Shortcut--
What follows is an edited version of a post I submitted last year. I bought a DR field & brush with the Kawasaki 15 hp engine for exactly the same use as you--mowing down to the pond bank. I returned it. Their money-back guarantee is exactly as advertised--no questions asked. It is a Rubik's Cube operation to get the whole think re-palletized for shipment back, but Country Home Products is definitely a class act.
I had some initial QC problems with the DR; the wheels were not shipped for the finish deck, and a couple of wires were misconnected (it would start fine, but would not shut down--had to pull the plug wires). But I worked it out with DR because the machine seemed like exactly what I needed for mowing steep banks and bushhogging woods trails. They were very helpful (although they sent the wrong wheel parts the first time), and extended the 30-day period to begin when I got everything (an extra two weeks). They shipped by ABF, and the driver unloaded the pallet into the driveway.
After giving it a good try--about 8 hours all told--I returned the machine because I found that it has no ability to traverse even a moderate slope; it heads off in the downhill direction and, even worse, lifts the high wheel off the ground as it does. While the limited slip is undoubtedly an excellent feature, I still found that with no slip on the grounded wheel, the one in the air would turn by itself--all in all, a precarious operation everytime I tried slopes from side to side. A 21" mower or a Gravely will do much better IMHO.
The DR can go up and down slopes pretty well. The transmission holds really well, and the brakes do too. But the power unit seems to have a high CG and the mower or cutter deck floats on a pivot point, so that it cannot contribute any stability at all if you get at all sideways--or even a bit diagonal. I also had some trouble backing it up steep slopes, which may have been due in part to the treads filling up with clay. I just didn't fill the bill for our hills.
All that said, there are many good things about the machine:
Decks really do change in about 5 minutes, once you figure out a routine.
The rotary cutter really will cut anything it can bend down. Also, it is lighter than the bush hog and will go up over some nasty stuff the bush hog insists on trying to eat--usually to the detriment of the shear pin. I was able to clear some scrub which had overgrown 3-5" logs, and the cutter cleared them off with no complaint so I could clear them out.
The finish mower deck does a credible, although not pro-mower, cutting job.
Good headlight.
Hour meter doubles as tach, oil-change timer, and probably some other stuff.
The Kawasaki engine seems great.
Here are the other down sides:
The controls seemed to me kind of cheap, compared to say a Scag or Exmark mower or a Gravely. The gear selector was a little jerky, wanted to skip first, and needed to be ticked into reverse. The dead-man did not work at all until I lubricated it, and then sometimes stuck, shutting the engine down when the blade was disengaged (I know this one sounds like operator error, but I watched it pretty close). Cutting requires squeezing a bottom handle (clutch) up and a top handle (dead-man) down on the same (left) side, which for me made it a trick to stop moving without the mower thinking I wanted to shut it down.
Turning is an all-manual operation. I was used to this growing up with and owning Gravelys, but the DR is harder to turn. Additionally, because the decks pivot from a center shaft at the top, the rotary cutter can swing sideways on a turn on rough ground, making a tight turn more challenging. All the more so on hills.
Hour meter came with no instructions, and after 6 hours, started to flash constantly. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Price. $3300 (cutter, mower, chains, light, hour meter).
The good news is you can find out for yourself and return it if you are dissatisfied. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
