Piston
Elite Member
A while back, I was in the market for a new rotary cutter to replace my 5' Woods unit, with a heavier duty, 6' model. I did a lot of research on here and narrowed down my search to the Bush Hog 286/296. I wanted to find one used to save some money so it took me a bit of looking. The ones I did find were still pretty pricey considering their age/condition, so I continued my search. I ended up stumbling upon a Brown 472 model cutter that a friend of mine was thinking about selling.
I hadn't heard much about Brown Manufacturing aside from their famous Tree Cutters, which are WAY too heavy for most of our tractors. I started looking into them and only found a few owners on TBN. I private messaged some of them and had some great recommendations.
I made a deal with my friend and drove 6 hrs one way to pick up the rotary cutter. I was glad I did!
After comparing the Brown 472 (6') cutter quite a bit to the 286/296 I realized it was actually a bit heavier built than the comparable Bush Hog (the gold standard!) The deck was 7 gauge steel vs. 10 gauge and has a beefier drive shaft. Aside from that, the specs were very much similar, almost identical really. I was originally concerned that the Brown is only rated for 2" capacity vs. the 3" capacity of the BH. However, after calling and talking to Brown, and reading a few posts on the forum (I think I started a thread on it) I was made aware that the capacity is very conservative, and that if anything, should be more than the comparable Bush Hog since it was heavier built.
My 472 came with the rubber guards, and not chains. They were a little beat up so I looked into adding chains to the cutter. I emailed Brown from their website on a Sunday, and first thing Monday morning had a reply with part numbers, costs, my local dealer who can help me, and also some information on my 472 that he gave me from my serial number. He asked if I had an owners manual for it and if not, that they were available on the website.
I wrote back a quick "thank you" and he replied, saying that he attached a .pdf which was the manual for my tractor, so I didn't have to hunt around for it on my own, he went out of his way to email me the manual. I thought that was very nice of him. I ended up asking a few more questions about the rotary cutter, and Brown in general. He was very responsive and wrote back the same day I emailed him, I also asked if my cutter was quick hitch compatible, as I've been thinking of getting a quick hitch. He told me that it definitely would NOT be compatible and that I would have to cut and weld on the cutter itself to make it so.
I then asked if they had any plans to build a quick hitch compatible one, and he told me about the new 400 series rotary cutters that they have, which are already quick hitch compatible (the 415,416,417 replaced the 460,472,484). I started thinking that if I'm going to put $500 dollars into my cutter for front and rear chains, then maybe I should think about selling it, putting that $500 with the money I get for mine, and then if the price difference isn't too great purchase a brand new 416. I'm not sure if I will or not but I'm thinking about it.
Anyways, I wanted to mention this because I often see posts about good/bad customer service with companies that we all deal with, and I very rarely see much on the Brown cutters. I just wanted to share my positive experience with the Brown Manufacturing company and make sure that people are aware of another option besides Bush Hog as the gold standard of heavy duty rotary cutters.
You can check out their website here: FEATURED PRODUCTS | Brown Manufacturing | 800-633-8909
Keep in mind, that the heavy duty 400 series (actually Brown calls them medium duty similar to how BH calls their 280/290 series medium duty, but they are "heavy duty" by comparative standards) is their lightest duty rotary cutter, so if you aren't looking for something beefy (and costly I admit) then they aren't a viable option.
One other thing I want to mention, during all my 'talks' with Brown, they never once compared, or tried to "put down" any other manufacturer. That is a HUGE pet peave of mine, when I call a company about their product, I can't stand it when all they do is tell you how much better their product is than the competitors. I really respect a company that is just truthful and honest about their product and don't try to "convince" the customer that their's is "better". I like that they leave it up to the customer to make their own decision/opinions. (to be clear, I'm not insinuating that BH does this either, just making a positive note on my experience with Brown)
I know I would have been more than happy with the equivalent Bush Hog cutter as they are serious, quality built, rotary cutters, but I'm glad I stumbled across Brown, and I'll probably be a lifetime customer (unless of course I get out of "tractoring")
I hadn't heard much about Brown Manufacturing aside from their famous Tree Cutters, which are WAY too heavy for most of our tractors. I started looking into them and only found a few owners on TBN. I private messaged some of them and had some great recommendations.
I made a deal with my friend and drove 6 hrs one way to pick up the rotary cutter. I was glad I did!
After comparing the Brown 472 (6') cutter quite a bit to the 286/296 I realized it was actually a bit heavier built than the comparable Bush Hog (the gold standard!) The deck was 7 gauge steel vs. 10 gauge and has a beefier drive shaft. Aside from that, the specs were very much similar, almost identical really. I was originally concerned that the Brown is only rated for 2" capacity vs. the 3" capacity of the BH. However, after calling and talking to Brown, and reading a few posts on the forum (I think I started a thread on it) I was made aware that the capacity is very conservative, and that if anything, should be more than the comparable Bush Hog since it was heavier built.
My 472 came with the rubber guards, and not chains. They were a little beat up so I looked into adding chains to the cutter. I emailed Brown from their website on a Sunday, and first thing Monday morning had a reply with part numbers, costs, my local dealer who can help me, and also some information on my 472 that he gave me from my serial number. He asked if I had an owners manual for it and if not, that they were available on the website.
I wrote back a quick "thank you" and he replied, saying that he attached a .pdf which was the manual for my tractor, so I didn't have to hunt around for it on my own, he went out of his way to email me the manual. I thought that was very nice of him. I ended up asking a few more questions about the rotary cutter, and Brown in general. He was very responsive and wrote back the same day I emailed him, I also asked if my cutter was quick hitch compatible, as I've been thinking of getting a quick hitch. He told me that it definitely would NOT be compatible and that I would have to cut and weld on the cutter itself to make it so.
I then asked if they had any plans to build a quick hitch compatible one, and he told me about the new 400 series rotary cutters that they have, which are already quick hitch compatible (the 415,416,417 replaced the 460,472,484). I started thinking that if I'm going to put $500 dollars into my cutter for front and rear chains, then maybe I should think about selling it, putting that $500 with the money I get for mine, and then if the price difference isn't too great purchase a brand new 416. I'm not sure if I will or not but I'm thinking about it.
Anyways, I wanted to mention this because I often see posts about good/bad customer service with companies that we all deal with, and I very rarely see much on the Brown cutters. I just wanted to share my positive experience with the Brown Manufacturing company and make sure that people are aware of another option besides Bush Hog as the gold standard of heavy duty rotary cutters.
You can check out their website here: FEATURED PRODUCTS | Brown Manufacturing | 800-633-8909
Keep in mind, that the heavy duty 400 series (actually Brown calls them medium duty similar to how BH calls their 280/290 series medium duty, but they are "heavy duty" by comparative standards) is their lightest duty rotary cutter, so if you aren't looking for something beefy (and costly I admit) then they aren't a viable option.
One other thing I want to mention, during all my 'talks' with Brown, they never once compared, or tried to "put down" any other manufacturer. That is a HUGE pet peave of mine, when I call a company about their product, I can't stand it when all they do is tell you how much better their product is than the competitors. I really respect a company that is just truthful and honest about their product and don't try to "convince" the customer that their's is "better". I like that they leave it up to the customer to make their own decision/opinions. (to be clear, I'm not insinuating that BH does this either, just making a positive note on my experience with Brown)
I know I would have been more than happy with the equivalent Bush Hog cutter as they are serious, quality built, rotary cutters, but I'm glad I stumbled across Brown, and I'll probably be a lifetime customer (unless of course I get out of "tractoring")
But here is what I have. 
