Wood BBX72 Brush Bull Xtreme not up to the task............

[ShowroomShine]

I dont know where all the bad Woods reports are coming from, but we NEVER have woods come back for anything...or any problems. Nothing, zilch. We have people come to us all the time because of the quality of machine and quality of cut the Woods offers is so far above and beyond the Bush Hog and LP.

 

[Furu]

I know my BB720 and BH90X are darn near bullet proof and I am very happy with them.
You have to buy the level of robustness that you are planning to use the implement for.
If you do otherwise it is implement abuse; IMO.
In my area I have heard of no problems with Woods but I am not a servicing dealer and what I do hear is anecdotal; just as what we read on TBN.
That includes my statement about my implements being bullet proof.
Two dealers in my area, one green, one blue, that sell Woods really think a lot of them however.

 

[nc redneck]

I have had good luck with Woods equipment, but everything is 8 years old or older. I like the easy availability of parts from several local dealers. However my local Kubota and ex Ford dealer ( 3rd generation ) had a Woods close out sale on Craigslist. That got my attention.

 

[gsholz]

You are not alone. I bought the same Woods Brushbull 72 Extreme a couple of months ago. I have only mowed 5 acres so far. Despite being careful and cutting at 3-4 inches high I did manage to find a couple of smaller rocks. I was amazed to see what the small rocks did to the side of the mower. Just like the pictures above. In addition to the light gauge, Woods does not seem to do any paint preparation. At the dents the paint just flakes off with no sign of primer etc.

Once this new unit wears out (should not take long), I'll have to look into flail mowers...

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I dont know where all the bad Woods reports are coming from, but we NEVER have woods come back for anything...or any problems. Nothing, zilch. We have people come to us all the time because of the quality of machine and quality of cut the Woods offers is so far above and beyond the Bush Hog and LP.

I sure hope so because I passed on the less expensive BrushHog product and the more expensive Brown product to purchase what seems to be a very heavily built BB720X. That said, I still have not had the chance to use it.

 

[mjstef]

I dont know where all the bad Woods reports are coming from, but we NEVER have woods come back for anything...or any problems. Nothing, zilch. We have people come to us all the time because of the quality of machine and quality of cut the Woods offers is so far above and beyond the Bush Hog and LP.

So explain to me WHY my woods is in about the same condition after 30 Acres as the landpride in 500+???? They are both marketed as "standard" duty cutters. As far as the 1,400# 720X i did confirm that the tractor likely won't handle the weight and i can't go up in tractor size due to some areas we mow.....

 

[mjstef]

You are not alone. I bought the same Woods Brushbull 72 Extreme a couple of months ago. I have only mowed 5 acres so far. Despite being careful and cutting at 3-4 inches high I did manage to find a couple of smaller rocks. I was amazed to see what the small rocks did to the side of the mower. Just like the pictures above. In addition to the light gauge, Woods does not seem to do any paint preparation. At the dents the paint just flakes off with no sign of primer etc.

Once this new unit wears out (should not take long), I'll have to look into flail mowers...

Nothing i hit in the 30 acres i mowed was much bigger than a softball. Most where in Gopher mounds hidden in tall grass. Same stuff i have hit for YEARS with the Landpride and it was hardly phased......................

 

[Piston]

Nothing i hit in the 30 acres i mowed was much bigger than a softball. Most where in Gopher mounds hidden in tall grass. Same stuff i have hit for YEARS with the Landpride and it was hardly phased......................

I can see your frustration in this. I had the same mower like I said before, and I tore the heck out of it really fast. I ended up with a medium duty mower, and I can now mow over rocks with nothing more than a loud racquet and lotsa vibration to show for it. I've shattered many small soft rocks and have put this mower to the test. Within reason, it will stand up to hard abuse for years. I try to avoid rocks but many times they are hidden, I don't mow fields, or grass, or anything resembling easy mowing very often.

That said, I CAN damage my mower, I can bend it, I have bent it, but it takes a lot.

It's strange that your seeing so much more damage in the Woods unit than in the LP unit, although thicker steel will certainly account for some of it, even though it's not "that much" thicker.

Are you mowing at the same PTO speeds you normally do? Do you have a "extra productive" stone crop this year compared to the years past? I winder if the Woods uses a "softer" steel? I wouldn't think so, but it's interesting to see the difference.

If your mowing anything but field grass and saplings under a half inch, I would strongly suggest you get a heavier cutter. Is the Woods 720 really 1,400lbs? Are you sure that's not the 7200?
You can't handle the weight of the 7200, then perhaps drop down a size to the 600. It wouldn't take that much longer to mow as you could mow faster, and if your worried about size, you can maneuver through tight spots easier.

Or, stick to your plan about strengthening the unit itself. It won't work any different with dings and dents in it, it will just look uglier. Even strengthening the side skirts though will not make it last any longer, you'll still beat it up much sooner than a heavier mower.

It's too bad this didn't work for you, there is no good outcome when a product can't meet the buyers expectations, right or wrong.

 

[ShowroomShine]

So explain to me WHY my woods is in about the same condition after 30 Acres as the landpride in 500+???? They are both marketed as "standard" duty cutters. As far as the 1,400# 720X i did confirm that the tractor likely won't handle the weight and i can't go up in tractor size due to some areas we mow.....

Because you bought Wood's light duty cutter. Land Pride may say light duty, but it could be in a whole different class. All the manufacturers have "light, medium, heavy" duty cutters, but they dont all get together and make sure their light/med/heavy duty cutters are on the same page and in the same class. Its likely your land pride could be in a medium duty class.

The fact is, Woods is one of the best cutters on the market today. If you were using the mower as intended, or a heavier duty model, it would not be denting the sides.

 

[Deerherd]

No cutter, regardless of the thickness of the deck is designed to cut softball sized rocks. Used like the OP is, the blades of ANY cutter would be beat to death. Sure, the deck may look better but the important parts will get trashed quickly.

Keeping your cutters blades sharp and balanced will give you an excellent cut and extend the life of the driveline by years. Take a mental note when you first get your cutter how smoothly it ramps up with very little vibration. When it starts shaking find out what's causing it and fix it. Every time I watch my neighbor fire up his cutter it makes me laugh, it shakes like a dog passing chicken bones!

I had a Woods BBX72 for two years and traded it in on a BBX84 when I got my present tractor two springs ago and have been very satisfied. There is not a single dent in the deck, but I treat it like my ZTR mower and don't venture into areas I haven't walked/ prepped prior to cutting.

Every year I cut about 20 acres of crop stubble, maintain 6 acres of clover, a couple miles of trails and cut other areas in rotation and the cutter has held up just fine.

In the spring when it's wet I do have to go around a set a lot of rocks back level with the surface that grew over the winter but it's time well spent. If the OP had properly prepped those areas I'm sure he would like that cutter just fine.