Best brush hog for under $2,000 medium to heavy duty

[Rmart30]

Watch for used ones. I paid $1400 for a land pride RCR 2660. Sold it 2 yrs later $1250... Paid $850 for a used RCR 1872... and paid $1800 for a RCR 2684.

 

[CMV]

I gotta say I was real impressed with my 5' TSC one. Only rated for 1" and shear pin style. Probably about as basic as they come? But it chewed up some real nasty stuff. Cleared a trail in woods, lots of waist-high thick, viny, underbrush, softball sized rocks, hit lots of junk I shouldn't have. In general, if the little 25 hp tractor would push it over, that thing would cut it. Made a heck of a racket on some stuff, but cut it.

And after all that abuse, lower to where it would cut as short as possible and not leave drag lines, and other than how the discharged grass laid, it left a pretty nice cut for grass.

Still looks 95%+ brand new and on consignment at my dealer now. I expect around $600-$700 for it. So depending on what you're doing, might want to try something like that used to see how it does. I didn't care about a 45hp gearbox with ~19HP PTO

 

[geislermatt]

Sorry I forgot to mention it's a Ford 4000 at 55 hp

 

[MESSMAKER]

My local Tractor Supplies don't carry them so I never looked at them but I just checked them out online. They certainly have sweet paint jobs.

Again it's just a matter of opinion but for that 5 foot model to be a medium duty cutter it would need a few things.
1. Something considerably bigger than what appears to be a 55hp gearbox. (The medium duty Brown cutter I recently bought I think has 120hp gearbox).
2. A heavy cat6 driveline.
3. 4" wide blades not 3". (You need that mass/inertia to cut through the big stuff IMO).
4. I'd want to know that tailwheel assembly is either solid bar stock or at least quarter inch thick tubing.

Gotta love the matte black paint though and at $1200 that's a great price for a tractor with maybe less than 30hp to the PTO.

I think those are specs for a HD unit. I doubt you can get a unit like that and stay under budget. Would be the last one you would ever buy for sure.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Watch for used ones. I paid $1400 for a land pride RCR 2660. Sold it 2 yrs later $1250... Paid $850 for a used RCR 1872... and paid $1800 for a RCR 2684.

Exactly. :thumbsup:

 

[RalphVa]

Don't think either my LX-4 nor the Frontier RC2048 were more than $2,000. The Frontier is A LOT better.

Ralph

 

[LD1]

Big difference in price between a 4' and 6' cutter. The OP still has yet to clarify

 

[3gunr]

Look at craigslist farm and home,There are lots of them on there in your area ,Im from mo to and i look all the time at cutters online.There are lots of good used ones in the 5 to 700 dollar range.I have a new 6 ft standard duty mahindra cutter i paid 1100 for,It has worked good so far on tall brush and small saplings.

 

[lpigott]

My vote for bang for the buck is a Hardee 972, 1072 or 1172. Awesome cutters and very heavy duty and well made. This one has extensive time behind the ole NH 3930 and done some amazing clearing behind my M7060. It not only handles what ever you can drive or back it over, it also does a super job mowing grass. I would buy another one without a second thought. Another good thing is the 972LT that I have owned for over 25 years is still going strong, only having to replace the belting guards and tailwheel hub. Parts for even discontinued models like mine are readily available direct from the manufacturer and ship out fast. Kubota M7 with 72" Hardee 972LT rotary cutter in heavy grass and weeds. - YouTube

 

[houser52]

My vote for bang for the buck is a Hardee 972, 1072 or 1172. Awesome cutters and very heavy duty and well made. This one has extensive time behind the ole NH 3930 and done some amazing clearing behind my M7060. It not only handles what ever you can drive or back it over, it also does a super job mowing grass. I would buy another one without a second thought. Another good thing is the 972LT that I have owned for over 25 years is still going strong, only having to replace the belting guards and tailwheel hub. Parts for even discontinued models like mine are readily available direct from the manufacturer and ship out fast. Kubota M76 with 72" Hardee 972LT rotary cutter in heavy grass and weeds. - YouTube

I can also recommend a Hardee. I've had a Hardee Tiger Cub 160 for about 30 years. It has sat outside all that time and is starting to rust but still mows good. Very well made.