Land Pride vs Bush Hog rotary cutter questions

[Robert_in_NY]

Hey guys, were looking at 5' medium duty rotary cutters to use in our vineyard. I have been leaning towards the Bush Hog 295 and went to talk to the dealer today and he is dealing more with Land Pride now as he isn't sure what direction the new parent company of Bush Hog is going to go with them. So he priced out the Bush Hog and said the Land Pride RCR26 and RCF27 series will be a little cheaper ($100-$200). I have only heard good things about Land Pride but there are not many of their rotary cutters around here let alone in vineyards.

Vineyard use is hard on cutters, we cut 2-3 times a year with the first cutting being the hardest as it chops the grape trimmings and any dead trunks that were cut out. Our vineyard is expanding and this next year we will be working between 40-140 acres depending on how our land deals work out. So it will get used a lot and it needs to hold up. I would love to go with the heavier duty models but I am trying to stay down to where our Ford 1920 can use it as well as the vineyard tractors which keeps me in the medium duty line.

I will not consider Woods and am trying to keep this decision between just the two brands listed in the title. A light duty mower will not work either as they won't hold up to the heavy use found in vineyards. So does anyone have a Land Pride 26 or 27 series and if so how do you like it and what conditions do you use it in? I really am leaning towards the Bush Hog 295 still but don't want to rule out Land Pride without researching them a little more.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

For whatever it's worth, the Bush Hog company rep I deal with from time to time tells me there's going to be no significant changes in the way Bush Hog operates with Alamo Group at the helm. If anything at all, changes will be limited to marketing and promotion.

From what I know of Landpride, there's no reason to shy away from them either.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

For whatever it's worth, the Bush Hog company rep I deal with from time to time tells me there's going to be no significant changes in the way Bush Hog operates with Alamo Group at the helm. If anything at all, changes will be limited to marketing and promotion.

From what I know of Landpride, there's no reason to shy away from them either.

I didn't think Alamo would change too much but this dealer is a little shell shocked Thanks to agco. He had valtra and did great till agco came in. Then he had agco till they dropped that line. He now deals mainly with kioti but doesn't have much for farmers anymore.

The other dealers locally deal with woods.

 

[gwdixon]

For whatever it's worth, the Bush Hog company rep I deal with from time to time tells me there's going to be no significant changes in the way Bush Hog operates with Alamo Group at the helm. If anything at all, changes will be limited to marketing and promotion.

From what I know of Landpride, there's no reason to shy away from them either.

Agree with FWJ (as usual). Both BushHog and LandPride in mowers above the light-duty models work fine.

I've had them both, beaten them around, and they just keep on mowing.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Also along this line, does anyone use offset mowers in the 10' range? I am wondering how well they would work mowing along ponds, ditches/channels and along the edge of woods with low hanging branches. 10' should allow me to reach over the edge enough to keep the brush down. This cutter would be used behind a 55hp or 85hp tractor. I would use this mower to replace the 6' Woods rotary cutter.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Gonna have a Rhino FR120 here next week. (heavy duty 120" flex wing offset) It's used, but not a lot. No opinion yet. Stay tuned!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Gonna have a Rhino FR120 here next week. (heavy duty 120" flex wing offset) It's used, but not a lot. No opinion yet. Stay tuned!

Thanks Bill, I look forward to your review.

 

[slowzuki]

The landpride my friend has left on the property is a light duty model, and its exactly that. We have what I assume is a light duty bushhog squealer 600 with slip clutch and it is much better built. We also have a 5 ft light Howse, it is beat up and really a poor design. Half the damage / warping of the deck is just from roading it down our rough road. The hitch half folded up and messed it all up.

Beyond that we had an old heavy duty 8 ft bushhog that was on the property when we bought it. Deck looked rewelded a dozen or more times and ripped to shreads, the 2.5" or so output shaft sheared off at the stumpjumper. I don't think it was used nicely. I recall seeing the owner driving over 3-4" poplar and birch trees with it and letting it ride over rocks. The blades were beat rounded.

 

[DDT]

Robert_in_NY: these cutters are made for mowing ditches ect. tractor can stay on lever ground and the wing can be on a steep slope. this will work well for your cutting projects, but the 85hp would cut faster ground speed than a 55 hp would. landpride also makes a reverse rotation option, this throws cut materail toward the ditch and not on the road.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Have had really liked my 8ft Landpride(RCR3596) tough shredder No vineyards here just brush,small trees,goatweeds,etc.Hope it helps!!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert_in_NY: these cutters are made for mowing ditches ect. tractor can stay on lever ground and the wing can be on a steep slope. this will work well for your cutting projects, but the 85hp would cut faster ground speed than a 55 hp would. landpride also makes a reverse rotation option, this throws cut materail toward the ditch and not on the road.

Thats what brought my attention to them, we have been wanting to get a ditch bank mower for a while but couldn't see buying something just for that one task. The offset mower would be ideal since it would allow us to cut the pond edges, channels and ditches on our ground as well as cut the flat ground faster then with the 6' job.

I try to have two tractors that can use every implement I own so in case one is tied up or broke down I still can use the implement when I need to. So which ever tractor is available is what will be used. This is a purchase for most likely next year, I was just thinking about it now since I was talking with the dealership about rotary cutters and we do need to replace the 6' Woods but not as dire as the 5' King Kutter.

I really don't see myself cutting along the roads very much but I am sure once I have it I will find myself doing that at some point in time. Thanks for that info.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Have had really liked my 8ft Landpride(RCR3596) tough shredderView attachment 230448 No vineyards here just brush,small trees,goatweeds,etc.Hope it helps!!

Thanks, every reply is useful. The light duty mowers don't really represent the companies too well in my view. They are too easily abused and as a result there are more owners disappointed with the brand as a result which is why I tried to stress in my original post that I was dealing strictly with the medium duty cutters. I want to see what the people who actually have the medium duty models from these two companies think of them and it doesn't have to be the same 5' model, just similar duty rating/build quality so that I can better judge them.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Over the past weekend, the wife and I visited a local U-Pick farm/commercial orchard/vineyard/winery that's been in business for 3 generations. They've made the "big time"! They have quite an assortment of new, modern equipment these days. One piece that I was particularly interested in is a Rhino "vineyard mower".

RHINO | Flex-Wing | V-152 Orchard Mowers


I noticed it since I'd just bought the Rhino flex wing mower.

Kinda pricey, but worth a look!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Over the past weekend, the wife and I visited a local U-Pick farm/commercial orchard/vineyard/winery that's been in business for 3 generations. They've made the "big time"! They have quite an assortment of new, modern equipment these days. One piece that I was particularly interested in is a Rhino "vineyard mower".

RHINO | Flex-Wing | V-152 Orchard Mowers

I noticed it since I'd just bought the Rhino flex wing mower.

Kinda pricey, but worth a look!

Thanks bill but my rows are 9' apart so that mower wont work too well

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Thanks bill but my rows are 9' apart so that mower wont work too well

One pass at a decent speed and they'd be a bit farther apart....

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The dealer yesterday suggested something similar as he wanted to sell me a tractor but couldnt meet my HP to width requirement

 

[Farmwithjunk]

The dealer yesterday suggested something similar as he wanted to sell me a tractor but couldnt meet my HP to width requirement

By "9' apart" are you talking 9' center to center, or 9' in the clear (as in a 9' mower would be the right width?) I do know of a 102" wide mower....If it's still being built.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

By "9' apart" are you talking 9' center to center, or 9' in the clear (as in a 9' mower would be the right width?) I do know of a 102" wide mower....If it's still being built.

9' center to center and you lose more of that by the way the vines grow. A 6' cutter can work in most new vineyards but in older vineyards where the trunks are much larger it gets tight and you have to be careful so you don't snag one which is why 5' is ideal. You can't snag one with the edge of the cutter unless you try to on puropose.

The mower you showed earlier is ideal for orchards because it is designed to reach under the low limbs and its protected if you do bump something. My orchard is only 3 acres and it cost me more money then it will ever make me so I don't worry about it. If I get a 10' offset then I can trim under the trees good enough for maintainence but thats all I would want to do. Just enough to keep the brush and briars from taking over. The rest of the apples go to the deer and what ever other critter wants to eat them.

 

[Smallplot]

Don't know if you found the information you were looking for yet or not but, just purchased a 6' bushhog squealer today. We looked at both the squealer and the light duty side by side. On the Squealer model, the gear box is beefier and rated for believe it was 70 HP. The light model was only rated for 35 HP. I would look at the gear box rating of each model you are considering and match it to your tractors.