Howse Rotary Cutters....POS?

[em14]

I have used a 10 ft Howse for several years now. The problems that I have had has been the lack of good Venting of those gear boxes which I think I have solved by replacing the OEM vent plugs with a 5/16" vent hole drilled thru a water pipe filler plug and the insertion of a Cotter pin to keep out the large dust and trash. This was a recomemdation in the manual! The stock vents did not work well causing the seals to blow out. The other major problem has been just working with the drive train to the outside gear boxes. Mine is used to cut approximately 150 acres 3 to four times a year and it is used hard. It was a heck of a lot cheaper than the big names though at least 1/2 their cost! I'm not complaining but just explaining my experience with the cutter. Be sure to keep it greased and those gear boxes cared for … that is very important!
Leo

 

[IMCA38]

I'll chime in with my $.02 worth...
I have a Rhino RFM that I have used to do all of my mowing the past 2+ years. For the most part, it works great. But I have an area about 3/4-1 acre that doesn't get mowed all the time and it has a Brome-type grass that gets pretty tall and is kind of tough. In addition there are a lot of old trees around that seem to drop twigs and branches every time the wind blows. Therefore, the RFM just doesn't work too good back there. Trying to wade through that stuff with three separate blades turning and the volume of clippings under the deck relaly bogs things down. I think that led to premature failure of one of the deck drive belts on the RFM.
Last fall, a local trailer place advertised new 5' shredders for about $500. Even cheaper than the KK's which run about $600-700 around here. It was a Howse 500 model. I looked it over and decided it should be plenty good for what I needed it to do. I used it 2 or 3 times before the end of the season and was pleasantly surprised. Since my tractor is only about 20hp at the PTO, I'm not likely to destroy it anytime soon. But I'm also confident that if I move up to a 30-35 HP tractor in the future, it will still work fine. That was why I didn't want to get a 4' unit. So far, I've only come up with 2 gripes. First, when I was assembling it, the grease zerks on the PTO shaft literally came apart when I tried to grease them. Those little metric buggers with a 45 deg bend are hard to find. I finally found some at NAPA.
Second gripe- the shredder seems to list and yaw a lot and the front corners dig into the ground tearing up big divots. I hope to fix that by putting some small guide wheels on the front corners of the deck before I start mowing this year.
In the end though, I couldn't justify spending more for my particular needs. I think the Howse will suit my needs just fine.

 

[Soundguy]

Got a pic of that mower?

Soundguy

 

[kossetx]

I may as well put my .02 in.

I've had a Howse 500 for 15 years now. I have abused it trying to reclaim land. The seal went out right away in it. The dealer told me some folks just pump it full of grease, so that's what I did. It has cut down everything I have thrown at at and keeps on going. The left side sheet metal is bowed out from shredding rough stuff. Like others have said, the welds do break, but I know how to weld and just repair it. It has done more than it should and I would buy another.

What ever you get, get some front chains. I recently had something fly out and slice a tire. I'm having a hard time getting a replacement for that tire. Chains are a 300 option on the howse though. I think Rhino they come factory, and the cost isn't much different. when you add chains.

Hope it helps, MP

 

[Bird]

Got a pic of that mower?

Soundguy

I'm not sure what the new ones look like, Chris, but here is a picture of my 1999 model. It was about 3 years old and, of course, had my homemade chain guards when the picture was made.

when I was assembling it

Seeing this comment reminded me of a couple of things. I got a little discount when buying that Howse 500 for taking one that had just arrived with the A-frame and other parts tied on with metal bands. In other words, for me to do the assembly. The only thing the dealer told me was to be sure and put oil in the gear box because they were shipped without oil. Turned out he was mistaken; it was full of oil to start with, never leaked, and I never added any while I owned it. However, one thing I did not check when doing the assembly was the blade bolts. So a year or more later, I decided to clean and sharpen the blades a bit and didn't have a socket the right size to remove the blades with my impact wrench, so I expected to have a hard time getting them off. Turned out I was mistake that time; the blade bolts were hardly more than finger tight. Fortunately, neither one had come off.

 

[MrJimi]

Bird, I have a Howse model 500 and mine looks old. was that picture taken in 1999 ? It sure looks pretty
Jim

 

[Bird]

Bird, I have a Howse model 500 and mine looks old. was that picture taken in 1999 ? It sure looks pretty
Jim

Jim, I had to look back at some of my old records. I bought that Howse on 9/28/99 and that picture was taken on 3/21/02 (about two and a half years), but every time I used it, I either washed it with water or I blew it off with the air hose, and when not in use, it was inside that shop building you see behind it.

 

[Soundguy]

Dang! sure looks nice.. actually.. looks better than most of the ones on the local dealers lots!

Soundguy

I'm not sure what the new ones look like, Chris, but here is a picture of my 1999 model. It was about 3 years old and, of course, had my homemade chain guards when the picture was made.



Seeing this comment reminded me of a couple of things. I got a little discount when buying that Howse 500 for taking one that had just arrived with the A-frame and other parts tied on with metal bands. In other words, for me to do the assembly. The only thing the dealer told me was to be sure and put oil in the gear box because they were shipped without oil. Turned out he was mistaken; it was full of oil to start with, never leaked, and I never added any while I owned it. However, one thing I did not check when doing the assembly was the blade bolts. So a year or more later, I decided to clean and sharpen the blades a bit and didn't have a socket the right size to remove the blades with my impact wrench, so I expected to have a hard time getting them off. Turned out I was mistake that time; the blade bolts were hardly more than finger tight. Fortunately, neither one had come off.

 

[mjarrels]

I have had a 5 foot howse for about 10 years now with no issues so far. But I use my flail mower more often then the rotory. Flail cuts a wider path and is heaver.

mark

 

[CDsdad]

I have a Bushhog SQ600, my father has a 5' Howse light duty, I don't know the model #. I have used both of these units on my place, I borrowed his before I bought mine.

The Howse was sufficient for the light cutting I was doing in my field and never gave a problem. I've put the SQ600 through the woods and as someone said used it for "discovery". The Howse would've never held up. If the Howse gearbox had held up the sheet metal never would've.

Price difference on the 2 was $300 or so.

It's whatever you prefer. I wish Howse was better with service, I only live about 30 minutes from their facility and it would be convenient, that's my biggest problem with them.