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Bat -wing mowers

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I've been thinking about getting a bat-wing mower for mowing road ditches and shredding corn stalks. Anyone have an opinion on what would be the best one to get? I've looked at a JD HX15, a Rhino, and a couple of Land Prides. Thanks
 
Stay away from the Rhinos. They have gearbox problems. Woods makes an excellent machine, so do JD and Landpride. We have a Woods 15ft HD. Has airplane tires on it, which I like. Does a great job of mowing even with dull blades. It does a great job of mowing corn stalks. I have to get out every two hours and clean the machine off to prevent a fire from the stalks getting next to the gear boxes. It does have full shielding around the gearboxes but new ones dont seem to have them.
 
Don't forget a bushhog, I haven't seen them yet but I here the new ones have a one piece top like a John Deere. If you get a new one I would suggest that you get all your gear boxes turning to the right. Then when you are mowing roadsides the grass will not fill the road. Also get the rings above the blades. Vic
 
I have the light duty Bush Hog- 2515(I think!) It's heavy enough for me. It has a fairly clean, slightly sloped deck, which I think is a must today.
 
I have run a lot of bat wings and like Deere best. But to mow ditch banks you may nor be happy as they will slide if the slope gets a little steep.
Look at other options too.
My town has a 6'rotory mower that mounts on 3point and will slide (w/hydraulic) out to the side well beyond the rear tires and will cut at just about any angel. I'm not sure of the brand - they run it on a 50HP ford.
That mower is at least 10 years and still going strong. Only one man uses it and he takes good care of it.
 
Brand is certainly a consideration but what a lot of people do not realize is that like tires most manafactures offer at least two and most offer three models. A heavy medium and light. It is not fair to compare say a light woods to a heavy Land Pride or visa versa. We have several 3515 model land prides mowing highway right a ways and they have stood up very well. What ever BRAND you decide on just be sure and compare the models very close. Mid weight Woods and Land Pride are both going to run you over 11 grand or so. Lots of options like how do you want it plumed where each side can be lifted seperate or both at once, front and rear chains or not, air plane or solid tires, blade rings or not. Just more to it than running out a buying a cutter without doing your home work. last of all b uy where you know the dealer and his repuation for service.
 
We bought two Woods brand for a pipeline mowing contract. Sorry I dont remember the models. They have several thousand acres under them at this point. The only problem so far is the hinges. One side will lift, but not drop without being forced. Of course, the operator did hit a tree along the side of the ROW, so you really cant blame the mower!
 
I bought an HX15 Deere a couple of years ago. I had used a friend's Bush Hog 2615 before and like the Deere better. It rides much better than the BH. The mower came with 6 wheels on it but I later put on the extra two on the wings. You can mow right over the edge of a ditch and the cutter won't plow in. I have been very well satisfied with the cutter. Mike
 
I bought a Deere HX15 this fall. I like it, does a good job. The only thing I don"t like about it is the gearboxes are made in China.
 
I would also check with dealer availability. And on top of that, make sure it is a dealer you enjoy dealing with. We have always run woods and have two great woods dealers within 20 minutes of the farm. We do pasture mowing, so it is not exactly the same as what you plan on doing. If you are planning on buying used, look for rust. Rust is probably the biggest killer of batwing mowers, especially in the hinge area. After that, I would check to make sure all the drive lines and driveshaft/yoke splines are in good shape, as those parts can get expensive really quickly. If you're buying new, then it doesn't really matter much.

Hurst
 
Red Pete, For the past 4 yrs or so I have been running a 10 yr old Service/Rhino SR-15M
It has a 150 Hp divider box and the 3 main boxes are 125 Hp, We pull it with a JD 4230 on the 540 spline PTO. I have personally dealt this shredder 9 Kinds of #ell, It had come through smiling. The blades and blade bolts are a weak point when you eat large cedar trees on a regular basis like we have here in Central Texas.
I will tell you you would be hard pressed to beat this shredder and what it had done and still does on a regular basis for us, For the dollars spent.
Yes any thing can be torn up but there is No Substitute for Hp capacity of the gearboxes on a shredder 150 Hp boxes are a must period. I would and will buy another when that time comes.
Hope this helps,
Later,
John A.
 
(quoted from post at 20:00:08 01/08/11) Stay away from the Rhinos. They have gearbox problems.
Click to expand...

When did Rhino start having gearbox problems? You're statement is the first time I've heard that they had problems. I know Rhino had an excellent reputation.
 
I bought a new john deere 15 ft 4 years ago and have never had a problem.The knives are easy to sharpen without taking them off and it mows good around corners.I had a new woods 15ft before that and it was nothing but trouble.It had dual hard rubber tires.One set of the wheels broke off while mowing crp.They are light built and woods wouldn't do anything.The next year they changed the design.The rod that runs from the front hitch to the rear broke and the mower dropped while going down the road.The county bought some new woods 15 ft batwings,but has since got rid of them because of gearbox trouble.They now use JD.I have friends with big bushog mowers that work well also.
 
I had good luck with Massey Ferguson 4015 - 15' hog. Sold it to friend who had a lot more use for it than I did & he's had no trouble.
 
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