Advice/Opinions on 6ft. Rotary Cutter

bayoubowhunter69 · Nov 16, 2010

I am about to retire my Woods 6ft Bush Hog, it has been a good one, but not looking at spending that much on one this time. I am looking at the Howse 606ht with the i-beam side construction, with a slip clutch, a local dealer here has this unit for $1,436.00 without the safety chains on front and back. He said that was another $250. If anybody could tell me if my choice/price is good or bad please let me know. Thx

IslandTractor · Nov 16, 2010

Welcome to TBN.

Howse is a good brand. King Kutter also makes a medium quality cutter in that price range. Basically as best I can tell the major differences come down to weight of the cutter which reflects how heavy duty it is and whether it has a good gearbox. Woods I believe still uses US made gear boxes and I presume LandPride and Rhino and a few others do too. The less expensive brands like King Kutter use Chinese made gearboxes.

You'll find that most people seem to like their rotary cutters. Some very experienced people have cheaper versions which they seem content with. On the other hand, if you are expecting to get 15 or more years from a cutter it probably is worthwhile spending the extra now for a premium brand.

I was looking recently to add a 6ft rotary cutter to my list of implements and decided I'd buy used on Craigslist. I ended up with an excellent 5ft Woods BrushBull for less than half of what a new Woods and less even than an off brand cutter would have cost so that is another way to go.

bayoubowhunter69 · Nov 16, 2010

Thx Island, for the input and the welcome.
My Woods 6ft was accuired in a trade, it has been a great piece of equipment, but it has bout had it, at least that's what I'm telling the other half...lol, I will check out Craiglist and E-bay tonight and see what I can find.
BTW, I was reading your post on the ripper you added, when I saw I had a reply to my post, gonna go back and finish that now, sure wished I had that when I cleared my place, sounds like something to have....Thx Again

IslandTractor · Nov 16, 2010

I find Craigslist better for implements. Check areas nearby as well if you are willing to drive a bit. Ebay is tough as it is hard to be sure what you are getting and shipping charges can be huge.

bayoubowhunter69 · Nov 17, 2010

Yea I looked last night, wasn"t much on E-bay to my liking anyway, and like you said, the shipping was high. I did check Craig's List and found a couple of wore out units in my area, gonna check some tonight that require a little traveling. I did figure out how to list mine on Craig's List, no bites yet though......Thx Again

IslandTractor · Nov 17, 2010

Be patient. If you can keep an eye on Craigslist for a month or so something good usually pops up. There are websites like searchtempest.com that allow you to automatically check the listings in any group of cities you want and will send you an email as soon as a targetted listing shows up. Very useful if you can wait a month or so.

bayoubowhunter69 · Nov 17, 2010

ok, cool.....does that searchtempest tie in with Craigs list, or is it a stand alone site. I did see a Woods BB60 on Craig's, that had a gr8 price to me......30hrs on unit, looked brand new for $1200......wished i was in the market for a 5'. Also saw a Woods 5' belly mower for $1.....lol, I emailed the peepz and asked if the price was right and if it was was operating condition, got an email that the price was right, but it had been sold. Dang thing wasn't 25 miles from my house, had no need for it, but for a buck I would have went and got it....Re-Sale......lol

sweettractors · Nov 17, 2010

bayoubowhunter69 said:
ok, cool.....does that searchtempest tie in with Craigs list, or is it a stand alone site. I did see a Woods BB60 on Craig's, that had a gr8 price to me......30hrs on unit, looked brand new for $1200......wished i was in the market for a 5'. Also saw a Woods 5' belly mower for $1.....lol, I emailed the peepz and asked if the price was right and if it was was operating condition, got an email that the price was right, but it had been sold. Dang thing wasn't 25 miles from my house, had no need for it, but for a buck I would have went and got it....Re-Sale......lol

If you have a dealer in your area, you can't beat the quality, features and price of the Hawkline/International Rotary Cutters. We have sold them for over 20 years with no (zero) gearbox failures. Ken Sweet

bayoubowhunter69 · Nov 17, 2010

Ken,
What does the 6ft. unit cost, what horse gb does it have, does it have a slip clutch or shear pin, and how much do you think the shipping would be to Louisiana. I don't have a dealer in my area that I know of.

sweettractors · Nov 17, 2010

bayoubowhunter69 said:
Ken,
What does the 6ft. unit cost, what horse gb does it have, does it have a slip clutch or shear pin, and how much do you think the shipping would be to Louisiana. I don't have a dealer in my area that I know of.

We sell the basic unit at 810 pounds with 45 HP box and shearpin protection for $995 and the HD model with 80 HP box and clutch and 1120 pounds at $1495. I can't ship anything past a 5 ft without the shipping being real high. 6 and 7 ft and 8 and 10 ft Takes up the space of 2 pallets on the 8 ft wide truck floor space. Ken Sweet