Scooby074
Super Member
Last weekend i rented a Billy Goat Outback mower to maintain a piece of land i own. The mower was great on the smaller thorn bushes and heavy grass, but really struggled on any alders over 3/4". So it was back to the spacing saw and hand piling for the larger stuff.
I found the Outback was lacking the weight to push over the larger branches and seemed to jam up and stall the blade, not the engine. It also could have benefited from some sort of posi traction, because it always seemed to spin a wheel when you least wanted it. The back edge of the mower deck also hung up on 3-4" tall stumps from a previous cutting. The deck was set at max height.
How would a DR field mower cope with the larger alters, say 1"+? The alders around here usually grow in clusters of 3-4 "trunks" sharing a common stump. Would it have the weight to push it over and cut it?
How is the DR's traction and ground clearance? Would it hang up on the older stumps, or is the rear of the deck open? Its hard to tell from their website pictures.
After renting the outback, i don't think it fits my needs, however they are the only rough mower available locally and i really liked the Honda engine.
If the DR will handle the vegetation i need to control, then i will strongly consider buying one for next year, however, there's no DR dealer within 250 Mi. according to their website, so a hands on inspection would be out. Id hate to order one and have to send it back, even with their excellent return policy.
Hopefully someone on here will have used both machines and can do a direct comparison so I know whether the problems i had were due to the outback being a rental or just lacking in design.
I'm open to any suggestions for other machines as well. What about BCS? There's supposed to be a dealer in Halifax but they're $$$. Would it handle the alder clusters?
I'm still a few years away from my tractor and bush hog. It cant come fast enough lol.
I found the Outback was lacking the weight to push over the larger branches and seemed to jam up and stall the blade, not the engine. It also could have benefited from some sort of posi traction, because it always seemed to spin a wheel when you least wanted it. The back edge of the mower deck also hung up on 3-4" tall stumps from a previous cutting. The deck was set at max height.
How would a DR field mower cope with the larger alters, say 1"+? The alders around here usually grow in clusters of 3-4 "trunks" sharing a common stump. Would it have the weight to push it over and cut it?
How is the DR's traction and ground clearance? Would it hang up on the older stumps, or is the rear of the deck open? Its hard to tell from their website pictures.
After renting the outback, i don't think it fits my needs, however they are the only rough mower available locally and i really liked the Honda engine.
If the DR will handle the vegetation i need to control, then i will strongly consider buying one for next year, however, there's no DR dealer within 250 Mi. according to their website, so a hands on inspection would be out. Id hate to order one and have to send it back, even with their excellent return policy.
Hopefully someone on here will have used both machines and can do a direct comparison so I know whether the problems i had were due to the outback being a rental or just lacking in design.
I'm open to any suggestions for other machines as well. What about BCS? There's supposed to be a dealer in Halifax but they're $$$. Would it handle the alder clusters?
I'm still a few years away from my tractor and bush hog. It cant come fast enough lol.