Wood BBX72 Brush Bull Xtreme not up to the task............

[Piston]

I'm with Furu on this one...

The fact that your going through 200 shear pins, in a LIFETIME of using the cutter, (let alone only 3 years) indicates that you are not using this equipment for what it's designed for. You really need to listen to the more experienced guys here and understand that this is operator induced damage rather than equipment not living up to it's expectation. I know it's frustrating for you and I understand why, but the sooner you realize that your not using the proper equipment, or not using it properly, the better off you'll be.

As for the LP unit not getting nearly as beat up as the Wood's unit, if you truly are doing the exact same thing the exact same way, and getting that much different results, then I'm completely lost in how to explain that.

Have you thought of using a flail mower and cut about 6" high, over the rocks? You may still get a nice cut if all your mowing is grass and small stuff. You can't expect to mow grass and rocks and have a good finish. The guys are right, there is nothing designed to be able to do that. I mow through a LOT of rocks, but the difference is, I don't expect that same mower to cut cleanly in a field of grass.

 

[Piston]

I'm with Furu on this one...

The fact that your going through 200 shear pins, in a LIFETIME of using the cutter, (let alone only 3 years) indicates that you are not using this equipment for what it's designed for. You really need to listen to the more experienced guys here and understand that this is operator induced damage rather than equipment not living up to it's expectation. I know it's frustrating for you and I understand why, but the sooner you realize that your not using the proper equipment, or not using it properly, the better off you'll be.

As for the LP unit not getting nearly as beat up as the Wood's unit, if you truly are doing the exact same thing the exact same way, and getting that much different results, then I'm completely lost in how to explain that.

Have you thought of using a flail mower and cut about 6" high, over the rocks? You may still get a nice cut if all your mowing is grass and small stuff. You can't expect to mow grass and rocks and have a good finish. The guys are right, there is nothing designed to be able to do that. I mow through a LOT of rocks, but the difference is, I don't expect that same mower to cut cleanly in a field of grass.

 

[mjstef]

I'm with Furu on this one...

The fact that your going through 200 shear pins, in a LIFETIME of using the cutter, (let alone only 3 years) indicates that you are not using this equipment for what it's designed for. You really need to listen to the more experienced guys here and understand that this is operator induced damage rather than equipment not living up to it's expectation. I know it's frustrating for you and I understand why, but the sooner you realize that your not using the proper equipment, or not using it properly, the better off you'll be.

As for the LP unit not getting nearly as beat up as the Wood's unit, if you truly are doing the exact same thing the exact same way, and getting that much different results, then I'm completely lost in how to explain that.

Have you thought of using a flail mower and cut about 6" high, over the rocks? You may still get a nice cut if all your mowing is grass and small stuff. You can't expect to mow grass and rocks and have a good finish. The guys are right, there is nothing designed to be able to do that. I mow through a LOT of rocks, but the difference is, I don't expect that same mower to cut cleanly in a field of grass.

A flail is on the purchase agenda for winter. I found a very nice New Holland 918H in Texas but the dealer is "too busy to ship it" Been on their lot for over a year. All the cheaper ones wouldn't hold up. As far as experience goes, I have been farming and mowing for 30 years and dealt with all sorts of terrain. My 1st brush hog was a Bush Hog Squealer in the 80's and i ran it with a 4600 Ford Super Utility. That was a GREAT cutter but i saw that they have lightened them up over the years too. Anything over 4-5" with this cutter and all it does is bent over the grass. It won't shear even with sharp blades. I wonder if they make a higher lift blade?????

 

[Deerherd]

You obviously don't have gophers where you live or you would get it. If i was to cut above i would be at 8-10 inches and no cutter will cut at that height. My biggest parcel is a subdivision with 28 acres of vacant lots. A new set of blades is figured into their job and they don't complain about my price even though i'm one of the highest priced in the valley. Most of my jobs are around 8-10 acres. **** there is some guy with a BX Kubota and a 60" brush hog advertising at $40 an hour LOL!. The conditions didn't "destroy" my old mower. In fact i just used it this AM on my own pasture to show the buyer it works fine. She gave me $750 for it. I won't get $75 for the woods after 500 acres. My complaint comes from this mower advertised as a "standard duty" the same as my old mower. That is a misrepresentation. It should be classified "light homeowner use"

We do get it, we just choose to do things a different way. You go into an unknown area and locate all the gopher holes and softball size rocks using your cutter. Then you go back and confirm those gopher holes and rock locations using your cutter, again. Now you want to complain how cheaply stuff is made?

Some of us feel that it's a poor work and business practice to not clear or prep the area we are going to mow, especially if we are pulling one of those lighter "homeowner use only" cutters. And the thought of leaving something to hit next time we mow by not taking care of it the first time is just crazy.

So yes we get it but no you can't borrow my cutter! :laughing:

 

[Ken45101]

If i was to cut above i would be at 8-10 inches and no cutter will cut at that height. My biggest parcel is a subdivision with 28 acres of vacant lots. A new set of blades is figured into their job and they don't complain about my price even though i'm one of the highest priced in the valley. Most of my jobs are around 8-10 acres. **** there is some guy with a BX Kubota and a 60" brush hog advertising at $40 an hour LOL!. The conditions didn't "destroy" my old mower. In fact i just used it this AM on my own pasture to show the buyer it works fine. She gave me $750 for it. I won't get $75 for the woods after 500 acres. My complaint comes from this mower advertised as a "standard duty" the same as my old mower. That is a misrepresentation. It should be classified "light homeowner use"

My Bush Hog 2515 will cut a LOT higher than 8-10 inches. That's about what I mow my pastures at.

A new set of blades for every job? I still have the original blades on my Woods MD172 and it's 15 years old.

Any time you start comparing different vendors, do not assume that they all use the same labels. Look at the RANGE they offer and assume Light-medium-heavy for their offerings no matter what label their marketing people use. Compare the weights between brand A, B, and C. If the weights are inconsistent, question "why?"

 

[cisco]

My property was "rough" when I purchased it in 2000, lots of thick brush, saplings, vines and major ground debris. I put a "medium duty" 60" Woods behind my L3400 and was able to address most of it - with the help of a chainsaw on ..... innumerable occasions. That cutter would go through anything < 4" (pines to 5", albeit making so much noise one would think the cutter was going to explode) in diameter and my tractor would stall (I was a newbie to tractor work, now 1000 hours) on occasion due to the pressure the cutter was putting on the pto. The cutter clutch "slipped" on a number of occasions when I hit stumps and the like, but never broke. Anyhow, after I'd cleared the crap off after a few years (working one weekend day a week) and I had mostly field grass and weeds covering the property, I traded the 60" in on a 72" "light duty" Woods (2004). It quickly became evident the 2 cutters had very different capabilities, and for my current purposes the 72" is fine BUT I'd never take it to my hunt club to address the major league saplings there 'cause I'd destroy that cutter.
I have no clue if Woods quality has changed. However, in the era I purchased my units the "light" and "medium" duty cutters were very different animals - purchase according to your needs.

 

[mjstef]

We do get it, we just choose to do things a different way. You go into an unknown area and locate all the gopher holes and softball size rocks using your cutter. Then you go back and confirm those gopher holes and rock locations using your cutter, again. Now you want to complain how cheaply stuff is made?

Some of us feel that it's a poor work and business practice to not clear or prep the area we are going to mow, especially if we are pulling one of those lighter "homeowner use only" cutters. And the thought of leaving something to hit next time we mow by not taking care of it the first time is just crazy.

So yes we get it but no you can't borrow my cutter! :laughing:

Prep it all you want, The pocket gophers are back next week. Nothing you can really do about it but deal with it. Most ranchers around here have went from sickle swathers to diskbines as the knives are MUCH easier to change than a sickle section. The other issue i have is mowing subdivisions with active job sites. There are always ruts and dirt piles you can't see. Walk them all you want, You'll still miss SOME. I make MOST of my yearly income May through August as far as mowing goes. Picking up more and more every year because we are one of the few companies that leave a job looking nice without windrows ect. Also a lot of fly by nights who work cheap but are un-insured. We carry a 2M-4M general liability. Should top 200+ acres by the end of August this year.

 

[mjstef]

My Bush Hog 2515 will cut a LOT higher than 8-10 inches. That's about what I mow my pastures at.

Your blades must have more lift. These are nearly flat............

 

[coobie]

Again i thought i was getting something that was built strong but in talking to a friend who is a tool and die maker he says there is some REALLY weak steel coming in from China and a 10ga Chinese steel is like a pop can compared to a 10ga Pennsylvania steel being like a soup can. (for comparison sake) In the 3 years i owned the LP i probably broke 200 shear pins but had NO other issues out of it. I get around 100 acres out of a set of blades and sharpen them every 25 acres depending on conditions. I initially set the slip clutch on this Woods VERY loose but it didn't seem to make a difference other than the clutch getting hot in tall grass. I can mow today and tomorrow many of these places will look like a mine field of gopher dens. This is something you can't control and your going to hit them no matter what you do. These little buggers can move some SERIOUS dirt and rock! I try to run with the bucket low but the land it too rolling for that most of the time. Here is an example of what i deal with but with rocks in them and 3' tall grass. Next time i mow i'll take some pics from my area. http://www.minnesotawildanimalmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mole-hill.jpg

Guys hear me out, I take care of my stuff! I am an EX dairy farmer and keep things FOREVER! Both of my company trucks are 20 years old!! My diesel has 170K on it and my gas plow truck has 98K on it. Both are still VERY nice trucks! The situation i have here is out of my control. I guess it was wishful thinking hoping a 2014 mower would be built like a 2000 model but quality has DEFINITELY went downhill on everything. This is one big reason i drive old trucks! If you want to talk abuse you should see my Rototiller! We also do commercial tilling and i have torn the crap out of the LP tiller that came with the old tractor i bought. Most flanges are bent as well as most blades. I will be buying an older used Howard 72" when i can find one as i helped design a double flange kit in the early 90's when i worked for a Howard distributor in Illinois that help them hold up to rocks. They are top of the line when it comes to durability. If anyone see's an older S model or an HR30 in the NW part of the country, PM me.

I have a 12 year old woods RD7200 finish mower that is very stout.Maybe woods is now useing cheaper steel in there products?

 

[LD1]

I am a few days late to the thread, but figured I'd chime in anyway. I do commercial mowing part time. Bout 250 acres a year, and about 500 acres on my bushhog 306 mower. And for the record, I have only changed the blades once, and thats because I bought the cutter used and the blades were bout done fore when I got it.

1st: Why in the world is anyone doing commercial mowing with a rotary cutter @ 3-4"?? I noticed another poster mention they do the same:confused2: 3" is what I finish cut my lawn at. Rotary cutters arent made for that. Since they are much larger (longer really) they dont follow the ground as well and scalp more. And you certainly aint doing the grass/weeds any good taking them from 2-3' down to 3". Raise that cutter up to 6-8" and sharpen the blades. You'll stay out of the rocks and they will stay sharp, and you shouldnt have any trouble cutting clean. And if you do, slow down. I have no issues cutting grass with a 6' cutter, blunt blades, and only a 1"1 gearbox. Which gives me little over 10,000fpm blade tip speed. A BB72 is almost 50% faster @ over 14,000 fpm. So saying it wont cut even with the sharpest of blades holds no water with me at all.

2nd: If I read right, your old LP was only a 60" cutter?? So even if the steel is the same thickness, it is actually covering/spanning less distance. That makes it stronger right there. + the extra gauge thickness. But even so, it still looks like it has been through **** and back. And you thought you could go bigger and with thinner steel??

3rd: In the tractor world, weather it be mowers, blades, or whatever, "Standard" or "light" duty IS homeowner duty. And thats exactly what you bought. Certainly not what I would have done for a commercial business. Especially after knowing from prior experience about all the rocks and such.

4th: A flail is not your answer. You think you are beating up mowers and spending lots in blades and repairs now, just wait till you go replacing all the knives on a flail. Not to mention 1/2 a day job as opposed to a few minutes to change bushhog blades. (okay, thats a tad exaggerated).

5th:

You obviously don't have gophers where you live or you would get it. If i was to cut above i would be at 8-10 inches and no cutter will cut at that height.

This statement is absolutely false. Woods even lists a 1-9" cutting height for the BB72 and a 2-12 for a BB720. I have NEVER seen a cutter that couldnt cut at least 8". Adjust the tailwheel and toplink, and set the 3PH lever accordingly.

6th: You mentioned something about the LP gearbox "looks bigger". Looks have little to do with anything. My 306 has a 90HP gearbox and really dont look much bigger at all than my light duty 105 or my light duty KK with a 40HP gearbox.

7TH and final:

As far as the 1,400# 720X i did confirm that the tractor likely won't handle the weight and i can't go up in tractor size due to some areas we mow.....

Who confirmed this? First, the 720 is only 1200#. The 7200 is 1440. Either case, both have 1/4" sides, and overall built heaver, more for the commercial user. But who is telling you that your tractor, rated for 1800+lbs, cannot run a 1200# cutter? In reality, the only time you are even carrying the 1200# is transporting and loading. The rest of the time, the tailwheel is carrying the majority of the weight. But even if that still concerns you, drop back to a 5' cutter. But either way, get a heavier built cutter, and cut higher if you plan on doing this commercially, and dont want to be buying a new light duty cutter every year or two.