DR Field & Brush Mower

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Alan,

I have had a DR for about 7 years. It is the version which has the solid rubber industrial type bicycle tires. It came with two blades, a light duty and heavy duty (1/4 in.). The blade drive is a series 85 belt with a 90 deg. twist. The blade is attached with a left hand thread held tight by friction. If you hit something hard it will tend to losen the blade and slip the belt.

The other belt is the slip clutch. Small branches will derail this belt easily and the machine will free wheel. Not so good if your mowing uphill. The wheel drive is a chain. I have had good service life on the belts.

My version does not have power reverse, so if your not on level ground or trimming uphill so the machine can roll back it will tire you out pretty darn quick. The skinney little bicycle tires have really poor traction and will easily spin on small branches. The newer models, wider tires and power reverse overcome the short commings in my machine. Overall quality is good and DR does back their product. The single problem I had was corrected plus some in a single phone call. If I had operated my machine before hand I would not have bought it. A lot of rental yards have the DR. Rent one, try it out and see if you like it before you plunk down the big bucks.

Al

 

[lloydp]

I have a 10 hp DR. Have had it about a year now. At first I thought it looked cheap, but belive me it isn't. Have had no problems at all with it.

Our property is on the edge of the Piney Woods and was logged about 10 years ago so lots of ruts left.

Was solid sweet gum, blackberry, plum between the hard wood and pine when we started so had to cut paths to see what we had. Has worked very well for us. Cuts a narrow path so watch out for the blackberry if you have any. Cuts 1" stuff very well. Wife hit one that was almost 2" and cut it as well, but wouldn't do it on a regualr basis.

If you can't get a tractor where you need to mow, I would definately recommend it.

 

[MarkV]

Alan,

My time on the DR is limited because it belongs to a friend that brings it to my place a 3 or 4 times a year. Where I am it is so steep I haven't bought a bush hog, cause there is not anyplace, besides the roads, I can get my tractor. We have run that DR along the road sides and down slopes that would make Rick's tilt meter go red line. With my limited experience, I would call it a well made unit and if it was not for the 2K I would own one.

MarkV

 

[glennmac]

I maintained my property with a 15hp DR for 2 years before I bought my first tractor last year. It is very rugged and can cut 1" saplings. I cut an acre of 10 foot high phragmites (reeds) and two acres of other long grass and brush. It can go on slopes and through wet areas where you wouldn't take your tractor.

It is very narrow, so the going is VERY slow if you are in really high stuff. There are 3 forward speeds, a reverse, and a diff lock. I did break the drive chain and at least one belt but I really abused it.

What was completely junky was the 42" finish mower deck. Was made out of plastic and it was flimsily made. EVERY week something broke on it, and I was always waiting on parts to come from Vermont.. Admittedly, I was using it in rough cutting areas and abusing it. I complained so much they finally agreed to take the deck back and refund my money.

I see that they have made several significant improvements to the product this year. They have also changed the lawn deck so it is now made of metal. Changed the attachment interface, so now it is supposedly easier to swap brush deck with lawn deck and the new snowblower.

They are pricey but they do the job. Get the video. It is accurate except for the statement that you can brush cut an acre an hour. (Maybe if you're mowing low grass on flat land and you're an Olympic champion.) If you wait until the end of fall the discount goes up to 20%. They have different discounts depending on the season.

Sometimes I wish I still had mine, but I needed to sell it to buy the tractor. You wouldnt want to use it anywhere you can run your tractor's brush cutter. But if you had a lot of hilly or narrow areas, there is really no other product that that can cut brush in those areas.

 

[Rowski]

Alan L

I have one of these units. IT IS AN AWSOME UNIT!!!!

Billy-Goat



I have not seen the DR brush cutter, I have seen the DR mower one. The Billy Goat looks a lot more rugged to me than the DR. This thing will cut anything you can run over including rocks. I have hit rocks (which has split them) in high gear that stalled the machine and did not hurt anything, a few SMALL nicks in the blade. I love it. The only bad thing is that it will give you a workout!

Has anyone else seen or used this machine?

Derek

 

[MarkV]

Derek,
I have looked at the web site for your mower and it is good to here from someone who has used one. Do you mind if I ask what the run, cost wise?

MarkV

 

[Vermonster]

I bought a Billy Goat a few years back. Haven't used it much since I got my NH TC29. Spent about $1,500 for it. It will definitely give you a workout. I haven't had many problems with it and would recommend it. My particular unit doesn't have a transmission lock--if one rear drive wheel starts spinning, the unit doesn't move. If anything, that's my only complaint.

 

[GlueGuy]

I rented a Billy Goat for 3 years before I got Lucy. It's relatively good, but at my place, I can go all the same places on Lucy.

That was a good motivation to get Lucy actually. It rented for about $180/day, and it took me all day to (1) run down the hill, (2) load it in the truck, (3)run up the hill, (4)unload it from the truck, (5) run around like a banshee mowing every thing as fast as I could, (6) load it back in the truck, (7) run it back down the hill, (8) unload it again. Whew!

Just the cost of rental for one season paid for the brush cutter. The time saved paid for the tractor.

The GlueGuy

 

[glennmac]

One difference you can tell right away is that the DR has much wider tires, which I think is an advantage.

 

[Rowski]

The last thing I would look at in a machine of this sort is the tires.This wider narrow issue could be true. A wider tire is harder to turn sharp, like a 180 dergree turnabout. The wider DR tire (atv type?) might be more prone to punctures. The tires have never given me any trouble for traction or for marking up turf. After all it is a brush cutter.

Derek