Mowing Rotary mower by Brown Manuf. ??

[rbargeron]

Anyone have any experience with Brown Mfg. Rotary mowers? I saw a Model B472 (new) and it looks pretty good - made of 10 ga material, has stump jumper, cat1 / cat2 hitch, weighs about 950 lb. Price is 1800. I'm leaning toward buying it - mostly because it is strong everywhere my old one kept breaking. Looks like it was designed by someone who has used 'em. Any ideas will be welcome.

Thanks

 

[W5FL]

You can buy a 6 ft Model 260 Bush Hog with 110 HP gearbox, slip clutch, and chains for about $50 less. The sides of the Bush Hog 260 are 1/4 inch plate. It also weighs a little less than 1000# and is a well known and readily available mower with a 1 yr warranty.

 

[rbargeron]

wen:

I saw the Bush Hog 286 (current version of the 260?) which is very strong looking - but with chains the price was higher. Also I liked the double-shear 3-point connectors on the Brown (BH has these on the seven foot model 287)
Also looked at the BH Squealer 6-ft - sorta light duty. It has an oval-shaped drive bar which seems like it would still collide with stuff.
I'll look at the side plates - looks like BH does a better job there. Anybody know a "responsive" BH dealer?

 

[W5FL]

Oops...It was a 286 Bush Hog with Chains and Slip Clutch for $1750. Dealer here in N Texas is Zimmerer Kubota. Mine came with Cat II pins, but it will also take Cat I pins. Ever see a blade extruded through the side wall? After that you really appreciate the 1/4 inch sidewalls, but it makes them a little heavier, too. The other thing to watch is the chain installation. It is really poor on some mowers. Bush Hog makes a really strong mount for the chains and tail wheel. Both of which are pretty easy to damage on some mowers.

The stump jumper is oval shaped to allow it to crawl up on an object without hanging on the stump.

 

[rbargeron]

wen - now I know how you have time for this forum, N Texas must be about 210 degrees outside today - you've probably got your computer inside where its air-conditioned - or are you using your digital phone right on the Kubota ?

I don't quite picture the advantage of oval vs round drive disk on a rotary - can the round one just end up rubbing the side of a tall stump until you lift ? Is the round one better or worse for rocks?

(I'm in Mass where the sky is clear blue, temp is a breezy dry 76 and life is good. ..... sorry, just had to brag)
On the other hand I am at my office.....

 

[W5FL]

Yeah, I spent 15 years in San Diego. The forcasters give the exact same weather forcast 365 days a year and they are right over 95% of the time. Average temperature was 68 degrees year around. You put water pipes on top of the ground, and everything grows all year long. No need to keep anything inside for 9 months out of the year because it does not rain.

The stump jumper is round on my 286 and seems to ride up over obstacles pretty well. The blade is so heavy 1/2 x 4 inches that it will sometimes split rocks. Hits one and two come out. Chain guards are impressive. Haven't found anything about the 286 that I don't like. I had a Rhino SE-6 before and the belting split and it had many deep dings in the sidewalls and lost a $250 gearbox to a tire at one time. It is not nearly the mower that the 286 is, but it costs less too. Maybe there is something to the saying that you get what you pay for! That is true only for fair prices on implements, though.

 

[Bird]

rbargeron, I had a Bush Hog with the oval stump jumper, then traded up in size, down in quality, for a Howse with the round stump jumper. Fortunately, I don't run over many stumps for that to make a difference, but the oval one is better for that. Another thing I liked about the Bush Hog was the access hole in the deck so I could drop the blades by inserting a big socket through that hole from the top.

And in Texas today, it got down very close to your 76 degrees about 5 a.m. this morning before the sun came up, and the weather forecasters don't think it'll quite get to a hundred./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[tennesseemike]

I sell brown and bush hog the brown definetly has the upperhand. brown is manufactured in oxark ala. i think. those guys really know how to make a hog.. they also make the popular tree cutter in which you will find the the right of way and powerline contracters using...

 

[MChalkley]

TennesseeMike - Do they (or anyone else that you know of) make a cutter that will offset a few feet and will handle at least 2" material and can fit on an L4310?

Mark

 

[tennesseemike]

I don't think Brown has an offset... but I think woods has one. I will look through my books tomorrow and let you know....