Rhino 4150

[gatorguy7]

I just took delivery of a new Rhino 4150. It is replacing an aging Bush Hog 2615. I'm going to use it to mow cow pastures and roads on the ranch. I was originally looking for another Bush Hog but ended up with this Rhino instead. I purchased some hay equipment as a package which included a square baler I didn't need. The square baler gave me a trade in credit worth half of the new mower!

Rhino appears to be pretty innovative by redesigning a lot of the structural components. My 2615 is 20 years old and the new 2815 mowers look identical except they have a smooth top deck. Everything else appears to be the same - leveling rods, wing turnbuckles, axles etc. There are some videos on youtube that brag about Rhino's new "dog bone" stump jumper. I was surprised my mower came with this dog bone and a traditional stump jumper. I guess some people didn't buy into hype of the new design.

I'm really glad I have the Rhino trax foam filled tires. We had aircraft tires on the BH at first and replaced those with laminated tires. We don't run on paved roads much so the aircraft tires aren't worth all of the flat issues. Of course it rained all day yesterday and its looking like rain most of today. I should be putting it to work this afternoon and the rest of the week. The 7040 used to run the 2615 just fine. I can tell this mower has higher HP gear boxes as its a little harder to get going.

 

[Richard]

Please give some reports. I've been looking at this exact mower, same wheels.... didn't know the stump jumper had maybe changed... (interesting!)

Is it a 540 or 1000 version? (I've got both on my tractor and presume I'd slide to the 1000 side)

 

[gatorguy7]

Will do. I feel like the stump jumper might just be an option. It is a 540 pto.

 

[gatorguy7]

First order of business was to get the duals on the wings switched to give duals on the center section. I have no idea why it was like this from the dealer. The axles were pretty hard to get out as I had to strategically use a sledge to get them out. I used a bunch of anti seize on the shaft before re-installing to make it easier in the future.

 

[gatorguy7]

I got to test out the new mower last night and I'm very pleased. This Rhino does not seem to windrow near as bad as my old BH2615. The hydraulics were very smooth. I was able to easily drop a wing down to mow along a ditch bank. The suspension system seems to work great. I like how the wings float and move on their own. The flat deck is so nice to clean but pretty much all new batwings have this feature now.

This mower is pretty hard to get started for the 7040. I've stalled the tractor a few times turning on the PTO. I have to get my RPMs up to ~1,700 to keep it from stalling. The tractor had plenty of power once it was spinning. If it started to bog I would just lift it up a little. The next pasture I'm mowing has a lot of tall broomsedge from last year so that will be a bigger workout for it. I will probably use the John Deere on thick/overgrown pastures since it has 130hp. This Kubota is so much lighter and easier to haul when I'm not mowing on the ranch (this was a separate leased pasture).

I also upgraded the front tires on my 7040 from 9.5x24s to 360/70/R20 from Miller Tire. I'm really pleased with that so far too. I'll post about that on one of the tire threads.

 

[Richard]

Good stuff. How high can you raise a wing and still have it work properly (and safely)?

I ask because I'm on hills and in some areas, find it nice that with my hydraulic mower, I can raise a wing as much as 90 degrees (don't need that much) and it still cuts fine. Yes, I'm paranoid when I have it that steep but don't need to do it often and when I do, it's essentially just the road bankment.

What are your thoughts on the single outer wheels verses having doubles on the wings?

 

[gatorguy7]

The owner's manual warns to not run the blade with the wings in any position besides all the way down. I don't see why it wouldn't run with a wing up all the way, especially if only for a short period of time. I've done with with our other batwings in the past.

I don't see much advantage of double tires on the wings besides displacing the weight a little more. Based on how much the wings moved while I was moving, I bet one of the doubles on the wings would be off the ground quite a bit due to ant hills etc. I definitely think you need 4 tires on the center section due to the weight.

 

[Richard]

My mower doesn't have the 'bowtie' center for the blades to attach to.....but it does essentially have a square bar for the blades to attach to. (no stump jumper) I'm indifferent to it.

Not that I'm an expert..... and most of my cutting is on the already cut farm.... I don't know that I've noticed any difference on this mower verses the old 5' and 10' mowers we had (difference with them having the jumpers and this one not)

....shrugs shoulders....

 

[Bearsixty7]

The owner's manual warns to not run the blade with the wings in any position besides all the way down. I don't see why it wouldn't run with a wing up all the way, especially if only for a short period of time. I've done with with our other batwings in the past.

Probably due to the U-joint angles??

 

[gatorguy7]

Probably due to the U-joint angles??

That and from the liability of the spinning blades up in the air. If one of those blades were to come loose while a wing is up and spinning would be scary.

 

[bdog]

That is impressive. That is a beast of a mower on a relatively small and light tractor. The mower might weigh more than the tractor? Any issues with it pushing you around?

Did you need the larger cut capacity? Curious as to why you chose it over the 2000 or 3000 series. The 4000 series is definitely a better mower but I am sure cost significantly more and with your tractor I might have been inclined to get a lighter unit.

My tractor is almost identical to yours in terms of PTO HP and I am in the market for a 15’ batwing. I was looking at the 2150. We are right at the minimum HP for the 4150 but the 2150 only calls for 50HP.

Anyway nice mower and it makes feel better getting a 15’ unit after your report.

 

[Bearsixty7]

I just took delivery of a new Rhino 4150...

View attachment 695376

What length trailer is that?

 

[gatorguy7]

The mower comes in around 5,400 lbs. The 7040 weighs about 5,600 lbs naked, the fluid filled rear tires add ~1,200 lbs, and the loader is ~1,500 lbs for a total of ~8,300 lbs. I think the old metric is 1.5 times the weight of the tractor is its recommended max towing weight. That would say the 7040 could pull ~12,000 lbs.

That is our smallest tractor on the ranch. We also have a John Deere 7320 (130hp) and 7810 (150hp). I used the Kubota as it is smaller, lighter and easier to haul. Plus, I’m only cutting well maintained pastures.

The mower definitely does not push the tractor around. Would this be a good setup in hilly ground? I don’t know as I’m in Florida where the only topography I have are drainage ditches. The tractor grunts quite a bit when you turn on the pto but it runs the mower quite well once it’s up and running.

I plan on having this mower for a LONG time. Buy once cry once right? I like that is heavier built as it will hold up better than the 2150 or 3150. Also, I had a JD square baler that I got on a steal of a deal in a hay package. I traded in the baler on this mower and it covered half the cost of the new mower. Wells Fargo offered 0% financing for the remainder.

 

[gatorguy7]

What length trailer is that?

It is a 25+5 and it is a perfect fit. The mower is about 15'4" and the tractor is a little less than 10' to the front of the tires. I have to put the mower at its highest position and backed up all the way to the front of the trailer so I can drop the ramps.

 

[Bearsixty7]

It is a 25+5 and it is a perfect fit. The mower is about 15'4" and the tractor is a little less than 10' to the front of the tires. I have to put the mower at its highest position and backed up all the way to the front of the trailer so I can drop the ramps.

Awesome! I've been thinking I want/need a 30' GN flatbed to haul the tractor and current or possible future attachments and have been watching for a decent used one (Bad time marketwise right now). So this tells me I'm probably correct.

 

[gatorguy7]

I've been very pleased with my 30 footer. It's small enough that its still easy to get in and out of most parking lots but it is big enough to haul quite a bit. Here's a few examples of how much you can fit on a 30' deck.

Box blade, landscape rake, 7040 and 90" finish mower

Round baler, 8 wheel rake, 5' drum mower

 

[Bearsixty7]

I've been very pleased with my 30 footer. It's small enough that its still easy to get in and out of most parking lots but it is big enough to haul quite a bit. Here's a few examples of how much you can fit on a 30' deck.

Box blade, landscape rake, 7040 and 90" finish mower

Round baler, 8 wheel rake, 5' drum mower

Perfect! Just what I was wanting to see, I like how it has the bars to hold the ramps up if needed.
Looks like I should be able to get the tractor and any combination of implements I need on one.
I have a 30' BP Toyhauler so I'm used to the length, would just have to get used to the tracking being a little different.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Which model is that trailer?

20K Tandem Axle Elite Series or​

Workhorse Tandem Axle or other?​

 

[gatorguy7]

It is the 20k tandem axle 25+5 with 8k axles. Its not technically elite because it didn't come with the led light bar. I'm not sure if Gatormade is still making an elite vs. workhorse, they seemeed to be the same when I got mine. I've logged quite a few thousand miles in the two years I've owned it. Its a great trailer.

That load with the green dodge and squeeze chute was about 16,400 on the trailer axles. The trailer handled it great all the way home, about 8 hours and 500 miles on the interstate. The trailer came with Sailun G637 tires in 215/75/17.5. I've had really good luck with those on our horse and stock trailers.

 

[gatorguy7]

I spent most of the weekend mowing pastures with the new mower and I'm very pleased. The first pasture I mowed hasn't been mowed in a few years and was ate up with Broomsedge, a perennial bunch grass that grows a 3-4' tall inflorescence every fall. I had to slow down and take a 2/3 swath mowing some of these thick areas but that's because it was solid 4' grass. When I say slow down, I mean I was mowing in 4th instead of 5th in my 8 speed transmission. Travel speed is about 4.8mph in 4th and 5.5 in 5th. When I mow around the house with my finish mower 5th is as fast as I can go as 6th takes me up to 7 mph which causes the tractor to bounce too much even on smooth ground.

I am very pleased with the quality of cut. This mower really chops up the debris and it did not windrow at all, even cutting this super thick material. Our old Bush Hog 2615 windrowed so bad it looked like the grass was raked to bale hay. If you went over the material a second time it would only get worse. There was a little bit of striping in the tractor ruts which is to be expected since some of this grass was over 3' tall. The only time the mower missed was in the thickest parts of the pasture.

Here's the finished product.

The next pasture I moved on to had a lot of woody brush and weeds. Mowing thick grass bogged the tractor some but mowing this thicker stemmed material was no problem. This was a big reason why I went with such a heavy duty mower. I don't ever plan on cutting 4" thick material with this mower even though its rated to do it. Its nice to know I can mow down 1/2" to 2" weeds and it doesn't even blink. There were a few random 3-4' tall pine saplings coming up that were ~2" thick and the mower chopped them up no problem.