Victory Ditch Bank Flail or Bush Hog 216 Rotary Mower?

[K5lwq]

Hows the mower holding up? I recently upgraded to a used Kubota L3240, and since I need to get a larger mower anyways I figured I'd revisit the bank mowers.

I'm thinking the L should be able to handle the 64" weigjt wise, but am I going to be hating life with only 25hp at the PTO?

I don't usually cut heavy tall grass, but I do occasionally clear some underbrush in wooded areas.

Right now its looking between the titan and the Betstco, Victory has been showing out of stock for a while now and I still can't get over that color scheme!

So far it is holding up just fine. I keep everything greased and clean it pretty often.

I have to keep an eye on the roller when in taller grass. The grass tends to wrap around the bearings of the roller. I have not come up with a good mod to correct that issue, yet.

I mow 90% of the time with it fully shifted to the side like if you were cutting hay. It gives the best finish in that position as the tractor tires don't mash the grass down. I also like not having to turn all the way around to see how things are going. I can just look out the side window. At first I was concerned that this would put to much stress on the mower but it really seems to be happy.

As for the color, it does not bother me at all. I have never cared about looks. I am all about functionality. Every vehicle I have bought over the years they always ask what color do I want and I also say I don't care. My wife is the opposite. Lol

In tall grass it will load my tractor pretty good unless I drop a gear. 25hp might be a little low for this size mower. I have been meaning to see how my Kioti handles it but just haven't done that yet. I turned the fuel up on the Kioti and am probably close to that 25hp mark at the PTO.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[TMGT]

So far it is holding up just fine. I keep everything greased and clean it pretty often.

I have to keep an eye on the roller when in taller grass. The grass tends to wrap around the bearings of the roller. I have not come up with a good mod to correct that issue, yet.

I mow 90% of the time with it fully shifted to the side like if you were cutting hay. It gives the best finish in that position as the tractor tires don't mash the grass down. I also like not having to turn all the way around to see how things are going. I can just look out the side window. At first I was concerned that this would put to much stress on the mower but it really seems to be happy.

As for the color, it does not bother me at all. I have never cared about looks. I am all about functionality. Every vehicle I have bought over the years they always ask what color do I want and I also say I don't care. My wife is the opposite. Lol

In tall grass it will load my tractor pretty good unless I drop a gear. 25hp might be a little low for this size mower. I have been meaning to see how my Kioti handles it but just haven't done that yet. I turned the fuel up on the Kioti and am probably close to that 25hp mark at the PTO.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks, that helps a lot, I was originally looking at the 57" but the 64/65's overall width would still be narrower then my rear tires. I think if I was cutting heavy grass (like in your one picture) it would probably struggle, but I'm typically mowing light underbrush and patches of grass in wooded areas, or the bank of a pond and along roadsides so I think I'd be ok. The price difference really isn't that much to step up a size.

As for cosmetics, I'm kinda the same way, I've never bought a new car so never get to pick colors, my last 3 commuter cars were just what came along, (one was an abandoned car i pieced together, next was my wife's old car and the most recent was given to me by a neighbor).
With flail the price difference isn't enough to are me go with the Victory over the slightly heavier models, the paint scheme just helps mt decision lol. (If it was all 1 color I would probably like it better!).

 

[TMGT]

Just ordered an AGL165, hope I made the right decision!

 

[K5lwq]

Just ordered an AGL165, hope I made the right decision!

Congratulations! Hopefully it will work just fine! If it becomes an issue you can always take smaller bites. :thumbsup:

 

[TMGT]

Thanks, I think with the type of material I cut it'll be fine, I rarely cut heavy/tall grass.
Honestly I could almost use a mulching head more, but those don't cut the grass also.

 

[TMGT]

I bought the 65. So far I love it! Ditches and fence rows look much better now. And I like being able to get under the trees. Still working on getting some kind of remote with float for the mower head control. I'm sure I'll like it even more then. Oh, and Bestco did a lot of the mower assembly and greasing before sending it. A lot less time to assemble than I had thought.

I just bought a 165 also, how does the 1920 handle it? I think you have a couple more pto HP then me,
Also could you tell me how centered the mower is behind the tractor when retracted?
I wish Betstco would would post those dimensions like NOVA does.

 

[TMGT]

Just got a delivery date of the 26th for the mower! Hopefully I'll be home to meet them at the main road to get it since large trucks can't get back to my house easily.

I'm working soo much right now I don't have a large window I'll be available unless I give up sleep.

Unfortunately I don't know how long it will be before I can get around to adding the rear remotes, have maybe 1hr a day right now to do things and no days off.
If I hadn't already bought all the parts to do it I would have just spent the money on an OE kit and been done.

 

[K5lwq]

Hopefully you will be able to pull it off! Sometimes the cheapest way out cost somewhere else.

 

[TMGT]

Hopefully you will be able to pull it off! Sometimes the cheapest way out cost somewhere else.

I sure hope so, can't wait to try the mower out.

When I bought all the parts to add the remotes I wasn't expecting to be working this much, especially with no known end.
I was also reluctant to spend the money on the factory remotes as I've heard a lot of people complain about leakdown issues, well that and they cost about 3x what I was going to do them for.........

 

[K5lwq]

Well we have our first failure. The cylinder that rotates the head has a blown piston seal. It was working fine when I parked it in the fall. Today I put it back on the tractor to service and every time I rotate the head to transport it just falls.

I swapped the remotes to make sure it was not the valve. Same result.

It had a 2 year warranty so we will see. I can not believe that seal failed in less than a year from sitting for 5 months.

The swing cylinder appears to be working fine so who knows.