Woods vs. Landpride

[rationalizer]

I have a tough choice (actually I think its "no lose" but it is still a decision) My JD 4710 will be here next week /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif and I've almost finished the barn /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif - so my next decision is "implements". I need a 6 ft box blade and a 6 ft. rotary cutter. I've been reading all the posts about First Choice/Midwest and 1) dealers around here don't have much in stock and 2) I'm reluctant to buy from organizations without a longer track record... So - here are my choices:

My JD dealer also sells Landpride. I can get the BB2572 and RCR1672 together for a little under $1900 delivered. These appear to be nice units from a very reputable firm - and I like the idea of getting units from my dealer - so any issues I have with the i-Match etc. will be his problem. Cant lose, but....

I've also looked at the Woods units - their "medium" box blade and light duty cutter - which I can get for about the same price. These units, however, seem to be a bit "heavier duty" - each is about 100 lbs heavier than the L-P (good for helping the box blade cut, and the cutter has slighhtly heavier gauge on the deck - 11 vs 12, the gearbox is a bit higher rated etc etc etc.) This dealer is 20 minutes away - vs. 15 minutes for the L-P dealer, so that isn't a big deal...

So - my question, what experience do people have with these two brands (and possibly these units)? The Woods dealer was a bit uncertain about i-Match compatibility - but their corporate help line said it should hook right up. Likewise - the L-P helpline said "no problem putting our "40 hp" rated box blade behind a 48 hp tractor...

Thoughts/ideas? /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

Thanks in advance (and as I said, probably a no lose decision)

 

[Rus91]

I don't have either of the implements you are ttalking about, but I do have experiance with woods equipment in general. I have used their lawn mowers and tillers for several years. I find that the construction of their equipment is usually heavier than comparable brands. The price is usually what causes people to buy the other brand. If the equipment you are looking at is basically the same and the same price I would by the woods in a heartbeat. But as most people say the dealer is what makes the product and can usually make up for an inferior product with quality service. That's my $.02 hope it is worth something/

Brent

 

[Kelvin]

I can only pass along this "impression" that I got while shopping for finish mowers in the 1997-1998 time frame.
Note 1: I am not able to validate the comments
Note 2: Even if they WERE true at the time, they may or may not still be true.

The comments from several finish mower dealers (various brands) pretty much were the same:
(1) Woods USED to be the best name brand around, but...
(2) They hadn't updated their products in a long time; rather, they relied upon their reputation to sell the products, and
(3) Nearly all other brands had better built products with better features than Woods.

I know that the one Woods dealer that I visited at the time still had about 8 or 10 BRAND NEW finish mowers that were approximatly 4 or 5 years old (with slightly faded paint and other corresponding weather exposure effects) that they couldn't sell, even at the "reduced" price that brought them down to the price of the other brands (which were REALLY brand new).

The other impression that I came away with is that, at least at the time, Land Pride was the preferred choice among professional mowers.

Having said all that, I'll agree with your comment that I don't believe that you'll go wrong with either one. I ended up buying two USED finish mowers (a Land Pride AT2560 and a supposedly cheaper brand Befco Cyclone rear discharge 72" mower) for under $1000 and I have been very pleased with both of them. The only problems I have had are with the pneumatic tires; this problem is discussed in another post that you may want to review.

Hope this helps,
Kelvin

 

[HayDR]

Rus91,
Woods makes good equipment but lost a ton of money last year. It is a matter of public record, Woods is not in a good financial position now. Alamo Group & Bush Hog are 1&2 respectively in cutters sold in North America. Bush Hog and Woods have a tiller made by Maletti and Alamo's (Rhino) is made by Sigma. Any company like International Harvester or Allis-Chalmers who once dominated the world market can make a series of bad decisions and be gone never to be heard of again. Landpride is a privately held company and has little fat in its organization. The fat was shipped back to Wilson,NC.

 

[soarkrebel]

Hey CCI you know how to ruin a guys night! i just bought a woods bb60c and you tell me they are in trouble.parts could get hard to find.
good cutter though . only complaint is that it likes to vent oil . just a little but messy. i really looked at bush hog 285 and kind of wish i had looked harder . and especially now thanks CCI.

 

[jyoutz]

I have a Woods rototiller and Landpride boxblade and grader blade. Both brands are great pieces of equipment. Go for the best price, both brands are high quality.

 

[MDSteve]

Go with the Woods Rotory Mower

I have a woods BB??72 It is the 6' rotory cutter. My dealer that sells both the landprice and the Woods told me that the woods was a better unit and was the same price. I my other implements are LP. I have heard from many people that they wish they had the Woods rotory over the LP. My LP rear blade, box blade, and finish mower work great as does my Woods rotory cutter.

Steve

 

[HayDR]

Woods will be around but look for a change in ownership control. TISCO their parts division has kept them going as well as their cash flow. Many of the Short line companies are now just MFG to orders and have no extra units setting around. They are just unsure of the economy. FC has a lag time of 6-8 weeks on items they have MFG in Europe so these are some of the possible reason one can not find a spacific brand now. It also is the end of the selling season.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have a
woods box blade 6" and a 5" bb60 cutter really impressed with bouth of them, my dealer carried both but i prefer the sloped deck on the woods cutter , and also the woods cutter has its frame member thru the deck the deck itself is only cosmetic, and for the box blade a very good and heavey unit. i Highly rec them both

 

[JATO_RaT]

I own two mowers. One is a 84" Landpride finish mower and the other a Woods 80" offset brush hog. If I had to keep just one, I'd go with the Landpride finish since most of my hogging is done. for light hogging, the finish mower works very well. For build quality, its tough to beat Woods. They are well built. The Woods I have is heavy, about 1600lbs. It has 4 parallel belts running the 2 blade spindles and the pulleys are heavy cast material. The Landpride while having just one heavier belt, uses steel pulleys on its 3 spindles. I have not had any problems with either one. I do like the way the finish mower rests on four wheels as opposed to the Woods resting on one at the back, but then, that is just one of the differences between finish mowers and brush hogs. Rat....