School me on old used rotary cutters

MESSMAKER · Sep 4, 2018

XR4140 said:
May just buy a cheap Countyline from TSC. Im not doing anything crazy with it. Thanks guys.

Go anywhere else and give them a shot. The Countryline is among the very lightest rotary mowers that you see. Titan,Kodiak,Behlen Country,Tennessee River or King Kutter would be a better choice. King Kutter used to make the cutters for Tractor Supply.

XR4140 · Sep 4, 2018

I think this is a king kutter - LINK

treedawg · Sep 4, 2018

goeduck said:
I do not disagree and I like to buy quality old iron and fix it myself. Having typed that, I thought that I read that Country Line is a decent brand?

I've always considered Countyline from TSC lightweight and somewhat disposable.

Old iron is almost always better than new implements from box stores.

nwut05 · Sep 4, 2018

Before you buy anything in the county line king kutter tenessee river etc. price range find you a FRED CAIN dealer (Most major Tractor dealers can get them) and look and price theirs. They are made here in America with Italian gearboxes and the gearboxes have a lifetime replacement warranty. They are the only ones i can find that have this, even Rihno is using chineese gearboxes on 10,000 dollar cutters i just looked at them on the lot last week. I have a 5 ft fred cain and it has never failed me or had any issues 7 years strong and still going. I broke a pto shaft last fall and threw it across the deck ( both cross bearings twisted out) and still no gearbox problems, so i'm not easy on it by no means. Replaced the PTO shaft and still HOG"N on. Also they are very comparable in price to the ones mentioned earlier in this post.

treedawg · Sep 4, 2018

I'm not familiar with Fred Cain Rotary Cutters but Everything Attachment carries them and they offer free shipping.

nwut05 · Sep 4, 2018

Yes they do. I have never bought anything from them and sure they are fine people, or by the video's seem to be. However unless the prices have changed by $600 or $700 in 7 years on the 5 ft cutters, I think you could get them cheaper at a local dealer. So you pay for the shipping, or you pick it up locally. All I can say, as posted before, they are not the fanciest cutter out there but they are tough as nails.

I have the agri cutter 105 square cutter in case you are wondering. 45 hp gearbox and just replaced the drive line with a cat 5 after the cat 4 original broke, or should i say exploded at the universal joints while behind my workmaster 60... There isin't any of them that like to eat limestone rock, especially when they sneak up on you in tall brush lol.....

goeduck · Sep 5, 2018

nwut05 said:
Yes they do. I have never bought anything from them and sure they are fine people, or by the video's seem to be. However unless the prices have changed by $600 or $700 in 7 years on the 5 ft cutters, I think you could get them cheaper at a local dealer. So you pay for the shipping, or you pick it up locally. All I can say, as posted before, they are not the fanciest cutter out there but they are tough as nails.

EA is proud of their pricing at times and it pays to shop around. Good people but you pay.

MESSMAKER · Sep 6, 2018

Nothing wrong with Fred Cain cutters. I would like to have one myself.

DieselBound · Sep 6, 2018

Couple things not addressed that can end up costing:

1. Slip clutch. Quite possible that it's frozen up, and perhaps in need of a new clutch disk. Parts available or would a new unit be required?
2. Blades. I'd bought two used cutters in the past couple of years. On one cutter the blades were basically new. On the other they were WAY past their "use by date"- $100 or so for new ones (my labor not included- have to have some reasonably hefty tools to deal with most cutter blades [Woods, I believe, is the exception to this rule]).

I bought a B286 a while back for $800. It was totally beat. Had to replace the PTO shaft and have the tail wheel welded up (thanks to all the great minds on TBN I was able to have the shop fortify the design so I am unlikely to encounter another breakage of that bracket). Fortunately it had new blades on it. I have about $1,200 into it, which when compared to a comparable new unit is way worth it. Looks like heck, leaks a bit of fluid (though I'm not seeing any appreciable drop in levels- I keep a close eye on), but cuts grass and eats brush like a monster! Two years on it and I figure that it's about paid for itself. Only thing I don't like about it is that it's not QH compatible: the other one I got IS, and it's more important to be QH compatible because it's on my B7800 which is a pain for connecting up lower link arms (spreading for fixed pins).

Unless you can trust the seller and or hear and see one operate I'd look elsewhere. Though I think it totally fair to off a lot less because one cannot see/hear it operate. This applies to top brand stuff: any lesser manufacturer's old stuff I'd not consider.