...

Good luck with the used cutters!

 

[High Brook Hills]

Yep, the gears are what makes alot of the difference. But yes, I did not look at the gear boxes/model numbers. I will have to do that.

Mowing about 35 acres, wanting to move from a 5' rotary Bush Hog brand, extra heavy duty mower. A larger mower will cut down significantly on the mowing time and therefore the expenses related. I might resell the Bush Hog to off-set the other costs.


I have looked at these used at multiple auctions. Most of the mowers are seized up and seem more like scrap metal to me.


I'll check back later with more information after visiting Deere.

 

[Soundguy]

I run a 10' 3pt howse HD mower on my 1975 67 pto hp ford 5000

I'd think with 60 hp.. you could run a 96" mower fine.

Look at the howse HD line.. mine is a 120HD.. it's built like a brick house. was about 2400$ kodiak was a lil cheaper, but built much less solid IMHO. Mind you those prices are a few years old.. I'm sure inflation has upped them a bit.

soundguy

I just came back from the local dealer to get some pricing on bush hog style mowers. They suggested I needed an 84" (I was asking about pricing on 96") as they thought my 60HP Case was too small for 96". The other reason given was they did not have any 96" mowers. They then proceeded to quote me north of $3,000.00 for an 84" Woods mower. Seems rather high to me...

I have looked at mowers at Tractor Supply and they were well south of this.

Any thoughts on pricing and quality? I have a 60HP Case.


There is a Deere dealer south of me who had a used ~ 96" gull wing finishing mower, I might call them and get some pricing.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Is that 60 hp on the PTO? If so you should be able to pull a 8' or 10' cutter without much trouble.

Personally I'd stay away from the 7' single spindle cutters. The are very long, heavy and in my experience actually take more power than the 8' double spindle cutters. For whatever reason spinning two 4' blade units seems to take less power than one 7 footer.

 

[TripleR]

I did not write the model number down. I know the Woods is supposed to be a higher quality but the metal was the same guage as the TSC.

Deere dealer quoted me nearly same price for a new Woods 10' rotary bush hog. They also have several used 8' and 7'available for view for significantly less. I'll be making a trip down there tomorrow.

I thought my tractor could handle an 8' mower.

The Case Farmall IH 60 shows 51 PTO HP.

As mentioned different models within makes require different HP to spin and tractor weight will also affect how well the tractor handles the weight, so in some cases a pull type may be indicated even if enough HP is available to spin it.

I am not comfortable enough with my knowledge base and mechanical skills to buy used, but some are. Some of the older Woods cutters had gearbox reliability issues, but I haven't heard of any with the later models. We like Woods and LP, but there are several very good brands available.

Several guys on here mow commercially, like Farmwithjunk, Builder and others, so I would check with them.

 

[Builder]

Is that 60 hp on the PTO? If so you should be able to pull a 8' or 10' cutter without much trouble.

Personally I'd stay away from the 7' single spindle cutters. The are very long, heavy and in my experience actually take more power than the 8' double spindle cutters. For whatever reason spinning two 4' blade units seems to take less power than one 7 footer.

Verticaltrx brings up an excellent point which I can confirm. I had a 7' Bush hog cutter with a single spindle. It always seemed to me that the gearbox/spindle/shaft, etc. was more difficult to start up with it's long swing. Now I have an 8' twin spindle and with 2 smaller pans & blades seems to spin up faster and be a better all around cutter. Also the mower deck can be shorter with 2- 4' blades as opposed to 1-7' blade.

I have 62PTO HP and it runs an 8' twin spindle cutter easily even in 8' tall heavy grass or 1" thick stalky brush, but I personally wouldn't want much less HP. 10-12 less PTO HP would be do-able, but not through real heavy brush. Light-medium cutting shouldn't be a problem.