Lane Shark vs Skid Steer Brush Mower

[Lineman North Florida]

Fence wire can bring one of these things to a quick stop and be a pain to cut loose.

My MTL has wire prevention studs welded on top of the blade carrier and on the bottom of the deckto help prevent wire from wrapping up on the bearing spindle, but it's not 100% fool proof, I have had some get thru it a couple of different times and it took me a while to cut and un-wrap.

 

[4570Man]

My MTL has wire prevention studs welded on top of the blade carrier and on the bottom of the deckto help prevent wire from wrapping up on the bearing spindle, but it's not 100% fool proof, I have had some get thru it a couple of different times and it took me a while to cut and un-wrap.

Mine has a pipe shroud around the center and has some wing cutters inside the pipe. It doesn’t work perfectly but it’s better than nothing.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Mine has a pipe shroud around the center and has some wing cutters inside the pipe. It doesn’t work perfectly but it’s better than nothing.

Yep the Rut mowers have the same principal in mind, just a slightly different design. I actually ordered a Rut but they changed the original design from a 2 piece round blade carrier to a 1 piece square blade carrier and I did not want a square blade carrier so they refunded my deposit, if not for that I would have had a Rut Terminator XP.

 

[4570Man]

Yep the Rut mowers have the same principal in mind, just a slightly different design. I actually ordered a Rut but they changed the original design from a 2 piece round blade carrier to a 1 piece square blade carrier and I did not want a square blade carrier so they refunded my deposit, if not for that I would have had a Rut Terminator XP.

Mine is a 3 blade. I wish I bought the model with the carbide mulching teeth on the blade carrier.

 

[deere5105]

I've been using a Lane Shark LS2 for the past 8 months, also recently rented a SkidSteer with HD brush cutter that would do up to 6" trees.

The Lane Shark shines in the versatility department as you can rotate / flip the deck out 90° and run elevated straight down a path or line to cut limbs or brush back as you go. With the deck in the standard position in front of the FEL, it does the same job as a SS brush cutter until you start getting into bigger or denser stuff, which is where the SS brush cutter will be more efficient as you can get through faster with less extra passes.

I rented the SS & brush cutter to get through some of the thickers areas of our woods we were cutting trails in, it was twice as fast as the Lane Shark and handled thick vines without them getting entangled, but couldn't reach as high, so used the Lane Shark to go back and clean up the higher sections later.

The only issue I've had with the Lane Shark is the rear back plate bending out a bit, fully my fault, was fully down on the ground cutting going forward, cut through some bigger trees and the back plate got hung up on them as I tried to keep pushing forward.

Maintenance on the Lane Shark has been minimal, have flipped the blades and about to install a new set as I've worn down both sides of the originals already. Not the easiest task to unbolt unless you have a 2nd set of hands to help.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd do the same; Rent a HD brush cutter for the big stuff or large projects, but I use the heck out of the Lane Shark for a lot of brush and branch maintenance around our 20 acres.

Hope that helps a little

Best regards,
Greg

Good feedback and makes sense. I fully would not expect the Lane Shark to be comparable to the skid steer for land clearing and bigger stuff. That’s not really what I am planning to be doing, but know that until everything is cut back could get into some bigger stuff unexpectedly.

I have read about issues with the back edge of the deck and see where in the latest version it is a rubber flap now.

See alot running on open station tractors. You have much hit your cab?

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Mine is a 3 blade. I wish I bought the model with the carbide mulching teeth on the blade carrier. View attachment 849157

My MTL is the 3 blade as well with the carbide teeth, they leave a nice finish when you back drag over larger cut brush.

 

[AirOpsMgr]

Good feedback and makes sense. I fully would not expect the Lane Shark to be comparable to the skid steer for land clearing and bigger stuff. That’s not really what I am planning to be doing, but know that until everything is cut back could get into some bigger stuff unexpectedly.

I have read about issues with the back edge of the deck and see where in the latest version it is a rubber flap now.

See alot running on open station tractors. You have much hit your cab?

I've never had anything come back at me directly, only some small bits that richocheted off something else and then back, just like a skid steer cutter can do. I'm sure if you ran it at the wrong angle (FEL up in the air with the cutter tilted way down toward you), it would be a concern.

I take it slow and think about what I'm cutting, where it will fall, etc and haven't had any issues.

With sharp blades, the deck angled all the way back and going in slow, I can honestly say that I've dropped some 4" pines with ease, just have to chip at them for a few seconds, but anything bigger and I use a chainsaw. Never had any chunks come back at me.

One word of caution though, when running it in front and low to the ground, I have to get out periodically and clear the chaff & debris from the grille / air intake; It does a great job of making fine debris that will choke up grille vents quickly.

 

[deere5105]

My MTL is the 3 blade as well with the carbide teeth, they leave a nice finish when you back drag over larger cut brush. View attachment 849172

Is your skid steer open or enclosed cab with heat/air? This pic looks like no front door.

 

[4570Man]

Is your skid steer open or enclosed cab with heat/air? This pic looks like no front door.

The Kubota doors roll up in the roof. I’m pretty sure his machine is a cab model.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Is your skid steer open or enclosed cab with heat/air? This pic looks like no front door.

My machine is an enclosed cab model with AC/Heat, as much dust and trash as forestry mowing stirs up I wouldn't do it without an enclosed cab, my motto is " If the AC don't blow I don't go" I spent a lot of years in the elements, I'm going to do my best to be as comfortable as I can for the time I have left.