Peruzzo Fox Cross 1600 Ditch & Bank Mower Review

[Buka]

So after finally deciding to get the 1600 Peruzzo I call Steve at Iowa Farm Equipment. He says he will deliver it to me about 80 miles away and that I can pay him when he delivers it. I wait a few days to hear from him and then email him wondering when it is going to be delivered.
Then he emails me back saying I have to pay him up front! Coming across like he thinks I am trying to get away with something. 65 years old here. Never wrote a bad check or failed to pay for anything I ordered.
So I email him back kinda insulted and irritated asking him about it and god forgive me I typed bulls--t in my message. No response!
So I mail him a check and now a week later I get my check back in my unopened envelope.
So again I email him and I get this back!

This message is a 'NO CONTACT ORDER'.

Do not contact me, or anyone at our place of business by telephone, do not contact by email, do not contact by USPS mail, do not visit our place of business, and do not approach me, or anyone else at our place of business, or anywhere.

Your disrespectful message was not welcome, nor is anymore of any communication from you, or your representatives.

Steve

I knew this guy was strange the first time I met him. Heard a lot of bad things about him and I guess they were true.
I do not think anyone else sells these Peruzzos in the USA.
Anyone know another way I can get a 1600 Peruzzo?
leonz? Can I buy directely from Lorenzo Peruzzo?

 

[leonz]

Call IFE back and ask for Andrew! this fellows behavior is inexcusable!!

If Andrew is not there ask for his cell phone number and plan on taking a drive to their sales office when you know Andrew will be there and pay for the flail mower then as you will need some fittings for your mule to hook up the hoses or ask for one of the managers and pay for the mower up front.

I say this only so you do not have to put up with this other gentleman.

If whoever is there will not sell you a flail mower I would like you to contact Lorenzo at my suggestion as the Peruzzo family does not deserve that kind of representation.


I want you to identify yourself completely with your phone number and address and why you are writing him at my suggestion.

Explain to him that you wanted to pay for the mower when it was delivered and the response you received from from this "steve" fellow and that you wish to solve this as amicably and you will provide a letter of credit to them-
being "Iowa Farm Equipment" verifying your standing with the bank you deal with do this as soon as possible as you wish to purchase one of their fine flail mowers.

Here is Lorenzo's e-mail for your use;


peruzzo@peruzzo.com

Tell Lorenzo everything and this will get straightened out fairly quickly for you as his response to you would find me sitting on his desk looking at him in the eye while he shifts his weight and blinks his eyes.

 

[Buka]

Thanks leonz. Unfortunately every time I call IFE they ask who is calling and then I get Steve's voicemail. I think Steve (the older Steve is the owner/top man!!

 

[jgedmond]

Thanks leonz. Unfortunately every time I call IFE they ask who is calling and then I get Steve's voicemail. I think Steve (the older Steve is the owner/top man!!

Buka, did you ever get this resolved? I am getting quotes for the Fox Cross 1600 from Iowa Farm Equipment and the Ibex TM62 (Del Morino made) from Tractor Tools Direct. Leaning towards the Fox Cross due to longer reach, lower weight and lower hp requirements.

Jim

 

[leonz]

Hello Jim,

Sadly Buka was unable to even get a satisfactory response from IFE.

I even contacted the Peruzzo people in Italy about this and nothing
happened to resolve the issue nor did they return messages to me
so that he could pay for a flail mower when it was to be delivered.

I would pass on doing any business with them with the crap he went through
just attempting to purchase an implement from them.
They have done this to other people as well from what I have been told by
people that wanted to do business with them.

The other issues with them have been the manuals as they are poorly written/poorly translated and
the diagrams/schematics are not drawn very well either to identify the parts of the hydraulic
system either.

You will not go wrong with the Del Morino boom mounted flail mower.

 

[Buka]

I would warn everyone to not do business with IFE or Peruzzo! Both in my opinion total A holes. I bought a Sicma MA 120 from this place and could not be happier with dealing with Carver or the mower!
Phoenix - Sicma Ditch Bank Mower Prices | Carver Equipment | Sicma Corporation Italy, PTO Shaft Mowers, Grooming Mowers, Finishing Mowers - For Sale - North Carolina - Carver Equipment in Dunn NC

 

[jgedmond]

leonz and Buka, thanks for the quick replies. I will look into the Sicma.

 

[Walter L]

Buka i recently bought a ditch flail mower from these folks BESTCO, it does the job seams well built for a Chinese built eq and the price is great with free ship.
Ditch Bank Flail Mowers | Betstco Sales, Parts, and Service: Local Pick Up Please Call

 

[jgedmond]

Walt, thanks for the reply. I started looking at Bestco this weekend and I think one of those will work for me. While the Peruzzo is a great machine, I am having a hard time justifying nearly $6000 with shipping for my intended usage. I still plan to use the rotary cutter for most mowing with the offset flail for field edges, under trees, ponds, and trail trimming.

I plan to call Bestco first thing tomorrow to get a recommendation for my tractor. From their website it appears that they are out of stock on all ditch mowers, so availability will affect my final decision.

Jim

 

[Fallon]

My Peruzzo Brush Bull 2200 has been doing good for me. I just contacted Iowa Farm Equipment about spare parts & a couple possible warranty things. It's a bit out of warranty unfortunately, probably 8-9 months, so cant really fault them on that. Issues were so minor I didnt bother to contact them last season anyways. They are going to toss some copper washers in the order about the hydraulic leak (very minor leak around the side shift hose fitting). They called the side shift bushing a wear item & indicated it it wouldnt have been covered. I'm guessing I'll those bushings are $10 a pop.

IFE responded promptly when I emailed them about the wear parts & potential warranty parts. They did take a few days to hear back from Peruzzo on my out of warranty stuff.

Hammers are a bit dull at this point (occasional rocks, steel & trash arent good for them), but probably have years left on them. Gonna get a spare set of hammers & belts just to have on hand whenever I need them. That's gonna be $700 or so.

 

[com12man]

I ordered one of those Peruzzo ditch bank fox 1600 mowers just recently.I have a mott also with the y blades which cuts pretty good .I was wondering how this would cut with the y blades on it?Guess I'll find out latter.My Mott is only 38 inches and bolts on to a walk behind Gravely.My tractor is a Kubota b2650 cab with the backhoe subframe under it.

 

[powerscol]

Something is strange here with IFE. You can look up my old posts when I was searching for my unit and IFE even went to the trouble of hooking up a few models to a similar tractor so I could see the offset. no other vender of similar units would do this for me. I wanted to be absolutely sure the pivot point of the flail was outside my rear tires and Andrew understood that. I was working with Andrew and he was excellent to work with. He was also quick to respond to assembly questions I had. I recently ordered a couple of replacement hammers too. I agree they are soft and chip easily. IFE (Steve) got them out right away.

Hope this helps
Keith

Andrew and Steve are brothers or father and son - don't know which. Here is Andrew's email Andrew Stepanian <as@ife1.com> if it helps

 

[Kevin Varga]

Hi

I purchased the Peruzzo Fox Cross 1600 and received it this past January (9 month wait, worth the wait). It was ready to go right out of the shipping crate. Only adjust I made was lowering the roller to increase cutting height. Love the machine. It does such a good job I am selling my Land Pride Rear Discharge 3 point mower deck.

 

[TerryR]

Ken,

I suggest you check the belt tension after a bit. Mine is now five years old and the bearings on the belt shaft on the gearbox gave up, making lots of noise and an oily mess. It is used 10 or 12 hours twice a year, so not that many hours on it.

I don't know whether this was because of an issue with the bearings, or if over-tight belts were a contributing factor. I'd never adjusted them, but I found than when I tried to re-install the old ones with a new gearbox they were so tight, even with the idler all backed off, that one of them broke trying to get them back on.