Brush mower

[Syncro]

I know this must have been discussed before, but does anyone have any hands on experience or comparisons on a good, but smaller walk behind brush mower? I will only be cutting high weeds, no actual brush or saplings, so I guess a heavy duty weed cutter would be a better discription. I was considering a Swisher 9hp 24" cut as sold by TSC, or the DR Scout, 22" cut, I think ~6hp.

I like the smaller size of the DR, still seems like a lot of $$ though. Both these machines are priced about the same, so am I getting less bang for he buck by getting the DR? The Swisher is ~300# and 4 sp tranny vs ~200# and 3 sp for the DR. Anyone own a Scout? It will be used primarly along ditches and fences, so manuverability is most important. Sure would appreciate any input here, or other brands?

 

[Syncro]

Well, I didn't get much of a bounce on this post, but better judgement steered me to the DR Scout instead of the heavier machines. We've had it for a few weeks now and thought I'd pass on our impressions. Its a stout machine, but far less weight and heft than the bigger DR's which are truely made for cutting heavy brush. The Scout is more akin to a heavy duty lawn mower (much heavier duty!) It goes through wet thick green grass and waist high weeds like they are not there, but I wouldn't take it through the trees. For what we use it for it fits the bill, makes short work of what used to be impossible going for our push mower, and is nimble enough for my wife to handle. Fact is I can't get it away from her she likes it so much. Self propelled with a seperate chain drive transmission and overall quality, especially the controls, are tops. I highly recommend it, though letting loose of $1100 was hard, its really worth every dollar. Its built strong and made to last, the handle bars are impressive with heavy welded steel brackets and just a plain good solid feel.

 

[BTDT]

Sorry I didn't get to post before you bought your machine, but it sounds like you found what you were looking for. Does it use string like a weedeater? I have an old but in good shape troy-built model with sickle-bar on the front. It does a great job, but it is noisy.

 

[IslandTractor]

The DRs are excellent brush cutters. I have the 11hp model which truly does cut anything it will run over. Build up my arms, shoulders and legs running it too . I can see that the 6hp smaller frame scout would be very handy and certainly easier to use. I bought mine before I bought a tractor with bush hog. If I was to buy a DR mower now I'd get the Scout as with the tractor available I wouldn't need the larger capacity just the flexibility. The DRs are nice well made machines.

 

[Syncro]

Thanks all for the replys. I've been spending all my waking hours (well almost all) trying to beat the weather getting our new place out of the ground. Anyways, that little DR is un-stopable and we are extremely pleased with it. Way back I bought a DR string trimmer, about 10 years ago, and it was almost worthless for heavy growth, our new machine however eats tall weeds without a burp. Easy to use too and quiet.

The factory was nice enough to give me an extra 4 year warrenty after I made the purchase, as it was an added incentice made in the few weeks after I picked up my machine. They didn't have to do that, but they did, and to me that goes a long ways in showing what a good company they are. First rate products from a first rate company.

 

[Sigarms]

Just came across this thread looking for some info on the DR line myself.

Looking at that 17hp model and not sure if it would be worth the money (per the website, $2700).

Would have some hills to work it on, not sure about that as well.

 

[IslandTractor]

Looking at that 17hp model and not sure if it would be worth the money (per the website, $2700).

Would have some hills to work it on, not sure about that as well.

I own the 11hp model and find it perfectly adequate. The 17 is wider so it might be a tad faster. They rate the mowers by how thick a sapling it can cut too but I find that not a useful comparison point. I can cut virtually anythng I can push over. I presume the more powerful models will cut faster but this has not really been a limitation. Hills are no problem as the mower has pretty beefy tires. The only times I have had trouble with hills is when it is wet or muddy, otherwise the mower will climb just about anything you can walk up.

I bought mind used. I would have probably bought the 15hp to get the Kawasaki engine if I bought new but in the end I have found the B+S engine to be flawless. I have about 50 hours on mine now and it gets less use since I got a tractor with bushhog but there are still some tasks that are best done with the DR such as mowing between trees or on steep slopes. I'd certainly recommend the DR to anyone who needs a brush mower but I'd think carefully before shelling out the money for the commercial 17hp version.

 

[mechanic]

I know this is not the classifieds, which I am not ready to do yet, but we might be selling our DR with all the attachments. This is only if we don't get our place we put a contract on. I will really need it there. You are welcome to email and I will give you our price we will be selling it at. I think you can email from this site, if not just post back.

 

[GregE]

I bought the 17 hp DR in January after much agonizing. It sat in the garage until this past weekend. I took it out to cut some multiflora rose and some other scrub trees. All I can say is that I was pleasantly surprised how easily it took out the scrub trees. Most were five foot tall and once the mower got on top of them, they were toast. There was a bit of a learning curve to adapt to the hand controls, but once I got that down it ran like a charm. I was fortunate in that I bought the unit from a local dealer who had two on the floor from last year, so I paid $200 less than the advertised price. The only problem I had was a buried wife fence that one of the wheels found. A piece of the fence punctured the sidewall. The slime in the tire hasn't been able to fix the hole yet. All in all I am more than satisfied. I think the wife is worried that I'll clean out the whole property with the thing.

 

[Seanachie]

I got the 17 HP, 30" cut model yesterday.

WOW!

This thing rocks! I've taken down briars, thorns, saplings, shrubs, old branches, and anything else that got in the way with ease.

Just a note: wear gloves and long sleeves, 'cause this thing will drag other nearby thorn bushes into it's maw and they'll sratch you up pretty well.

I'm very impressed.

 

[IslandTractor]

wear gloves and long sleeves

That's cheating and unmanly. Next thing you'll be telling us to wear ear plugs and steel tipped shoes. Bah Humbug. If you want toe to toe combat with Mother Nature you must dress like a Greek wrestler and take your lumps. Personal protective equipment is for girly farmers.

 

[Seanachie]

Normally, I'm of the opinion that "If pain is good, extreme pain must be extemely good". And what's a little laceration in the name of landscape dominance? After all, chicks dig scars, right?

I just bought this property last year and the previous owner had let thorned vines grow up in profusion. Some of them are 1 1/2" thick. As the machine pulls the vines out of the ground and rips them out of the trees they're attached to, they tend to shred flesh.

I was planning on being true to my celtic heritage and going into battle wearing only a woad mask and blue war paint but quickly realized that, if I did this and one of those vines shredded the wrong flesh, I would become a girly farmer!

 

[IslandTractor]

I responded as I had precisely the same experience a couple of years ago when I started clearing land covered in vines, brambles, weed trees, old stumps and the worlds largest collection of chiggers. I have the numbskull battlescars to prove it. Although I did end up clearing a good chunk of land using the DR, I finally did give up and bought a tractor. I don't want to interfer with your learning curve but I will say that a bush hog and a small tractor is the way to go if you are doing more than an acre. I still have my DR and think it is a great tool but I use it mostly to get at areas around trees or places I cannot get to with the tractor/bush hog. The other significant use is whenever I want an upper body workout as that thing can pull you all over the place. 8 hours with a DR mower and I sleep real well. I also lend it to neighbors now when they admire all the land clearing I do with the tractor.

By the way, one hard learned lesson: get yourself a pole pruner or a branch trimmer for your weedwacker and cut down the vines before heading in with your DR. I have one of the little chainsaw type attachments for my weedwacker and it did a nice job of clearing overhead obstacles that would otherwise have frustrated attempts to get the DR into jungly areas.

 

[Seanachie]

Thanks for the tips! Anybody else got any pearls of wisdom to share on these beasties?

 

[1bush2hog]

Sometimes those vines are attached to dead tree limbs that tend to drop especially when you are not looking - ie. - widowmakers

And Oh yeah - don't forget the yellowjackets

 

[IslandTractor]

Sometimes those vines are attached to dead tree limbs that tend to drop especially when you are not looking - ie. - widowmakers

And Oh yeah - don't forget the yellowjackets

Yep, that is why it is a good idea to cut the vines above head level rather than trying to pull them out of the tree. It is also why you don't want to brush mow over a vine on the ground that is still attached to the tree.

I was almost able to pull an entire tree over with my tractor by wrapping a thick vine around the grapple and backing up. It was a stupid thing to do. I thought the vine would be stripped off the tree limbs but it almost pulled the tree down on me instead. Those things are tough!

 

[caver]

Dredging this thread up again.
I am looking again at brush cutters to get areas that would tip my little tractor over or just inaccessible. I was at Orscheln Farm Store an hour ago and looked again at the Swisher they have on hand. Seems a bit heavy and unbalanced.

I rented some old beater brush cutter last year and it beat me to a pulp but was lighter and better balanced than the Swisher I just looked at. I also read that it has a safety that won't let you put it in reverse without killing the blade.

I have also been looking a the DR Scout as that is about all I would ever need. I'm wondering if I can put it in reverse without the thing shutting down the blade.
When I had the old beater rental it did not have reverse and made for some difficult situations around a ditch.

Brad

 

[IslandTractor]

I have also been looking a the DR Scout as that is about all I would ever need. I'm wondering if I can put it in reverse without the thing shutting down the blade.

My 11hp DR has no trouble at all in reverse. I've never used a Scout but my neighbor has one and I'll ask her this weekend about the reverse business. Never ever buy a brush mower that does not have reverse unless you want to cut brush and press iron at the same time.

 

[caver]

my neighbor has one and I'll ask her this weekend about the reverse business.

Appreciated.

 

[shane]

Just came across this thread. I rented a Billy Goat brush cutter from HomeCheapo a couple a weeks ago. I used the thing all day in the woods, on banks, very tall grass, small trees, you name it. The thing was unstopable. It hanlded very well. Might be worth a look for you.