Rotary Cutter Rhino Rotary cutters

[Robert_in_NY]

Hi Brian, can you post a picture of the damage? It might help others on here understand just what is happening.

Personally, I have a Woods MD172 and I dispise that thing. I have had the gear box rebuilt 3 times (all covered by my dealer (two times were covered after the Woods warranty expired)). It is just built too light for a medium duty cutter. However, the one thing I do like about this cutter that might help in your situation is that the entire top link setup is a big linkage. If the front of the cutter catches a big stump it will almost stand up as the 3pt linkage will pivot until it hits the stops. It is similar to the chain setup except that it is a solid system with a solid stop to prevent damage to the pto.

If I am going thru a ditch or loading on to a trailer I do not have to adjust the top link as the mower will fold itself up some if the tail wheel hits ground. The lift arms and tail wheel hold the mower to height and the rest floats until it is needed.

I have sworn a long time ago that I wouldn't buy another Woods cutter but the new models look a lot better and I would have to consider them still as my NH/Woods dealer has been great.

Best of luck to you with this problem. Is it just the frame that holds the actual wheel to the shaft? If so could you possibly replace that setup with another brands? If this is going to be a common problem for you then it will be worth it in the end.

 

[sandman2234]

Probably nothing a bunch of steel and some welding rods can't fix, but I think he would rather be out making money instead of paying someone to fix something that shouldn't be a problem to start with.
I agree with Robert_in_NY that pictures would help us understand what is happening.
David from jax

 

[MtnViewRanch]

[quote
I agree with Robert_in_NY that pictures would help us understand what is happening.
David from jax[/quote]

A picture would be worth a thousand words.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Hi Brian, can you post a picture of the damage? It might help others on here understand just what is happening.

Personally, I have a Woods MD172 and I dispise that thing. I have had the gear box rebuilt 3 times (all covered by my dealer (two times were covered after the Woods warranty expired)). It is just built too light for a medium duty cutter. However, the one thing I do like about this cutter that might help in your situation is that the entire top link setup is a big linkage. If the front of the cutter catches a big stump it will almost stand up as the 3pt linkage will pivot until it hits the stops. It is similar to the chain setup except that it is a solid system with a solid stop to prevent damage to the pto.

If I am going thru a ditch or loading on to a trailer I do not have to adjust the top link as the mower will fold itself up some if the tail wheel hits ground. The lift arms and tail wheel hold the mower to height and the rest floats until it is needed.

I have sworn a long time ago that I wouldn't buy another Woods cutter but the new models look a lot better and I would have to consider them still as my NH/Woods dealer has been great.

Best of luck to you with this problem. Is it just the frame that holds the actual wheel to the shaft? If so could you possibly replace that setup with another brands? If this is going to be a common problem for you then it will be worth it in the end.

Well, Robert, you aren't gonna like this, but here goes.

I have an MD172. I've had those same gearbox issues with it. I was talked into a BB840 when I needed a 7' mower. And my luck with it hasn't been as good as the MD172. I used the MD172 on the same tractor that now uses the BB840. (Deere 2440) The MD172 is now on a 3000 Ford. I like the top linkage on the MD172 a LOT more than the BB840. Same gearbox issues with both. You couldn't GIVE me another Woods mower. I've got a couple Bush Hog mowers too. One is a medium duty (286) like the Woods models. No issues with MORE use. Both the Woods mowers get sold this coming winter and replaced with Bush Hog mowers.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What do you mean I won't like that. It just means I don't have to waste my money on another Woods chopper. I am sorry to hear you are having the same gear box issues though. I have an old 5' Ford brush chopper (I am not sure who made it or if Ford did themselves) that is around 40 years old. It came with the farm my grandfather bought (I wasn't around then) but the MF 135 that also came with the farm was only 4 years old and they tell me the chopper was older then the MF. So far the only problem I had with that mower is the blade broke (there wasn't a lot of metal left on it though).

Oddly enough I almost think Woods made the Ford choppers back then Sure did come a long ways

On the bright side, one of my favorite dealers is a Bush hog dealer and I always look for an excuse to buy from them guys even though they are 15 miles away compared to my NH dealer being less then 2 miles.

Thanks for the heads up on the newer Woods mowers though. I know there are a lot of used MD172's sitting in the fence rows around here.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

What do you mean I won't like that. It just means I don't have to waste my money on another Woods chopper. I am sorry to hear you are having the same gear box issues though. I have an old 5' Ford brush chopper (I am not sure who made it or if Ford did themselves) that is around 40 years old. It came with the farm my grandfather bought (I wasn't around then) but the MF 135 that also came with the farm was only 4 years old and they tell me the chopper was older then the MF. So far the only problem I had with that mower is the blade broke (there wasn't a lot of metal left on it though).

Oddly enough I almost think Woods made the Ford choppers back then Sure did come a long ways

On the bright side, one of my favorite dealers is a Bush hog dealer and I always look for an excuse to buy from them guys even though they are 15 miles away compared to my NH dealer being less then 2 miles.

Thanks for the heads up on the newer Woods mowers though. I know there are a lot of used MD172's sitting in the fence rows around here.

The "you won't like it" was more sarcasm than anything else. I'm with you. I'd rather learn by someone elses mistakes than by my own. I'm not totally down on Woods, just I don't think they're nearly as "commercial grade" or "AG rated" as some others. I realize these are medium duty cutters, but that IS my point. Bush Hog medium duty cutters seem to stand up to heavy use MUCH better by my experience. When I was shopping for a batwing this spring, my "favorite dealer" who sells Woods told me to look elsewhere. He didn't want me as an unhappy customer.

A homeowner or end user that doesn't pile up the hours may well be happy with their Woods mower. But look at what's hooked to the tractors doing highway/road right-of-way cutting. VERY rarely ever anything but Bush Hog or Alamo/Rhino/Shulte (Alamo Group).

My luck with medium duty Woods mowers has brought me to the point where I keep all the internal parts to the gearbox's sitting on the shelf in the shop. They just don't hold up to hundreds of hours of use like I've got with Bush Hog.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I understood, should have added a

I had been leaning towards Bush Hog already as I would like to get a 7' and a 15-20'. I know I can make a few dollars if I wanted as I get a lot of people wanting to hire me to take my discbine over and cut their fields Right now I waste a lot of time trying to keep everything maintained with 5' and 6' choppers.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I understood, should have added a

I had been leaning towards Bush Hog already as I would like to get a 7' and a 15-20'. I know I can make a few dollars if I wanted as I get a lot of people wanting to hire me to take my discbine over and cut their fields Right now I waste a lot of time trying to keep everything maintained with 5' and 6' choppers.

I bought a 15' batwing and realized almost right away I SHOULD have gone with a 20'er. We're mowing quite a few large tracts. We use 40 to 60 hp tractors with 6' and 7' cutters as "weed eaters" to do all the close cutting and in areas where there is obstructions. Then the batwing to mow open areas. After a summer's experience, I've found we can cut a lot more confined areas with the batwing than we first thought. The wider the mower, the EASIER they are to turn at headlands. (You don't have to turn in such a tight radius) I'm fighting the urge to buy another batwing. Not enough business YET. No plans to buy another until we HAVE to have it. Having such a good first year may be dangerous. It seems too easy.

 

[LoneCowboy]

I've only got one left (i'm going to start making a collection) of the first 3.
they all bend the fork (that holds the tailwheel) right below where it comes out of the neck
compare that to a bushhog and you'll see why they bend. It's about half as thick/strong.

And the next time it bends, the piece of junk gets traded at a huge loss (it's new in may, both of them) for a bushhog brand.

Sick of it.

 

[shvl73]

Would it be cheaper to have the correct bushing for another brand welded on and use the tail wheel and fork assembly from brand X?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

176 (6', commercial, chains, 2000 bucks)
SE8A (8' commercial, 5000 bucks)

I wasn't as up to date on model designations for Rhino as with other brands. After spending a little more time researching them, I'm up to speed on what's what with them. (I'm shopping for a couple HEAVY duty 6' mowers myself)

176? I see a 172 listed in their product line. It's a 72" ECONOMY grade, light to medium duty cutter.

SE8A. Double spindle, medium duty economy level 8' cutter.

Neither are recommended as commercial level mowers by Servis-Rhino. Both are targeting "home-owner, hobby rancher, occasional user" markets.

Next level "up" from 172 series, the 272, is comparable to Bush Hog 296 or Woods BB720. (medium duty) I'm shopping for CY72 or GR72 models. (heavy duty or EXTREME heavy duty) I'm leaning towards the CY72 at this point. I'm comparing Rhino and Bush Hog only at this stage.

BUT... it looks like the tailwheels are of simular design, albiet lighter weight material as their heavy duty and extreme heavy duty lines. These 2 models are anywhere from 500 to 1000 lighter than their extreme duty counterparts. While a great deal of that weight is in places like the decks, the gearboxes, and the hitch, a sizable portion of weight reduction is obviously in the tailwheel assemblies. That said, I still don't see even a light duty mower having a chronic problem with tailwheels bending from normal use. The Rhino dealer I'm talking with currently sells 30 to 45 mowers per year. He claims to have sold ONE tailwheel from his parts dept in the last 3 years, replacing one that was damaged when the operator backed into a concrete culvert headwall.

 

[LarryRB]

I just bought a Woods BB720 and I'll tell you, made my field look like it was cut with a finish mower. Very stout design and build., I'm real happy with it,

 

[LoneCowboy]

FarmwithRhino, errr I mean FarmwithJunk, out here, the biggest thing you see is some occasional 1" stuff, everything is just grass/weeds, we don't get the brush that people do back east.
No one runs the 4" stuff (the heavy duty stuff), even the state.
It is a 172, not 176, I looked the other day, and it's a big monster for a 6 footer (and i haven't bent anything on it, except this poor design for a tailwheel
save your money, buy the bushhog
I wish I had.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

FarmwithRhino, errr I mean FarmwithJunk, out here, the biggest thing you see is some occasional 1" stuff, everything is just grass/weeds, we don't get the brush that people do back east.
No one runs the 4" stuff (the heavy duty stuff), even the state.
It is a 172, not 176, I looked the other day, and it's a big monster for a 6 footer (and i haven't bent anything on it, except this poor design for a tailwheel
save your money, buy the bushhog
I wish I had.

In all likelyhood, I'll end up buying Bush Hog again. I like 'em and have a good working relationship with 2 different BH dealers. Rhino dealer is new on my short list.

I don't do much, if ever ANY brush cutting anymore, outside of a little bit on my place when I first bought it. Everything is grass and weeds now. But that doesn't change my wanting a heavy duty mower. By virtue of the fact they're built tough enough to mow 4" trees on a sustained basis, they'll stand up to a little abuse where light duty mowers won't always survive. That built in weight equates to built in strength in my book. And when you start banging a mower around behind a bigger, heavier, more powerful tractor, the mower takes a thrashing even in light weeds and grass. And a lesson I've learned about CABBED tractors... You're isolated from noise, so you don't have quite the same handle on what abuse the implement behind the tractor is going through. One thing that you deal with that is no different than us "back east" guys is chuck holes, rocks, and rain ruts. They'll do more harm than all the 4" trees you'll ever need to mow over. And they effect parts like the tailwheel more than those trees anyway. The more hours you use a piece of equipment, the higher the likelyhood of it getting "normal abuse". Buying heavy duty pays dividends in the long run.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Thanks for the heads up on the 15' vs 20' mowers. I didn't even think about the 20' being easier to turn on the headlands.

 

[HayDR]

I haven't hit anything out of the ordinary.
In fact, I just figured out how I bent this one.
Putting it on the trailer
yes, that odd angle of putting it on the trailer bent it. (because I greased it before loading the tractor)
JUNK wheels
It's the 3rd wheel now (all 3 now)

All we have around here is grass, no real saplings like down south, everyone runs 1" stuff (even the highway dept)

176 (6', commercial, chains, 2000 bucks)
SE8A (8' commercial, 5000 bucks)

The 172 was the lightest duty machine Rhino makes. We sold them for $1600 last year, you got hosed. The 272 is the same as the old TW series.
The SE8A is designed only to cut grass witha a 40-60 Hp tractor and is light duty. You need a TW96 or a Turbo 96. Your dealer is selling the light duty stuff to you claiming it is commercial duty and it is not. There is nothing wrong with Rhino cutters you just have the wrong cutters for your application. The SE cutters and 100 series cutters are just King kutter style light-duty cutters. If you want a true Rhino you need to purchase the 200 series and above.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I have a 6' Walco cutter and have had tail wheel problems until this year. I first bent the wheel forks to the side a bit...got 'em straightened. Last year I not only bent the forks, I actually broke the weld at the top of the forks. Finally, my dealer diagnosed the problem.
I have really rough, hilly ground and, if the chain isn't loose enough, when I go over into a gulley, the wheel swivels around backwards, then slams down (facing the wrong way) when I go down into the dip. Basically, the full weight of the unit, plus the momentum of the tractor fall on the wheel and very rapidly force it to swivel to the back; eventually this pounding bends the forks.
The solution is to keep the chain really slack so the wheel stays on the ground all the time. When I back up, I either raise the mower or move very slowly and carefully so the wheel has time to swivel around slowly. The only real issue I have with this solution is that the very slack chain is a nuisance. It not only pounds the paint off the gearbox, it has managed to fall under the edge of the gearbox a couple of times, rubbing against the PTO shield. Getting it out from under there takes some toplink adjustment and readjustment (just an irritant, really).

I don't know if this diagnosis fits anybody else's situation, and it also doesn't explain why nobody seems to be seeing this issue with Bush Hog brand, but for what its worth....
BOB

 

[krackerjack9]

I had a SE 5 and mainly used it for grass,, and I cut a lot of grass with it,
then moved up to a Rhino 172 and cut alot of grass and lots of Texas purple sage, had it sense 08 and going on my 2nd set of blades for it.

Now took on a 45 acre job of really realy thick Texas sage and some sort of mesquite type of tree only gets about 8ft tall but has tons of trunks that come out of ground in one spot, so my tractor wouldnt be able to take on a Rhino 272 but figured it could run the 260.

Now that mower is the deal. keep the power up at 2400rpm and it cuts thur this stuff all day long in 2nd low and sometimes I go to 3 low, oh using a Kubota L4400.

So for now im going to use the 172 for grass mainly and use the 260 for the thicker stuff. I would say if you had 60hp pto rating tractor that 272 would cut anything down,, they even got a 400 series.

got a friend who has turbo 96 from Rhino its can cut the 3in stuff all day long but it dont shredd it up as small as the 260, I guess its mainly due to the hieght of the mower deck is what makes the difference

 

[bostractor]

Does anyone know where I can get a castor fork for a Rhino tw72? Mine is bent and I've tried hammering it back out and just can't get it exactly right. Thanks.
Bo
Norman, Ok

 

[case580c]

Does anyone know if the Rhino TW72 it is newer model than Rhino 172 What I would really like to know is the model years of the

Rhino SE6, Rhino 172, and the Rhino TW 72 Rotary Mower, and if they are comparable to each other Thanks Bill


Sorry if this has been already covered if so please just give me a link to it Thanks