Batwing cutter 15 foot--Whoos best?

[gabby]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( As far as HP is concerned, I would agree that 70-80 hp is usually adquate for a 15 footer. However, I have stalled my 1130 ( rebuilt AT354 showed 137 dyno HP) in a perfectly clear(not a weed or sapling) fescu(2 foot tall) field. Conditions do matter. No 60 hp tractor will pull a 15ft thru my thick fescue fields. )</font>

That's just what I've been trying to say. When you get into the thick stuff with a bat wing you better have lots of horsepower, or else it's like pulling a big trailer load with a little truck - in the mountains!!
gabby

 

[jgh]

20060329

My tractor has both PTO speeds, thanks for pointing that out, though. I originally bought my BH 1287 7 footer as 1000 PTO since (a) the tip speed was higher and (b) not many folks could ask to borrow it /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

One consideration I can mention: I will still have my 1287 for thick stuff, so the 15 ft BW will mainly be used to quickly clean up large areas which likely will not be the most dense.

J

 

[tjkadar]

This would be my choice for a 15 foot batwing: T-180 BushWhacker Our experience with Bushhog has been pretty good, but the BushWhacker is a better mower for the same or less cost. To be absolutely fair, the Bushhog was a medium duty mower while the BushWhacker is a heavy duty cutter. But the price between the two came out in the Whacker's favor.

Take a look at the Whacker and see if it is something you want to try. If not, then I would go with the Bushhog or the Rhino. I think you'll be pretty happy with a cutter from any of those names.

After 16 years, it is time to replace the BushWhacker. With the state of things today, wish we would have done it early last year. But hindsight is always 20/20. We were looking at Bush Hog or Rhino to replace the old mower and ended up with a Bush Hog. The decision came down to what we could actually find sitting on a dealer's lot.

The BushWhacker held up well for what we threw at it, but damned if that mower didn't streak badly. Even with brand spanking new blades (and no, I didn't put them on backwards and yes I did check).