Mowing The after effects of my 1635 and 5' rhino 160 cutter

[merrickvilleguy]

just south of Ottawa Ontario

 

[Ford tractor]

hmm ... kinda figured with the wear and tear of all that brush it wouldn't last quite as long as if it were just mowing weeds and the odd sappling

I've gone 9 years of cutting stumps, rocks, garbage, soft wood saplings up to 3" - 3 1/2" inch, hard wood saplings 2" - 2 1/2" and even the odd grass, weeds and other growing things. Mostly it's rocks, stumps and garbage like logging cable .

The blades break and the deck has a couple dents, but it has gone probably 2-300 hours without complaint and I would expect it to go at the same rate cutting the same stuff for 20-30 more years. That's why I bought a real MD cutter and not a light duty one.

 

[merrickvilleguy]

Ahh cool, so I should see much longer life than I was expecting. I'm just so used to things saying they are heavy duty, but not standing up to use, so this being their light duty one I wasn't expecting much. Outside a small dent on the back lip from knocking down some trees there isn't any damage as I can see it.

 

[cleat]

I know I am replying to a very old post but I am looking at a Rhino 160 and was wondering how yours has stood the test of time.

I live between Brockville and North Augusta.

Thanks, Cleat

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Cleat, I don't have a Rhino 160 but do have a Rhino 172. Mine is only a year old and has seen only a few hours of use, but I like it so far. It is well built, cuts as good as a rotary cutter should and has suffered no damage or dings yet.

The one beef I have is common to just about all rotary cutter manufacturers today, and that is the cheap plastic round shield they use on the input shaft side of the gearbox. I.e., the shield that covers the shear pin or slip clutch. It is darned near impossible to adjust the slip clutch with that shield in place. There are two little snap-in plastic covers on the shield that are supposed to be access holes to allow you to work on it, but they are a joke.

When I needed to adjust my slip clutch recently, I finally got so frustrated with it that I took some tin snips and cut the plastic cover lengthwise down bottom side so I could slip it completely off the machine. Ahhhh, much better. I cut it in a way that I can re-mount it.

In the old days, manufacturers used bolt-on metal shields, and they were easy to remove and replace when necessary. Some of them even had a hinge mechanism to let you fold them up out of the way, and then just fold them back down.

 

[Texasmark]

One thing I learned about gearboxes, get one that is sized for your tractor. I too have a MD cutter (Kodiak) for that reason. I got high centered years ago with a light duty gearbox and a higher hp tractor and it ripped the gears right out of the thing.

Mark