Rotary Cutter Rhino vs. bush Hog

[Maka]

Posted in another thread but the title was not getting the right atten I think. Sorry all but I would like to continue this here if you will.

Thanks

Hi All,

I know there are good ones out there but I want to be specific to these two brands. A poster in another thread said this

"I've always considerd Bush Hog a little overrated and Rhino and little underappreciated, but, 6 in one and half a dozen in the other."

So, if you had your choice of a Rhino or a Bushhog lets say a 72" mower in regular duty either a Rhino 172 or Bushhog SQ172 what would you choose or what did you choose?

I know there are many other brands and maybe we can do another Woods vs. Landpride but for now I am interested in comments on BH and Rhino. I am a Rhino dealer but believe both to be good quality and good companies.

Just checking to see who likes theirs and preferrably if you have had both products which you like best and why.

Maka

 

[Bird]

I have owned a Bush Hog and liked it; only looked at the Rhino. And I've also looked at both of their listed specifications. In my opinion, they're close enough to being the same that I think I'd buy the one with the lowest price. If the price were the same, I'd buy the Bush Hog simply because I've owned their products in the past and liked them. But I really doubt that one is any better than the other.

 

[heehaw]

i had a choice of either and bought an really like my 72" rhino...not saying its any better than the bh but i am well satisfied.
heehaw

 

[Farmwithjunk]

In the original post on this subject, I voiced my opinion on Bush Hog and Rhino (Alamo Group-Rhino, Alamo, Shulte) being two of the very best in commercial duty/heavy duty mowers. They are. Once you drop down to medium and light duty mowers, they still have their advantages, but the gap narrows when comparing them to several other brands.

Bush Hog and Rhino have watered down their product line to compete with the rest of the "consumer grade" marketed mowers. They still have a great parts and warranty backing due to their large market share as much as any other single reason.

It's unfair to ANY brand to compare durability/quality of a light or medium duty mower when it's used in a commercial application. Granted, you're still doing essentially the same function. (Mowing weeds) But a mower used commercially simply goes through MANY MANY more duty cycles. More load/unloads. More start-up/shut-downs. More opportunities to hit objects. More opportunities to break parts and pieces. When used in a NORMAL life, by a NORMAL end user, both Bush Hog and Rhino have a VERY good reputation.

My experience with Rhino is limited to ONE mower. (Extreme heavy duty batwing that I demo-ed last year) My experience with Bush Hog is far more involved. I currently own 2 medium duty mowers and several heavy duty models. (Used in a mowing business) Several of the heavy duty mowers log as many as 1200 to 1400 hours per season. A great deal of my PERSONAL "hands on" experience is with a BH 286 medium duty 72" cutter I mostly keep at home to maintain my property. It has approximately 250 to 300 hours of use in 3 seasons. I wouldn't hesitate for one second to recommend Bush Hog to ANYONE based on my experience with that particular mower OR any of their product line. You KNOW what you'll get with their product..... A well built, well backed, good performing piece of equipment.

By the same token, I wouldn't say anything bad about Rhino. Just keep in mind, ANY mower, regardless of brand, buy a mower of adaquate duty rating for the task at hand, OR, be prepared for broken parts, poor service, and an unhappy experience.

 

[wolc123]

I replaced a 5 ft Bush Hog squealer with a 6 ft light-duty Rhino. The thing I liked best about the Bush Hog was the quality of cut. In spite of it being more than 20 years old, the quality of the cut (looks of the field when finished cutting) was better by far than the Rhino. This was true even if the Rhino blades were just sharpened and both cutters were run at the same pto rpm. The Rhino always seems to leave some streaks. My dad experiences the same problems with a 5 ft light duty Rhino. The Bush Hog held up good behind a Ford 9n and 8n, but when I used it on a Ford 2000, it suffered some structural damage at the higher ground speeds this tractor could cut at and needed some welded on reinforcement. After I beefed it up, it was litterally bulletproof for the last 10 years I used it. I have to say that I regret the purchase of the Rhino and wish I still had that old Bush Hog even though it was not quite as wide as my new tractor. The Rhino certainly apears to be well made and after 3 seasons of cutting some fairly rough fields at a good ground speed, it hasn't required any repairs. If only it would make a little neater cut, all would be well. As I see it, The guys at Bush Hog figured out a long time ago how to make a light duty cutter work well, but the guys at Rhino are clearly still struggling. If someone looks at the Bush Hog and the Rhino side by side, most of them would probably pick the Rhino based on the looks of the cutter. If they looked at fields just cut by both, I bet 100% would say the one cut by the Bush Hog looked a lot better. For me, performance is a lot more important than looks, so there is no question what brand my next cutter will be.

 

[kenmac]

I had a 4' Rhino cutter once on an old TO-20. Never had any problemes with it. I now have a 5 ' LMC brand cutter made in north al. that has been good 1

 

[greggh]

I have an SQ172 from Bush Hog and I am perfectly happy with the service and the cut.

It is hard for most of us to compare mowers because we have no need for 2 mowers, unless we are a commercial mowing outfit, which most of us are not. The commercial mowing people would not use a light duty mower because of the hours of use on different types of brush. The SQ's or squealer lines for Bush Hog are the light duty models for them.

I am not sure that we can adequately answer your question utill we know the uses the mower is to be used.

 

[chh]

I have owned both brands in 15' batwing cutters. A Bush Hog that was purchased used and 2 new Rhino's. IMO they are close enough in quality on comparable models as to not make much difference which brand you choose. Locally though the dealers that sell Rhino have a better price than Bush Hog so my last 2 have been Rhino's. If a dealer had both brands at the same price ,in comparable models, it would be hard to pick one over the other.

 

[Devil-Dog]

I myself would choose BUSH HOG only because I have been around them ALL MY LIFe and NEVEr seen one wear out nor go bad,,i was raised on a farm as a lil tottler until now at 54 and I ,,,just speaking for myself,,,LOVe BUSH HOG and GRAVELY tractors.
Semper-Fi
Devil-Dog

 

[Glowplug]

I currently have a 10-foot pull-type Rhino rotary cutter. I haven't used Bush Hog so I can't give too much information on direct comparison. But the Rhino seems to work really well. It is built like a tank. I DO have some windrowing with it but I'm not sure if that's because I am usually cutting pretty thick tall stuff or not. I am planning to get a 7-foot Bush Hog lift-type rotary cutter soon. I am going with Bush Hog this time mainly due to the price. After comparing the two I would eventually like to sell the 10-foot Rhino and get either a Bush Hog or Rhino 15-foot batwing, depending on who fares better in the comparison.