Rotary Cutter Rotary cutter - J-Bar or Howse?

queen of spades · Oct 15, 2008

I have two choices for rotary cutters. The J-Bar is $650, and the Howse is $695.

Which is the better buy?

Thanks!

JSharp · Oct 15, 2008

They look similar and both seem to use the same or a quite similar Chinese gearbox. Pick the one that has the heaviest construction.

I have a 5' Howse and it's nothing special. The metal is of adequate thickness for moderate use but there's nothing heavy duty about it.

JoeinTX · Oct 16, 2008

Don't know much about the J-Bar rigs.......punched them up on the internets and looked 'em over. I suppose the look okay from the website.

As for the Howse, they are not the heaviest built rotos out there but they are very honest. I have a 5' model........has its plusses and minuses.......but I've used it and it's yet to fail me. I did need one shield part for it and after placing an order on their website I got it in less than a week without any hassle.

From the site data, it looks like the Howse is a little heavier unit. Me, personally and from experience, I go with the Howse since you can get support directly from them, any number of dealers, and Northern Tool who sells them as well. J-Bar? Look okay, but nobody handles them.

daBear · Oct 16, 2008

Don't know a thing about J-Bar but the Howse factory is 80 miles from me. I bought a Howse dirt scoop and it lasted two days before my mighty 28 hp Kubota bent it. Next I got a Howse subsoiler and the fine Chinese steel lasted about 3 days before it bent. Called the factory and told them what was going on and they basically said everybody is using the fine Chinese steel, don't you know. Ain't been back since.

queen of spades · Oct 16, 2008

Why are they using Chinese parts for these things? We have steel plants in Alabama just next door. Crazy. Our quest for the almighty dollar is going to be the end of us.

queen of spades · Oct 16, 2008

One more question.. I'm leaning J-Barr now - if they can prove they are using U.S. Steel.

What is a stump jumper, and would the little 4' cutters have or need one?

jbrumberg · Oct 16, 2008

queen of spades:

I doubt that they are using U.S. steel

. A stump jumper is usually a plate to which the rotary cutter blades are attached. The blades are free swinging on the plate which in theory allows the rotary cutter to "hop"

over obstructions without damaging the blades. IMHO you need a stump jumper and a slip clutch (~$100 - $150) as well. Jay

daBear · Oct 16, 2008

I don't know what to tell you about the steel. The Howse equipment I bought looked every bit as heavy duty as King Kutter and even some of my Woods equipment. I wound up with a King Kutter dirt scoop and it has been GREAT. I still have the Howse subsoiler, but I am going to take it to a shop and have a heavy steel tube welded across the angle iron that is bending. The furrow also broke and Howse wanted $50 for a replacement Chinese model while AG Supply sold me two for that price. Haven't broken a furrow since.

Like it has been said, you probably will run into non US steel on most brands and I don't know how you can get around that. The top tier brands like Lands Pride, Bush Hog, Woods, etc will hold up where the second tier will fail, speaking from experience.

Baby Grand · Oct 16, 2008

queen of spades said:
Why are they using Chinese parts for these things? We have steel plants in Alabama just next door. Crazy. Our quest for the almighty dollar is going to be the end of us.

What was your budget for a 5" cutter?

JSharp · Oct 16, 2008

queen of spades said:
One more question.. I'm leaning J-Barr now - if they can prove they are using U.S. Steel.

What is a stump jumper, and would the little 4' cutters have or need one?

I don't know about the deck parts but if they tell you the gearbox is US made I'd call BS. It looks identical to the Howse gearbox and that's most certainly made in China.

My Howse cutter came with my tractor and the gearbox was trashed. I ordered a new one direct from the factory for under $180 delivered. It took about 2 weeks to receive. It uses a 1/2" grade 5 bolt as a shear pin and has no slip clutch. It's supposedly a 50HP gearbox and with my old 36HP tractor I didn't bother with one.

It does have the stump jumper as others have mentioned. The blades are mounted to a large disk that mounts to the gearbox. The blades are free to swing if they hit an obstruction and the disk is convex so that it supposedly will glide over things instead of getting hung up.

I've never tried it though. There aren't any stumps or anything similar where I mow...