Rotary Cutter Bush Hog temporarily shuts down...

[Bird]

I stand corrected. I called them to ask, and what you said is true.

Which leads me to my next question... If LP build's it, why would they build a CHAIN drive tiller? (Most people I know believe that gear drive tillers are clearly and verifiably superior to chain drive tillers.) The other companies (Bush Hog, Woods, Rhino, etc) buy chain drive tillers b/c they are cheaper. And since most are importing them from Italy, they buy the least expensive product possible. Especially since it isn't a profit center for them, due to cost. They only carry them to help complete their line and service their dealers.

2nd.... why are they so overpriced? I understand why the companies that import tillers are over-priced, but not if a company manufacturers them.

I won't argue with anyone who thinks the gear drive is better than chain drive. Naturally, as you would expect, dealers who sell higher priced gear drive tillers are going to say they are superior. Maybe they're right, but I'm not really sure that's the case, and I'll tell you why. If you have a gear drive tiller and you hit a big rock, root, etc. you hope you'll only shear a pin or slip your slip clutch instead of breaking tines because the rest of the drive line for that tiller has no slack. But with a chain drive, there is a self adjustment for the chain (at least on the Bush Hog that I had and I think on the others, too). That self adjustment is spring loaded so it provides some shock absorbing capacity.

So, is one clearly superior to the other? I don't know, but it sure wouldn't be a deciding factor in my own decision to buy.

 

[keyser soze]

I won't argue with anyone who thinks the gear drive is better than chain drive. Naturally, as you would expect, dealers who sell higher priced gear drive tillers are going to say they are superior. Maybe they're right, but I'm not really sure that's the case, and I'll tell you why. If you have a gear drive tiller and you hit a big rock, root, etc. you hope you'll only shear a pin or slip your slip clutch instead of breaking tines because the rest of the drive line for that tiller has no slack. But with a chain drive, there is a self adjustment for the chain (at least on the Bush Hog that I had and I think on the others, too). That self adjustment is spring loaded so it provides some shock absorbing capacity.

So, is one clearly superior to the other? I don't know, but it sure wouldn't be a deciding factor in my own decision to buy.

If you have your slip clutch adjusted correctly, which every gear drive tiller I've ever seen has a slip clutch, you have nothing to worry about.

I've tilled asphalt with a gear drive tiller... It didn't slip the clutch even. And it didn't tear up the tiller. I think you would agree that's more than "hitting a rock".

A gear drive on a gear driven tiller will outlast the roller chain in a chain drive tiller. That is fact. When you can buy a King Kutter or Taylor Pittsburgh gear drive tiller for less than anybody elses chain driven tiller... I don't understand why you wouldn't upgrade buy purchasing the gear drive tiller AND save money.

EDIT: Bird... I think your mis-conception is that you can't buy a gear driven tiller for less than a chain drive. You can get a gear drive tiller (4', 5', or 6') for less money than a chain drive tiller.

 

[Bird]

I only had my chain driven Bush Hog tiller for 7 years; tilled my own garden, four neighbor's and a brother's gardens, tilled the entire bottom of a good sized dried up pond, tilled rock hard clay to break it up so I could scoop it up with the FEL to fill in another dried up pond, discovered a brick sidewalk an inch or so underground on a tilling job I hired out to do, tilled a yard after the trees were bulldozed off, so I dug up some big roots with it. It was used enough that it had worn down the tines to about 2/3 of their original size, but I never broke anything, and never sheared a pin (I did not have slip clutches on any of my equipment and didn't even know anyone who did in my part of the country).

I'm not saying a chain drive is "better", only that it's good enough I wouldn't worry about it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a gear driven tiller, but I also wouldn't hesitate to buy a chain driven one either.

 

[Tim C.]

Chain drive spring loaded adjustments.

There is no give to the chain regarding the drive train. The adjustment is on the slack side and only serves to make sure the chain rides on the sprocket correctly. On the load side of the chain it is at max length and has no give.

The only change in this relationship comes when the rotor is over speed to the PTO drive. This should only occur when the PTO is turned off and the the rotor is in the air. The spring loaded idler allows of the that event. Nothing more.

Tim

 

[Nissan197]

Hopefully they will pull out of it. I own a 5 ft. squealer and a 5ft box blade from Bush Hog. Been great!!

 

[SESS]

Here is an updated article, I sure hope they can pull it together.......If the family decides to sell, it will be a good business to buy with alot of loyal workers. I feel bad for any of the employees for these companies that have closed down.

Selma Times-Journal | Bush Hog extends down time two more weeks

 

[radman1]

SESS

Time to play taps after reading the last article. Either they are trying to work a deal with another company, bankruptcy or close. Difficult to see how they will be the same company if they reopen.
I am wondering what happened this past year. It was overall a very good year for agriculture sales. I wonder if they forward contracted ahead for large amount of steel when prices were high. Price of steel has decreased and maybe they are stuck with over priced steel. Largest ethanol manufacture in my area (3-4 state region) forward contracted millions of bushels with corn farmers this spring for fall delivery at $7/bushel. Now with corn at $3.70, they are bankrupt. Judge is allowing them to restructure and no longer honor the previous contracts.
Lots of farmers contracted for fertilizer this spring for delivery this fall at $900/ton for annhydrous. Now price is $450. Lots of elevators also contracted at high prices and now stuck with fertilizer that nobody will pay for. The lucky ones did no forward contracting and now just watching prices fall and will sell/buy when they need to.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I won't argue with anyone who thinks the gear drive is better than chain drive. Naturally, as you would expect, dealers who sell higher priced gear drive tillers are going to say they are superior. Maybe they're right, but I'm not really sure that's the case, and I'll tell you why. If you have a gear drive tiller and you hit a big rock, root, etc. you hope you'll only shear a pin or slip your slip clutch instead of breaking tines because the rest of the drive line for that tiller has no slack. But with a chain drive, there is a self adjustment for the chain (at least on the Bush Hog that I had and I think on the others, too). That self adjustment is spring loaded so it provides some shock absorbing capacity.

So, is one clearly superior to the other? I don't know, but it sure wouldn't be a deciding factor in my own decision to buy.

If the slip clutch is working correctly, neither will have any issues. Also, I'd hate to be counting on the chain tensioner as protection of major components. That's just not it's job. Typically, the spring loading of the tensioner is far from adaquate as a driveline buffer. But.... I'd be leary of saying EITHER is "better" than the other as a "broad strokes" across the board answer. There are SOME chain drive tillers that are well made. There are some well made gear drive tillers. And in all likelyhood, there are junkers in both types. That said, all things being equal, I'd take my chances with gear driven in a heartbeat.

 

[dgl24087]

This is more of a situation in which Bush Hog's ownership, CC Industries, a division of Henry Crown and Company, is struggling. Crown is an investment firm, and we all know the beating that segment is enduring. My guess is that they are seeking avenues to raise cash quickly, and Bush Hog is probably one of their more saleable assets. Great Dane, Weiler and Co. and Formax (both manufacturers of meat processing equipment), and Gillig (municipal busses) are also owned by Crown. Crown is also heavily invested in commercial real estate, i.e., office buildings and retail centers.

 

[piller]

I'm in the market for a bush hog, err, rotary cutter. The Bush Hog brand name is valuable, they have a good reputation.

I'm sorry to hear that they are having problems. I believe though that many companies today having problems have made poor decisions. The free market should be allowed to work. Business is about risk and reward. Companies that make better decisions will be rewarded and those companies that made poor decisions will lose.

That sounds harsh but it's reality. Of course, the difficulty is that the loyal hardworking employees of the company who are not involved in the decision making process will be most affected. The company big wigs will be fine no matter what.

Perhaps you noticed that during the recent financial market meltdown there were several banks with a strong balance sheet who had little or no exposure to the subprime mortgage mess. Why was it that some banks were in a strong position and others were not? Some of the financial institutions that made poor decisions were not allowed to fail, in other words the market was not allowed to work and they were rewarded for poor management.

Back to rotary cutters, I got prices from a couple of local dealers and it appears that the Bush Hog brand cutters cost more than the competition. The premium for the Bush Hog name was not 5% or 10%, it was more like 25%. I will likely purchase another brand.

The above is just my opinion.