Howse vs Landpride

[okiecraig]

OK, I am easy on my equipment but my ancient IH101 brushog (bouhgt used 8 yrs ago) has finally died. The gearbox and blades are about all that survive; the deck is holey, the 3-pt pins are bent and loose, and the tailwheel constantly hangs up and tears up the ground. SO, landpride rcr1860 and boxblade for $2500, or Howse 500 cutter and United hd72 boxblade for $1000. I am having a hard time convincing myself to spend the landpride $$$ though the implements will likely outlive me.

Thoughts?

I plan to cut pasture and light brush, and use the box blade for the gravel road and smoothing a riding trail over 12 acres or so.

 

[deere5105]

I would go Howse and save the money. We have an older Howse 6' rotary cutter that has been very solid with little maintenance and no issues.

 

[murphy1244]

How old are ya?

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Your choices are to either (a) spend the money on the Land Pride equipment and never think about it again, or (b) buy the cheaper equipment and you'll be reminded of the money you saved every time you use it.

I'm not bagging on Howse. There are a lot of guys around here who use Howse equipment and like it. But I find it hard to imagine that a $1,000 mower and box blade of ANY brand is as good as a $2,500 Land Pride mower and box blade.

 

[okiecraig]

60, Murph.

and you may be right, pappy.

everything attachments sells the united so i think the BB would be ok. maybe I pony up for the land pride cuz it matches my tractor!

 

[Arc weld]

There's other brands available too. I find Landpride good equipment but expensive compared to similar quality in other brands. I bought a Frontier box blade from the JD dealer and it's made by Woods. To buy the exact same box blade from the Woods distributor would cost about $200 more and I would have to pay additional shipping($150) for one item. They didn't have what I wanted in stock. The JD dealer didn't have what I wanted either but they didn't charge any additional shipping to bring one in. The JD dealer used to sell Landpride but went to Frontier which is a JD brand made by others like Woods. Comparable to Landpride but less cost. You do have to compare apples to apples though. $1000 for a box blade and a cutter compared to $2500. Landpride isn't that much more expensive. I'm guessing the LP is heavier duty.

 

[DKCDKC]

For cutting pasture and light brush, any cutter will work - depending on how much. If you have a handful of acres that you cut a few times a year, the Howse will last a very long time and will perform as well as a more expensive option. If you've got dozens of acres and cut more frequently, then a most expensive unit might be good. I look at most equipment as good for x-number of hours use. Heaver, more expensive units typically offer a lot more hours. But if you are unlikely to need that extra life, it's not worth it. And I exercise another cost-saving option by using used when I can. I've had a used Howse for 13 years now without issue - cutting 5 acres, trimming a mile of forest edge, and trimming around a 20 field - all about four times a year. I have no reason to believe the cutter won't go another 13 years - or past the time I'm likely to care.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have owned a Howse light weight and had absolutely no problem with the drivetrain. The frame was light and the sides bent easily when I hit rocks with the blades but it never damaged anything else. It cut 3-4" diameter trees with ease, if I could push them over, the cutter would do a job on them. They have good gear boxes even in the cheap ones. HOWSE does make several models each with a successively thicker deck which is what you are paying for in the increased prices. If your other bush hog rusted thru, you may want to look at a model with a thicker deck, you will pay more for it and will just need to evaluate the life expectancy vs extra cost to see which value you need.

I would think that if you can get a Howse for $1000, it would surely last have the lifetime of the Landpride so you would still be $500 to the good. I think they all use Chinese made gear boxes now, so what you are paying for other than name is the cost of the steel in the deck.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

. . . I would think that if you can get a Howse for $1000, it would surely last have the lifetime of the Landpride so you would still be $500 to the good. I think they all use Chinese made gear boxes now, so what you are paying for other than name is the cost of the steel in the deck.

But he's talking about getting a Howse 500 mower AND a United 72" box blade for $1,000. That's gotta be approx $700 for the mower and $300 for the box blade, which sounds too cheap to be decent quality. I'd rather get a good quality mower and then buy a used better quality box blade that's heavy enough to work right.

 

[okiecraig]

Pappy: I am considering 2 dealers: one a wholesale outfit that sells 1 or 20 Howse units whenever, or a Kubota dealer. The Howse 500 is light-duty and costs $660; the United Implements Deluxe 672 BB is $530, so my math is a little off, almost $1200. The BB weighs 505 lbs.

I think I will buy the lightweight Howse just for grass and light brush, and keep and fix-up the the old IH for heavy duty stuff when clearing woods. I am also looking at a 3-pt 110-gal sprayer around $1400. You can guess I got about $2500 to spend and trying to maximize it!

Oh, the LP RCR1860 is 1525 and the BB 1000 at the Kubota dealer.