Rotary Cutter What is the best rotary cutter on the market today for the price

[Farmwithjunk]

"Best" for what purpose? Are you clipping pastures? Mowing heavy brush? Mowing rough, rocky ground? Mowing a lawn?

What size mower? 5'? 6'? 15' bat wing?

What BUDGET? Does "best" mean "a good CHEAP mower"? Or are you inquiring as to a top of the line commercial duty mower?

For a single spindle mower, general duty cutting, with some brush, around the occasional rock, and thick grass/weeds, I like the Bush Hog 280 series. Just a tick less expensive than the 290 series, essentially the same mower, just not quite as "pretty"....the 280 series is a lot of mower for the buck. It's sure not as cheap as some of the economy grade mowers, but will survive the torture of light commercial mowing.

 

[foreman Etexas]

"Best" for what purpose? Are you clipping pastures? Mowing heavy brush? Mowing rough, rocky ground? Mowing a lawn?

What size mower? 5'? 6'? 15' bat wing?

What BUDGET? Does "best" mean "a good CHEAP mower"? Or are you inquiring as to a top of the line commercial duty mower?

For a single spindle mower, general duty cutting, with some brush, around the occasional rock, and thick grass/weeds, I like the Bush Hog 280 series. Just a tick less expensive than the 290 series, essentially the same mower, just not quite as "pretty"....the 280 series is a lot of mower for the buck. It's sure not as cheap as some of the economy grade mowers, but will survive the torture of light commercial mowing.

Gotta read #1 post!!!

 

[BlacknTan]

Like most things, I don't believe there is a "best", just several good alternatives as it seems you can always find someone who doesn't like one brand or the other. In that size, I really like my Land Pride RCR26; I also like Woods, but have never owned one under 10', so have no experience. I haven't used anything else recently, but know Bush Hog has a good reputation. I used to use the "economy" brands, but got tired of replacing them every few years.

Agree 100%!

"Best" is very subjective, and dependent upon many individual parameters.

I'd love to run a tougher cutter than my Woods BBX60, but I'm limited by how much weight the 3 PH (and tractor) can handle.
I'm not going to go out on a limb and say the Woods is not a good cutter, but there are areas of the design that I think could be improved. I can only handle so much steel back there, but I think the Woods could have used the weight better, to make a stiffer deck.
My next rotary cutter will probably be a Land Pride... And probably the new RCF 20 series.

 

[foreman Etexas]

I own the LandPride RCR3596 & DS1440 both good shredders but if I was going to buy another new It would be a LandPride (Batwing) for the $$$ great shredders. Heard alot about Rhinos but never owned one,I think aslong as your get the HD model in any of the name brands they are going to be good!!!!

 

[vineyardkeeper1]

Robert we run a Caronia 1900. Its a 5 footer.Its wont cut vines very good until they are dry.Found this out last year after replacing the 3 belts that turn it.So we took the landscrape rake and plied the vines up and burned them later in the winter and what a great waste of mulch.

 

[JoeinTX]

Best for the $$$...?

Light to medium duty. Howse.

Medium to heavy cutter? Dale Phillips.


Considering purchase price...........parts prices.........response time........these are my contributions. I can get Howse or Dale Phillips support online in little time and get the item on my porch in 5 days or less. Haven't torn either one of them up yet. Just normal use for each according to their design. Have a 5' Howse for normal cutting and needed nothing but a replacement plastic guard shield. Dale Phillips 6'er that's needed nothing so far but prior experience with their service department indicated no problem with next day delivery.


Hard to beat either regardless of dealer situation. Just my $.02's worth.......

 

[jdtractor]

Hi the Woods Brush Bull models are hard to beat . heavy duty and time tested,easy if any maintance needed ,and good parts supply. just my .02 cts

 

[dntfxr]

I have a 4' Rhino that is tough as nails. I've cut 3"+ trees with my little b7100 with no problems. It is an older unit, not sure about the new ones.

 

[gabby]

I've had Bush Hog and JD mowers. None of them are worth a flip.

Never had one that I didn't have to work over for stupid design or not enough welding seams. Cannot understand why they always "stitch weld" the seams instead of continuous welds. Bet nobody "stitch welds" a warship.

BH and JD pull types both had way too much down stroke on the height cylinder and not enough up stroke. Draw the height cylinder all the way down and the wheels come off the ground and the blades are below the dirt.

JD HX-10 pto CV joint has blown out twice. Grease fittings don't want to take grease. One of the stump jumpers won't stay tight and I have to check it every time I use it. Paint peeled off the front and rear shrouds.

JD MX-6 had pitifully weak hanger supports for rear chain guards. Had to remove them because they were falling off.

Have a BH 7' 3ph mower that came with double tail wheels and I converted it to a single tail wheel because I hated the double wheels. They would hit fence posts or trees when turning, and would be like a dog hiking one leg and then the other because on uneven ground the weight shifts from one rear wheel to the other.

I cut pastures and occasionally some light briars and bushes. Nothing over 2 inches.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I've had Bush Hog and JD mowers. None of them are worth a flip.

Never had one that I didn't have to work over for stupid design or not enough welding seams. Cannot understand why they always "stitch weld" the seams instead of continuous welds. Bet nobody "stitch welds" a warship.

BH and JD pull types both had way too much down stroke on the height cylinder and not enough up stroke. Draw the height cylinder all the way down and the wheels come off the ground and the blades are below the dirt.

JD HX-10 pto CV joint has blown out twice. Grease fittings don't want to take grease. One of the stump jumpers won't stay tight and I have to check it every time I use it. Paint peeled off the front and rear shrouds.

JD MX-6 had pitifully weak hanger supports for rear chain guards. Had to remove them because they were falling off.

Have a BH 7' 3ph mower that came with double tail wheels and I converted it to a single tail wheel because I hated the double wheels. They would hit fence posts or trees when turning, and would be like a dog hiking one leg and then the other because on uneven ground the weight shifts from one rear wheel to the other.

I cut pastures and occasionally some light briars and bushes. Nothing over 2 inches.

What model Bush hog did you have? In your opinion what mower is "worth a flip"? The Bush Hog squealer line is just a cheap entry level mower to compete with the King Kutter and other cheap mowers. Jump to a medium Duty Bush Hog and you will see they are built much better same with Woods, the medium duty is built much heavier and better then the light duty mowers. I just don't care for the company from how they handled my MD172 cutter issues. The gear box kept tearing out the bottom seal yet Woods insisted it was my own fault the seals kept going out. However, they paid my dealer to repair it three times (two times out of warranty). They said the reason the seals kept going were because I never "reshimmed" the stump jumper after so many hours of use and that "I" should have known better. However, my dealer never heard of that and Woods didn't mention anything about that in the operators manual either. So the rep rubbed me the wrong way and after the last seal failed again I just filled the gear box with grease and decided to not buy another woods cutter.

And there was nothing wrapped to the shaft like wire, vines or twine that could have damaged the seal at any time. It was just a design problem. I did like their floating hitch design on the MD172.