New Wing Mower

[Hollow]

Considering buying a wing mower next summer and was wondering if anyone has ever used a Howse SHD-15. They are good looking mowers 1/4 sides, 3/16 deck, double chain guards, 200hp divider box with 150hp output boxes, independent suspension on every wheel, duel leveling rods and can be had for about $8500. http://www.howseimplement.com/pdfs/110-A%20RED%20HOWSE.pdf

 

[Heavyduty]

It's looks a little like a Bushhog 2615L. Everyone else, has a 5 yr warrenty on the gearboxes. If you have a local dealer and they have a good warrenty, the price is close to half to everyone else, why not? :thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

i've heard they were patterned off a 2615

I seriously looked at one when i got my jd1517 wing.

I ended up getting a great deal used.. so didn't get a Howse.. though if I had bought new I would have went howse.

I have their 10 HD 3pt mower. it's built like a tank.. 0 complaints. if the wing is 3/4 as good it's a swinging deal. ( have their 5' LD mower as well... it's.. ld... )

soudnguy

 

[Heavyduty]

Another thing you should look at, you can get parts for a BH 2615L and Howse now. In the future, with this economy, I feel like BH will be around for a long time. Howse, alot smaller in size, who knows. One thing I've learned when dealing with equipment is, if you can get parts for it, it tends to hold it's value better. It beats having to run to a machine shop everytime you need some parts. Take my 65 JD 4020 for example, I can still get most of the parts for it, even though they cost an arm/leg. :laughing:

 

[Soundguy]

i've had a howse hd120 mower for right at 10ys now... so far never needed a part for it, other than a 3pt pin.. a common farm store item... my jd1517 batwing on the other hand, HAS needed parts.. and they were available from JD.. just pricey.

imho.. pto shafts and gearboxes are about the main 'working' part of a 'wing. things like bearings, bushings, wheels and hubs can all be retrofit and matched to off the shelf stuff if needed. same with hyd cyls, even blades and pans..

i imagine howse and kingkutter , while not to line brands like BH.. etc.. will be around for quite a while... that's my 'prognostication' anyway

soundguy

 

[Hollow]

I'm sure Howse doesn't make their own gearboxes anyway, I bet if they ever did go out of business and one needed replacing I could go to Comer or Bondioli & Pavesi and get something that would match up. But I don't see Howse going anywhere in a down economy, that's when people start looking for more cost effective products and turn away from the brand names. Over the past two years I've seen more Howse and Kodiak products than ever before (I haven't seen the wing mower yet though). Which Kodiak is the one that I would buy if I was just going to go out and buy anything I want. I really like the 3/4" flywheel instead of having a stump pan, the kinetic energy in the flywheel would absorb a lot more shock and not allow it to transfer up through the drive system if pulled over heavy brush.

I don't know, maybe its just wishful thinking...

 

[Soundguy]

that and a good torque limiter is about the best we can do

 

[bigbull338]

if it was me id buy the bushhog batwing mower.ive gotten burned buying off brand equipment,an i wont do that anymore.

 

[jdtractor]

I have to agree with bigbull, I would go with the Bushhog. I my self dont put too much faith in off brand equipment. Im a firm believer you get what you pay for.just my 0.02cts

 

[Hollow]

I have to agree with bigbull, I would go with the Bushhog. I my self dont put too much faith in off brand equipment. Im a firm believer you get what you pay for.just my 0.02cts

Howse is hardly an off brand here in the south. I've seen some put through things they were never intended to be used for and they held up as good as any. I've just never seen one of their wing mowers before. But even if it didn't last as long as a Bushhog or something like it, it's almost two for the price of one. I don't know, I like the Bush-Whacker MD180 as well. I really like the T180 but that thing looks heavy. The only thing wrong with Bush-Whacker is, the wings don't self level with the center deck.

 

[Soundguy]

I have to agree with bigbull, I would go with the Bushhog. I my self dont put too much faith in off brand equipment. Im a firm believer you get what you pay for.just my 0.02cts

Howse is not an off brand.

there are more howse and KK mowers in the 5'/6' range clipping pastures in my area than any other flavor.

I have a howse 120hd 10' 3pt mower.. I've knocked over 4" tree's with it. when they say 'heavy duty'.. they mean it.

it's build with heavier metal and framing than my jd batwing...

soundguy

 

[bigbull338]

soundguy ive got a brother that could blow your howse to bitts just shredding pastures an lite bushes.i bought a new 10ft mowhawk shredder years ago an he totaled it out in less than 4yrs.shattered the U joints twice doing very lite shredding.i finally went an got a 6ft bushhogg shredder an turned him loose,an the shredder is still in like new condtion,an he has run it hard.

 

[jdtractor]

Well sound guy there might be a few or even alot of howse mowers where you are, but where im at they are rare. Ive seen maybe 2 and they were not much to look at. 1 guy said he would never buy another, he said he did some mid range mowing 2-3" and all he got done was repair. I saw the 1 mower and it was CHEAP looking.I will stay with what I run its been tested and proven where Im at. I mow heavy, steep hill side work and R O Ws the guys I run with do not run HOWSE. They are considered side walk store mowers here, In southwestern PA. next to WVA.

 

[Soundguy]

soundguy ive got a brother that could blow your howse to bitts just shredding pastures an lite bushes.i bought a new 10ft mowhawk shredder years ago an he totaled it out in less than 4yrs.shattered the U joints twice doing very lite shredding.i finally went an got a 6ft bushhogg shredder an turned him loose,an the shredder is still in like new condtion,an he has run it hard.

i know people that can break anvils with a rolled up newspaper. says more about the person than the product.

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

Well sound guy there might be a few or even alot of howse mowers where you are, but where im at they are rare. Ive seen maybe 2 and they were not much to look at. 1 guy said he would never buy another, he said he did some mid range mowing 2-3" and all he got done was repair. I saw the 1 mower and it was CHEAP looking.I will stay with what I run its been tested and proven where Im at. I mow heavy, steep hill side work and R O Ws the guys I run with do not run HOWSE. They are considered side walk store mowers here, In southwestern PA. next to WVA.

I don't doubt you see less in the north. in the south units like KK, howse and kodiak are much more prevalent.

also.. keep in mind. there are different quality levels.

KK and howse both offer economy grade machines.. all the way up to heavy duty, priced accordingly.

a economy unit from howse for instance, say.. a 5' mower, is just a folded metal deck and sides.. no ibeaming or whatnot welded seams at folds.. etc. move up to HD and then you get ibeams, different bracing, thicker deck, different pan/stump jumper, additional features like heavier gearbox and driveline and built in torque limiter.

again.. my howse mower is built WAY better than my JD mower.

if you buy economy.. expect economy.. I'd bet the 'sidewalk' store howse you see are all light duty line.

I don't know any dealers here that stock anything other than light duty howse or KK.. you have to actually ORDER the HD models...

soundguy

 

[MarkV]

Well sound guy there might be a few or even alot of howse mowers where you are, but where im at they are rare. Ive seen maybe 2 and they were not much to look at. 1 guy said he would never buy another, he said he did some mid range mowing 2-3" and all he got done was repair. I saw the 1 mower and it was CHEAP looking.I will stay with what I run its been tested and proven where Im at. I mow heavy, steep hill side work and R O Ws the guys I run with do not run HOWSE. They are considered side walk store mowers here, In southwestern PA. next to WVA.

Come on Jd you aren't comparing apples to apples. You are doing ROW work and, sounds like, roadway work. Your "mid range mowing" is 2-3" stuff. Thats nothing like the guy with 10 acres of pasture to mow. For what you do Rhino is my mower of choice.

MarkV

 

[Hollow]

I saw the 1 mower and it was CHEAP looking.They are considered side walk store mowers here, In southwestern PA. next to WVA.

Well, they are made in South MS so that is probably the main reason there are more down here.... And yes, they do make econo mowers that sell for cheap, but they fabricate heaver mowers as well. As for people who do RoW work never using them, some people just like paying $25000 or more just so it has JD or Shulte on the side. When they could have bought a $12000 Bush-Whacker that has more than proven itself in the industry. Its like someone who buys an $80000 corvette so they can look fast when they could have bought two Subaru STI Spec C's that will run circles around the grandpa sports car.

 

[Soundguy]

we do some ROW mowing and clearing for our jobs. in the beginning we bough the expensive mowers and whatnot, untill we realized, looking on paper.. that a hitten stump or car rim, in the tall grass, doesn't distinguish between bush hog and howse when you hit it. In the end you can have a 500$ broken mower.. or a 1200$ broken mower.

we actually came out ahead of the game buying the light duty 'cheap' howse and kk mowers that at the time were about 500$ for a 5' mower. decks NEVER wore out.. and if they did.. we had a stack of them. running the numbers on paper, due to the areas we mowed in.. it was advantageous to use throw away tools. if we exclusively did mowing.. I'm sure it would be way different, and htge cost and lifespan / quality of a better name mower would likely pan out differently in the long run.... but all the mowing we did was along ROW and on clearing jobs where we did road work... IE.. places you find batteries, stump pieces.. tires and rims.. occasional concrete chunk or piece of an engine

I'm sure farmwithjunk loves that type of mowing. I know he runs a big time mowing business... and it's never fun to hit something solid inthe weeds

 

[Hollow]

I'm sure farmwithjunk loves that type of mowing. I know he runs a big time mowing business... and it's never fun to hit something solid inthe weeds

I had a friend that worked for the MS DOT for a few years. He told me that they were mowing down the side of the highway when one of his coworkers mower's (Bush-Whacker T-180) caught a car rim in the bottom of the ditch that didn't have a tire on it. The mower threw it up the embankment and through the rear door of a passing car. Thankfully there was nobody in the back seat...

 

[JoeinTX]

Companies like Howse and KK made their business on making the smaller lighter cutters for small tractors and such. That doesn't mean they don't make bigger heavier stuff that compares rather well with the "name brand" alternatives. They do.

I have one of the standard duty 5' Howse shredders and it's been more than sufficient for all my cutting including a fair amount of 1"-plus stuff. Nothing has fazed it. Poor thing has been submerged a couple of times but shows none the worse for it. Response from Howse from their online parts ordering has always been good....never taken more than 3 business days for anything ordered to show up on the doorstep.

Have to agree about the popularity thing......you see a lot of Howse and KK on small tractors in my part of the world.

From my experience, if I were going to look for a 10' or 15' cutter I would have no hesitance going with the Howse models.