DR PTO trimmer opinions

connor9988

Well-known Member
Location
Central Iowa
DR is having a fall sale and I have been eyeing their 3PT PTO trimmer for awhile. I would like to get it to mow around building/grain bins and fences and other various areas my woods mower can?t go. It looks like the mower will be a lot nicer to use compared to a weed wacker.

I will be using this on a Case 311 which should be sized perfect for it. They say not to exceed 2MPH while mowing and in Low 1st it goes 1.5MPH.

So what is everyone?s take on the mower? Does (or has) anyone used one of these and how did you like it?
Mower Link
 
I can't speak for the DR brand, but I have a Husqvarna. It cuts tall and thick grasses really well. However, it also pulls tall grasses into the shaft where they bind up and eventually choke out the engine. Takes a while with a pair of LONG pliers to get everything pulled out. And I tell you what, it's a workout! I wish it had self-propelled action; some sort of momentary 'assist' to get the thing moving when the wheels get a little stubborn - and they "do" get stubborn!

But again, these walk-behind string trimmers are real workhorses, and WILL get the job done.
 

My friends have one for trimming their orchard. I noticed it when they had recently gotten it. They were very happy with it.
 
(quoted from post at 12:10:30 10/16/18) DR is having a fall sale and I have been eyeing their 3PT PTO trimmer for awhile. I would like to get it to mow around building/grain bins and fences and other various areas my woods mower can?t go. It looks like the mower will be a lot nicer to use compared to a weed wacker.

I will be using this on a Case 311 which should be sized perfect for it. They say not to exceed 2MPH while mowing and in Low 1st it goes 1.5MPH.

So what is everyone?s take on the mower? Does (or has) anyone used one of these and how did you like it?
Mower Link
would look very close at the video in the link. If the job it it did for them under their supervision couldn't be any better I don't think I would want one.
 
The walk-behind ones get "sucked" into net fences, how does this action work on the pull-behind? Ripping out a lot of string?
I used Roundup once on a fence and all I got was years of giant ragweeds as a reuslt, no grass. IaLeo
 
(quoted from post at 16:30:36 10/16/18) Thank you for the replies. If I decide to get it I will let everyone know what I think of it.

I can't speak about the pto one. I do however have the push model, they changed them a little since I got mine, but the pto ones are ~roughly similar. They make a quality product. Built solid, and compared to other brands, metal. Some of the other brands, back then, had things like plastic holding the bearings. In 7ish years I have extremely rarely run into something that will wrap on the head, they don't have an issue with that like other brands, and I often mow stuff over waist high. Things like twine, yes, but about anything will bother with that (a rotary mower would too). I've mowed thick and tall things. Woody things or things like hitting a rock -sometimes cause the string to come out, rarely, but they have a new head design that shouldn't do that as much (not an issue as it is though). Not fully mature but tall hemp, I've cut that down.

I've got a very small area that I call the inner yard, I mow that with this trimmer instead of a push/riding mower, takes about 20 minutes, does a good job. Outer yard I put cows in. Outer areas aren't even, I do them every few weeks with it. It can cover a fairly large area pretty quickly. I've had pro handheld trimmers, I don't see owning one again. I do have a cheap one for just a couple spots, but that's it.

A fair amount of its use is with the Beaver Blade.
 
There has been similar attachments around for quite some time. About 10 years ago they were heavily marketed to the townships around here for use in the cemeteries as a piggy back attachment for whatever they were mowing with. Some were belt driven from a spindle others were electrically driven. Drive issues aside the concept has flaws that are not evident until it is put to use. I dont know of anyone who ran them for an entire summer. My Father in law was one of those who got sucked in and I got stuck with modifying it in an effort to make it work as advertised. All have gone back to hand held trimmers operated by summer help and roundup.
 
They did an update on them a few years ago to address some issues. Comparing them to other or older types isn't really a fair comparison. The customer service is good, they will take care of you if something is wrong. I see this discussion with a couple actual owners. https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/310604-any-love-dr-3-point.html

Not going to say they are perfect, but putting several miles and many hours yearly on their push model that uses the same type of head and bearing design, I would not be afraid of the thing if I wanted that type. [/url]
 

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