Need First Choice Info
- Thread starter MikeH
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Scott_in_WVA
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2002
- Messages
- 414
I agree........do not sell yourself short down the road...
luoisz
New member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2002
- Messages
- 14
- Location
- Southern Mississippi
- Tractor
- AC 7020; JD 2355,Yanmar YM180D; Ford 1220
I have been beating myself up for the last 2 weeks about which finishing mower to buy. Today being a holiday, I went shopping for finishing mowers. Last week I looked at Bushhog. Bushhog has a bullet proof reputation to me and their RDTH 60 looked to be built like a freight train. The paint and finish on the mower looked as though the 7 grade welding class flunk outs did the job while they were blindfolded. There was rust beginning to form on new mowers that were still in the crate. Bushhog blades cost only $8 each which is the cheapest of the crowd while Land Pride are the most expensive at $15 each.
I have first hand experience with a Farm King of my neighbors that I have been using while waiting to get one of my own. I have no real complaints with it but I just like the others better. I guess that the angled front as opposed to the rounded fronts of the others turns me off. Also I don't like the round stiffener welded to the bottom edge. This collects dirt and clippings making for a rust reservoir. It also has a rather low blade tip speed. It like the bushhog is built like a freight train and would be a good mower for taking abuse. It also has a gearbox made in China.
My next stop was First Choice. Which is my last choice. The mowers are a little cheaper in price but a lot cheaper in quality. Their famous paint job while it does shine very pretty had flaked off in a couple of places and rust had set in there too. They do appear to have the best gearbox but the rest of the mower was un-impressive. They claim that the material for the deck is 3/16 but my tape diagrees. More like 5/32 or possibly a little less but definately not 3/16. I also noticed a crack in a weld on a demo unit that was 3 weeks old. It may resemble a Land Pride, but in shape only. First Choice advertises a blade tip speed of 17000 fpm but I question the correctness of this too. If you calculate the gearbox ratio and the pulley size factor you get a spindle rpm of 2650 which is in agreement with their owners manual. The 60" model which cuts only 59" uses a 20" blade. Do the math and I get a blade tip of about 15000 fpm. My other concern is blade overlap which is only 1/2 inch when other units use at least 1.5 inch.
Land Pride wins the contest in my judgment. Their paint job leaves much to be desired also as does the amount of welding bb's left before painting. Their gearbox is made in China which is a minus to me also. Land pride has the best deck design in my opinion and the steel is indeed 3/16" as advertised. They also use a bushing in the gauge wheel forks that can be replaced before eating away at the housing. I also like the plastic belt guards as they do not rattle, rust or rub on the main deck housing. Factor in the $250 cost savings over bushhog and Land Pride is the winner.
1st Landpride 1660 cost $1200
2nd Bushhog RDTH 60 cost $1500
3rd Farm King Y 550R cost $1200
4th First Choice 30 - 60 cost $1095
I have first hand experience with a Farm King of my neighbors that I have been using while waiting to get one of my own. I have no real complaints with it but I just like the others better. I guess that the angled front as opposed to the rounded fronts of the others turns me off. Also I don't like the round stiffener welded to the bottom edge. This collects dirt and clippings making for a rust reservoir. It also has a rather low blade tip speed. It like the bushhog is built like a freight train and would be a good mower for taking abuse. It also has a gearbox made in China.
My next stop was First Choice. Which is my last choice. The mowers are a little cheaper in price but a lot cheaper in quality. Their famous paint job while it does shine very pretty had flaked off in a couple of places and rust had set in there too. They do appear to have the best gearbox but the rest of the mower was un-impressive. They claim that the material for the deck is 3/16 but my tape diagrees. More like 5/32 or possibly a little less but definately not 3/16. I also noticed a crack in a weld on a demo unit that was 3 weeks old. It may resemble a Land Pride, but in shape only. First Choice advertises a blade tip speed of 17000 fpm but I question the correctness of this too. If you calculate the gearbox ratio and the pulley size factor you get a spindle rpm of 2650 which is in agreement with their owners manual. The 60" model which cuts only 59" uses a 20" blade. Do the math and I get a blade tip of about 15000 fpm. My other concern is blade overlap which is only 1/2 inch when other units use at least 1.5 inch.
Land Pride wins the contest in my judgment. Their paint job leaves much to be desired also as does the amount of welding bb's left before painting. Their gearbox is made in China which is a minus to me also. Land pride has the best deck design in my opinion and the steel is indeed 3/16" as advertised. They also use a bushing in the gauge wheel forks that can be replaced before eating away at the housing. I also like the plastic belt guards as they do not rattle, rust or rub on the main deck housing. Factor in the $250 cost savings over bushhog and Land Pride is the winner.
1st Landpride 1660 cost $1200
2nd Bushhog RDTH 60 cost $1500
3rd Farm King Y 550R cost $1200
4th First Choice 30 - 60 cost $1095
Dave41
Bronze Member
PC,
I was told that Sauk Prairie Equipment near Madison may be a dealer, but I have not followed up. Not sure if I want to drive that far.
Dave
I was told that Sauk Prairie Equipment near Madison may be a dealer, but I have not followed up. Not sure if I want to drive that far.
Dave
glennmac
Veteran Member
I've looked prettly closely at the First Choice 72" finish mower. My impression was that it is not as beefy or strongly constructed in the spindles or frame as a Woods, Bushhog or Landpride. About the same quality as a Befco. I haven't seen a King Kutter in person.
The paint was ok but it had been chipped quite a bit from the shipping process. I don't give any points to the mower for for the paint quality but I would give points for an orange color. (The one I was looking at was red.) In the end, I would probably buy it if it were $600 less than the high priced spreads After all, a spinning blade is a spinning blade. However, I wouldn't count on it to last as long as the beefier brands. I also don't particularly care for the two belts that can each break either, but that's not a big point. Make sure you fire one up before you buy to see if the cover plates or anything else vibrates. That's a big no, no.
I wasn't that impressed with the FC rakes. Except for the tines near the bolts, the tines wobbled.
The paint was ok but it had been chipped quite a bit from the shipping process. I don't give any points to the mower for for the paint quality but I would give points for an orange color. (The one I was looking at was red.) In the end, I would probably buy it if it were $600 less than the high priced spreads After all, a spinning blade is a spinning blade. However, I wouldn't count on it to last as long as the beefier brands. I also don't particularly care for the two belts that can each break either, but that's not a big point. Make sure you fire one up before you buy to see if the cover plates or anything else vibrates. That's a big no, no.
I wasn't that impressed with the FC rakes. Except for the tines near the bolts, the tines wobbled.
JimMc
Platinum Member
$1200 is a pretty good price for that Land Pride. Is it because it is a 2001 model?
JimMc
Platinum Member
machinedoc
"Jim, when will your Midwest company have your finish mowers ready to sell? How many sizes will you have? I had rather buy USA if possible and from watching your very informative and knowledgable commentary on this forum, I feel like you know what you are doing and can be depended on. "
Sorry, I missed your question on availability of Midwest's mower. We have finished the designs and are building and testing prototypes now. Fortunately, we are using known, reliable components and that should shorten the development cycle considerably. All the MTBF numbers are already known as are spindle RPM limitations HP ratings, etc. We are narrowing in on the blade designs, manufacturing processes and getting in some run time. Look for some distribution by March with widespread availibility by mid summer. Sizes will be initially 48" - 84" in 12" increments. So far, I can tell you that the spiral bevel gear gearbox is very smooth and quiet, a quick hitch works great on it without those funky adapter linkages, and, of course, since we don't have anybody in Italy telling us it costs too much to have 4 colors next year, it will be available in red, orange, green, and blue.
"Jim, when will your Midwest company have your finish mowers ready to sell? How many sizes will you have? I had rather buy USA if possible and from watching your very informative and knowledgable commentary on this forum, I feel like you know what you are doing and can be depended on. "
Sorry, I missed your question on availability of Midwest's mower. We have finished the designs and are building and testing prototypes now. Fortunately, we are using known, reliable components and that should shorten the development cycle considerably. All the MTBF numbers are already known as are spindle RPM limitations HP ratings, etc. We are narrowing in on the blade designs, manufacturing processes and getting in some run time. Look for some distribution by March with widespread availibility by mid summer. Sizes will be initially 48" - 84" in 12" increments. So far, I can tell you that the spiral bevel gear gearbox is very smooth and quiet, a quick hitch works great on it without those funky adapter linkages, and, of course, since we don't have anybody in Italy telling us it costs too much to have 4 colors next year, it will be available in red, orange, green, and blue.
luoisz
New member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2002
- Messages
- 14
- Location
- Southern Mississippi
- Tractor
- AC 7020; JD 2355,Yanmar YM180D; Ford 1220
No, in fact the dealer is waiting for the mowers to arrive. I did have to do a little shopping and found a dealer to sell at this price. Several of the other dealers sell for $1300
JimMc
Platinum Member
The reason I asked is that all the 2002 mowers have Sicma Italian gearboxes. A lot of dealers are playing the dealer trade game to move all the existing 2001 stock.
