6' Bush Hog preference

milkie62 · May 9, 2016

I have read some different likes and dislikes especially the JD brush mower horror stories on shaft breakage.Right now I have a 7' landpride I think RCD that is about a 2012 model.I need a 6' med duty brush mower and cannot decide.My options are the Rhino,Land Pride,John Deere either MX or 609,or Woods.All dealers are fairly close so it does not matter except for service parts availability.Is there truly one to stay away from ? I am using either a Ford 800 series or Kubota M6800 tractors.My possible plan is to pickup another Ford 800 and leave the brush mower permanently attached.Everybodies opinion counts.I may lean towards the Rhino since I know the dealer and I may also buy a Wallenstein winch from him.

jeff9366 · May 9, 2016

About the only part of Rotary Cutters made in the USA are the decks.

Everything else comes from plants in China and is assembled here. My Land Pride R/C has MADE IN CHINA molded into the gearbox, right under the brand LAND PRIDE. Yours probably does too.

So everyone has equal access to parts at the source.

If you have heavy work to do, pay for a HEAVY Rotary Cutter. Buy one with a Gearbox rated at twice the PTO horsepower of your tractor.

Experience and prudence of the operator is more important than brand name relative to reliability, PROVIDED WEIGHT OF R/C IS SUFFICIENT FOR THE TASK.

jeff9366 · May 9, 2016

You had five responses to your Bush Hog post 4/10/2016. Boiled down the advice was BUY HEAVY.

Reliability within your preferred brands will mostly come with weight, which you have to pay for.

If you need to cut 2" saplings AND WANT RELIABILITY, you need a heavy duty R/C, not a medium duty R/C.

sea2summit · May 9, 2016

Everything attachments.

bilrus61 · May 9, 2016

Re: 6' Bush Hog preference My two cents

Of the brands you mentioned here are my thoughts. The JD 609 does not have a stump jumper. The blades are mounted on a bar. I had a MX 6............<cough>:thumbdown: Rhino/Bushhog/Schulte are all the same company. The Schulte is a Bushhog painted black but it's a very good mower. Seems the best bang for the buck is the Landpride 1872. Woods had gearbox issues about ten years ago not sure if they have used up all the bad gearboxes yet but might be worth a look. I like the BB720 specs. Warranties are only good if you can collect on them. The best warranty of all is the one you never have to try to collect on cause your cutter just keeps on cutting and cutting and cutting...........my cutters are Landprides.

TripleR · May 9, 2016

We use a LPRCR2672 and it has held up great as has our Woods, Bush Hog is also good as well as Rhino, I've had no experience with the others.

jdtractor · May 9, 2016

Hi I have owned 3 woods a Md72 3pth, and a BB840 3pth , and a Batwing B180X, along with a John Deere HX10 pull type mower. I can say they have all served their purpose well. The BB840 is a beast IMO I have mowed several acres of rough steep ground with heavy brush and I mean heavy ,tree diameters of 2-3" were no problem. The MD72 has also did its part as far as cutting heavy brush. They are good units IMO plus to be fair im partial to woods! The J D HX10 pull type is a good mower it too has mowed very heavy brush. The only problem I have had are the blades seem weak and do no hold up as well as my woods blades do. I don't know why they are stamped made in Mexico...... you can take that for what its worth ..... other then that its been a good mower. I personally like the blade pin set up on the woods over the others that are out there. I have no experience with the other machines that you have mentioned. I will also say this woods and deere parts seem to readily available IMO. Just my .02cts have a good 1

Turbys_1700 · May 9, 2016

Buy the heaviest duty unit you can afford. I bought a nice used Brown last year that was cherry. No local dealer support but I called the company and they will ship me any part that I need. My 672 Brown weighs right around 1100# in a 6' cutter. It has a 120HP gear box with 1/4" sides and 7 gauge top. Any of the other brands you listed have the same duty type cutter. They are not cheap. You get what you pay for. Good luck.

Catchad81 · May 9, 2016

Having had a Deere, rhino, bush hog, and currently a landpride, if try to get a medium duty rhino in the size you are looking for. That's the ones that start with a 2 if I recall correctly. I will say the current landpride is a 1884 and not as heavy as the previous others. My biggest issue on all but the rhino is keeping a pin or bolt in the moving rear brace bars (not sure of technical term)

Sawyer Rob · May 9, 2016

Around here, the only rotary cutter that had a lot of gear box problems, even when sized properly to the tractor is Bush Hog... They have had piles of bearing failures...

Also, the Bush Hog I had, the deck soon had a lot of cracks in it, right under the paint! I had no idea, UNTIL a dealer showed them to me!

The least failures is Woods... I have two of them now, they are the best cutters I've ever owned, and that's what I'll be buying next!

SR