Rhino 4150

[gatorguy7]

I just took delivery of a new Rhino 4150. It is replacing an aging Bush Hog 2615. I'm going to use it to mow cow pastures and roads on the ranch. I was originally looking for another Bush Hog but ended up with this Rhino instead. I purchased some hay equipment as a package which included a square baler I didn't need. The square baler gave me a trade in credit worth half of the new mower!

Rhino appears to be pretty innovative by redesigning a lot of the structural components. My 2615 is 20 years old and the new 2815 mowers look identical except they have a smooth top deck. Everything else appears to be the same - leveling rods, wing turnbuckles, axles etc. There are some videos on youtube that brag about Rhino's new "dog bone" stump jumper. I was surprised my mower came with this dog bone and a traditional stump jumper. I guess some people didn't buy into hype of the new design.

I'm really glad I have the Rhino trax foam filled tires. We had aircraft tires on the BH at first and replaced those with laminated tires. We don't run on paved roads much so the aircraft tires aren't worth all of the flat issues. Of course it rained all day yesterday and its looking like rain most of today. I should be putting it to work this afternoon and the rest of the week. The 7040 used to run the 2615 just fine. I can tell this mower has higher HP gear boxes as its a little harder to get going.

 

[Richard]

Please give some reports. I've been looking at this exact mower, same wheels.... didn't know the stump jumper had maybe changed... (interesting!)

Is it a 540 or 1000 version? (I've got both on my tractor and presume I'd slide to the 1000 side)

 

[gatorguy7]

Will do. I feel like the stump jumper might just be an option. It is a 540 pto.

 

[gatorguy7]

First order of business was to get the duals on the wings switched to give duals on the center section. I have no idea why it was like this from the dealer. The axles were pretty hard to get out as I had to strategically use a sledge to get them out. I used a bunch of anti seize on the shaft before re-installing to make it easier in the future.

 

[gatorguy7]

I got to test out the new mower last night and I'm very pleased. This Rhino does not seem to windrow near as bad as my old BH2615. The hydraulics were very smooth. I was able to easily drop a wing down to mow along a ditch bank. The suspension system seems to work great. I like how the wings float and move on their own. The flat deck is so nice to clean but pretty much all new batwings have this feature now.

This mower is pretty hard to get started for the 7040. I've stalled the tractor a few times turning on the PTO. I have to get my RPMs up to ~1,700 to keep it from stalling. The tractor had plenty of power once it was spinning. If it started to bog I would just lift it up a little. The next pasture I'm mowing has a lot of tall broomsedge from last year so that will be a bigger workout for it. I will probably use the John Deere on thick/overgrown pastures since it has 130hp. This Kubota is so much lighter and easier to haul when I'm not mowing on the ranch (this was a separate leased pasture).

I also upgraded the front tires on my 7040 from 9.5x24s to 360/70/R20 from Miller Tire. I'm really pleased with that so far too. I'll post about that on one of the tire threads.

 

[Richard]

Good stuff. How high can you raise a wing and still have it work properly (and safely)?

I ask because I'm on hills and in some areas, find it nice that with my hydraulic mower, I can raise a wing as much as 90 degrees (don't need that much) and it still cuts fine. Yes, I'm paranoid when I have it that steep but don't need to do it often and when I do, it's essentially just the road bankment.

What are your thoughts on the single outer wheels verses having doubles on the wings?

 

[gatorguy7]

The owner's manual warns to not run the blade with the wings in any position besides all the way down. I don't see why it wouldn't run with a wing up all the way, especially if only for a short period of time. I've done with with our other batwings in the past.

I don't see much advantage of double tires on the wings besides displacing the weight a little more. Based on how much the wings moved while I was moving, I bet one of the doubles on the wings would be off the ground quite a bit due to ant hills etc. I definitely think you need 4 tires on the center section due to the weight.

 

[Richard]

My mower doesn't have the 'bowtie' center for the blades to attach to.....but it does essentially have a square bar for the blades to attach to. (no stump jumper) I'm indifferent to it.

Not that I'm an expert..... and most of my cutting is on the already cut farm.... I don't know that I've noticed any difference on this mower verses the old 5' and 10' mowers we had (difference with them having the jumpers and this one not)

....shrugs shoulders....

 

[Bearsixty7]

The owner's manual warns to not run the blade with the wings in any position besides all the way down. I don't see why it wouldn't run with a wing up all the way, especially if only for a short period of time. I've done with with our other batwings in the past.

Probably due to the U-joint angles??

 

[gatorguy7]

Probably due to the U-joint angles??

That and from the liability of the spinning blades up in the air. If one of those blades were to come loose while a wing is up and spinning would be scary.