Rotary cutter prices

[W5FL]

PaulB,

The light duty types are pretty heavy duty by finish mower standards. My first one was a Rhino 6 ft. I could pull it in 1st gear in high range about 5 mph and the diesel would grunt once in a while. I mowed pieces of 2 3/8 fence pipe, rocks, 4x4's and the only thing that got it was an old tire.

Most light duty cutters come with a rubber guard that is pretty effective in preventing objects being thrown out from under the mower. Set properly and since most have the uplift blades, they will mulch if set level or lower in the rear and leave a nice looking cut pasture. The medium duty ones will SPLIT rocks. One rock goes in and two come out. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Tractor Supply also sells a couple of 4 and 5 ft models without guards and very reasonable prices.

 

[Alan L.]

I've got a Rhino 5' cutter. It is the light duty model and was about $800 I think (it was part of my tractor deal so I don't remember what it was). It has the solid wheel, rubber guards, and sheer pin. I have sheered the pin only once and it takes all of 5 minutes to switch out.

I have cut up to probably and inch and a half with it but have accidently run over fence posts, tow chains, tow straps, and the guard bolts broke and I ran over the guard (its still gone). The only thing wrong with it is I put a dent in the back backing into a big elm tree, and there are a few small dents from the inside out from hitting stuff.

Not only would I rather mow the yard with the cutter than to mow the pasture with the finish mower but I have done just that. Earlier in the spring the grass in the yard got about a foot tall so I mowed with the cutter. The pasture really looks nice when I mow with it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Paul,
I also have the Howse 5ft. light cutter and I got it last year for $75.00 used from the Kubota dealer. It was only 1 yr. old but someone backed it into something solid and broke one skid on one side off. The gear box was good and the blades had some big nicks in them, but nothing that could not be fixed. I just took the whole thing apart and welded it back up and even renforced it and it works great. Only took about 3hrs to rebuild and repaint. I use it for cutting 3ac. of hilly ground at my other house that at one time was finished lawn. Since my tractor is at home and I don't want to have to take the Kubota over every week I only cut about once a month and it works very well. For cutting just pasture the Howse will work great.
Von

 

[Mryan]

The model was XT148. The price of the cutter is 950 and the slip clutch is 110. He said he'd throw in the slip clutch for nothing. I'm going to call another place that sells Bush Hog and see what the have to offer. I had also called another Woods dealer and got the same exact price for the XT148. Sounds to me to be the retail price.

Mike.

 

[Mryan]

Bird,

How does the bush hog do as a finish mower? I haven't (and probobly wont for another year or two)put in a real nice lawn, but do have a good deal of grass to mow along with all the brush and my father's field.

Mike

 

[Mryan]

Spoke to the bush hog dealer (he also sells woods and landpride). He was at $1079 for the Woods xt148 and said that the bus hog and landpride would run about the same price and are of the same quality. Sounds like I need to move to another part of the country to get better prices on equipment/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[Richardb]

I've had great luck with the 5ft Squealer too. I've cut 2-3" softwoods with it, and it seems to chew them up pretty good. I run my bucket down low before mowing the bigger stuff to break the stems and bend them over though. My Kubota dealer talked me out of the slipclutch. They need to be 'slipped' regularly or they will rust closed and can cause a gearbox failure. The pros who use them regularly have no problems, but for those of us who only mow a couple of times a year, one has to loosen up the slipclutch plate and spin it then tighten it up again before each use. My neighbor smoked his Woods mid-duty model's gearbox by not slipping his clutch last spring. I've not sheared a pin yet, but have stalled my L2250 (~21hp at pto) in thick stuff. Also beat up the blades some (see my post on sharpening bush hog blades).

 

[Bird]

Mryan, the blades on a rotary cutter (brush hog) are not as sharp as the blades on a finish mower (unless you decide to grind them down that way), so they don't cut quite as clean. Of course, the closer to the ground you get, the cleaner cut you'll get. For mowing pastures, some folks mow them quite short, while others only want to "top" the weeds. But I've found that if you set the brush hog to its lowest height setting, you'll probably be surprised at how neat a job it'll do. It sounds to me as if you have a very good job for a brush hog.

Bird

 

[Bird]

Mryan, I'm not at all familiar with Woods model numbers, and I don't know which model Bush Hog your dealer was referring to, so the prices may or may not be out of line. Several people, including myself, have referred to the Bush Hog "Squealer" series, which is considered to be a light duty model, and Bush Hog does make some much heavier duty models for more money. The Squealers are not recommended for more than 1" brush, but my brother, my cousin, and I have all knocked down 2" saplings with Squealers with no apparent damage. And my dealer wants $795 for the 5' Squealer without slip clutch.

Bird

 

[Mryan]

The Bush Hog was a 48" Squealer (SQ480). This stuff will drive you crazy!! When I bought the tractor, I got the dealer down from 15,500 to 14,200 because I told him I could get the thing delivered and tax free from Carver for about that. He said "the internet is killing us". Unfortunately, I can't find prices for the implements I'm looking at. I don't mind spending money and will gladly pay a little more to get good quality. I just hate finding out later that I could have saved $$$$. I'll see if I can talk the dealer down on the woods without the slip clutch. Thanks everyone for all the feedback!!

Mike.