Bush hog

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Bush Hog or Hardee. Nothing wrong with Woods but they are in cahoots with JD these days and I refuse to give them anymore money.
 

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Bush Hog… all the rest are imitations.

I use Bush Hog and have a Hardee. I looked at new prices and no new rotary mowers for me anytime soon, way too rich.

If you’re just mowing grass, weeds, and small saplings check with @LR308 , he has a 5’ King Kutter that will do just fine for the money and save the grand or two difference for something else. If you’re trying to cut 2” trees then you will need a beast.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You said best…..brown manufacturing makes the best I have seen. We use two of their 600 series cutters at work. Thats for extreme duty. The 400 series they make is less extreme. At work they went straight to the 600 series. Before that they used various ones from deere, generic brands, agrisupply ones…..they were constantly working on them and going through 2-3 a year. What we use them for really is abuse in a lot of cases but the Browns stand up to it.

We have one that is close to ten years old and another 1 year old. The 10 year old one has had the blades replaced two times and wear bars replaced last year. The only failure I know of was when the entire wheel assembly was ripped off when they got a tractor buried and were trying to yank it out. It was welded back and repainted. Still cutting like a champ…..up to 4-5” thick stuff.

If interested, call them. They will tell you what you can expect and what they can do. They dont sell direct but will basically sell it to anyone that sells stuff. Basically any equipment dealer, hardware store.
 

Southern

Ten Pointer
Bush Hog for 99% of most jobs. Entry level is better built than most other brands. I run 3 of the middle level mowers and cut 1-2 inch stuff all day long. Have not gone to the heavy duty line yet

Brown is top nuts for more “abusive” type cutting but pricey. That is my next move. More than the Bush Hog or Brown and you need a tree cutter on skid steer. I have an MTL that will cut an 7-8 inch pine tree. That is fun stuff.

But to answer OP question, the answer is Bush Hog. I have done many days work with my entry level 5 footer and it is rough work, not grass. Good luck finding one.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Anyone got any pricing lately? I know the new hd brown we got last year was $10-11k…..but thats a different thing altogether.

What are 5 footers going for? $3k?
 

Southern

Ten Pointer
I paid 2800 for a six foot medium duty mower about 5 years ago. No damn telling what that would cost now. $3000 sounds a little high for a light duty 5" but I could be entirely wrong. I usually am.
 

LR308

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
We have a larger woods and it is tough, we have abused the heck out of it. I actually stalled our tractor out a couple times hitting hidden stumps in a cutover and the mower survived. As BW said I'm selling a 5 foot king kutter for Dad, he doesn't use anymore due to loss of property. Its in the classifieds section if interested.
 

Deerherder

Ten Pointer
I currently have a Bush Hog & my FIL has a Frontier. Between me & my FIL, we’ve had a Hardee & a Land Pride as well. We mostly use them to cut paths & occasionally small saplings. In order of preference, I like the BH brand, the Hardee, & lastly the Frontier or Land Pride. The BH is made of thicker decking & overall better built.

I will also say I prefer the “belt” material style guards over chains. Chains look tougher, but they’re loud & don’t do any better in my opinion keeping limbs & other trash from launching from under the machine.

I’d also say if I bought a new one, I’d want the flattest deck on top of the machine as I could find to make cleaning it off easier.
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
Have run bush hog and John deere haven’t seen a lot of difference in them. But that’s on the larger models 15 ft. Was cutting 700 to 800 acres of cotton stalks a year with them plus trimming field edges as I went. I like the way to adjust the wheels on the back of the bush hog better. Depends on operator how well they hold up also. Have a friend bragging on how tough his 7 Ft bush hog mower was. It normally pulls it with 60 hp tractor. Decided this summer to hook it to a 140 hp tractor so could have the cab and ac. He hit a stump ended up tearing gear box up. Even on the cheap mowers if you get a gear box rated for a lot more hp than the tractor you are pulling it with they will cut what most people need unless you use it as a stump grinder. I have one of the 5ft from agri supply here on the farm. Have heavy gear box and always pulled it with 30 to 40 hp tractor. But it’s not one that would hold up to punishing it hard everyday.
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
Slip clutch works good but some use shear pins. Sometimes wrong grade bolts get put in which can have bad ending
 

Papa_Smurf

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
we have one of the 6ft landprides we got with the tractor we bought a few years ago and have not been impressed with it. the older agricutter is a much better built piece of equipment.

honestly you should look at what you are going to use it for and buy accordingly. you gonna be cutting heavy brush or just mowing fields a couole times a year.
 

bwfarms

Old Mossy Horns
Many dealers with short line equipment may display a mower or two but it’s very typical to order one.

If you must buy one new, go to the Southern Farm Show in February and buy it there.
 

blazinbowtie99

Six Pointer
Our dealership couldn’t find mowers last year from our big manufacturer. Sold off branded ones just to have something to offer. This year, we have a warehouse full. If you decide to look at land pride, We have some new in stock. Not sure which variety grades we have but I think there are at least 10 or 12 each 5 or 6 footers.
 

Merlin

Six Pointer
I’ve had a 5 ft Bush Hog entry level for almost 30 years. I haven’t abused it (much) but it hasn’t been babied either. She a little beat up but still going strong. Also check out Everything Attachments online. They’re built in Conover and appear to be some stout stuff.
 

Southern

Ten Pointer
2nd on Everything Attachments. I have several attachments that have held up well through abuse. Customer service has been excellent
 
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