Kioti RX7320PC vs John Deere 5075e

[BossTractor]

Hi,

We run Alamo HD flails and have very little issues with them. The bearing issues we did have subsided when we went to the 100lb Timken-rated TRC 880 C&C grease. The Montage Alamo copy mowers did not work well and the 150 miles of Bush Hog mowing I did with the twin spindle Alamo RH-96 was a 2400lb maintenance nightmare. Can you believe we have super luck with the single spindle Deere HX-7? We use it to chop everything we grind with the skid steer and forestry head and we also use it in the field along side the flails because it does that good a job on grass? One broken blade a year verses about 30 Alamo blades.

At home I have a New Holland 918L/Maletti and it too has been a nice mower. Envy of the neighborhood when I feel like doing lawn striping.

On a side note we bought a new Deere 331G with tracks and Deere forestry head. Very little trouble in 50 miles of grinding 8 hours/day and the Yanmar diesel starts so good when it is below zero at the jobsite. Counting our blessings the Powertech is not under the hood.

We sent two 85P Mahindra tractors to auction and the other two are going soon. You would never complain about Deere or another color after 40 hours of steep roadside mowing in "the penalty box." A/C down almost every week of the summer. Just awful.


Personally I like the look, feel and quality of the T4.75 NH and its ALO factory loader. Sweet ride for sure.

Brian

Can you give me some insight into how well flail mowers hold up to abuse? I mow a lot of overgrown pasture land, farm yards, undeveloped lots, and a few oil leases. Mostly 2-5' tall grass, and thick weeds like Canadian thistle, tansy and small sapling up to a 1".

You find a lot of forgot objects when mowing. Steel pipes, chainlink fence, barbed wire, ground stakes, silt fence, rocks. Just to name a few things I've found and bashed blades of my rc2060 off of or wrapped around the pan and blades. Only damage i did was bent a blade once off a steel pipe. $150 for a new set.

How to the rear rollers hold up? I'm nervous it could catch on a small stump or metal ground rod and not jump over it and bend it.

 

[sugarloafguy]

Hi,

The Alamo SHD flails we use stand up well. For the type of mowing you do 2-5' grass we do that as well. The rear rollers if you catch them just break the bolts usually. We bend several of the front shields on stumps hiding in the grass so you can just take them off. TRC 880 Crown and Chassis grease works excellent on bearings and we get several hundred miles on the rear rollers/bearing assys without issue. For the type of mowing you do I would suggest "Duck Feet" aka hammers vs fine blades like my New Holland or the Medium Duty blades we use on the Alamo. If Alamo does not offer this option Maschio does and will be fine for what you do. Some guys mow apple orchard/vineyard prunings with the Maschio here so they stand up to the 1" material. I have wound a roll of cable and fence wire around the rollers so bad it took an hour with side cutters and a torch to get it off. Most fun you can have with your clothes on really. The nice thing with flail is a few minutes with spare blades, cotter pins and side cutters and you can replace missing/damaged blades in the field. Rotary cutter changes we do with the service truck and an impact wrench. As stated above, the Deere HX cutter is super. I would not take another Alamo/Bush Hog if you gave it to me. Deere mows better and significantly better durability, especially the blades and bolts that anchor them. Only problem is that cutter does not come in New Holland blue. Big issue with the flail is it is an expensive mower. My little 60" New Holland/Maletti made in Italy offset flail was about $3500.00 and these mowers can run up to $9k or more depending.

Brian