Woods Or Bush Hog ???

b8200hst4wd · Jun 10, 2002

I'm in the market for a new 5' RFM rear discharge for a B8200 and i looked a both the woods $2k or the bush hog $1700 what do you think is better it will be used on the lawn and in the pasture.

I ruled out King Kutter because it was very poorly made

Anonymous Poster · Jun 10, 2002

<font color=blue>...I ruled out King Kutter because it was very poorly made ...</font color=blue>

Huh....??? You gotta be kidding.../w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

I think KingKutter's finish mower is top notch quality at a superb bargain price... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Was the one you looked at, hit by a Mack truck or something...? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

RobertN · Jun 10, 2002

I don't have a rear finish mower for MY B8200HST4WD, but do have a Bush Hog loader. It is built really well, and I would imagine thier rear finish mower would be too.

b8200hst4wd · Jun 10, 2002

Not really...

the one i looked at was at tsc and it was built of 3/16' steel...

Where the Bush Hog was 3/8th an built very well...

And the woods was built like a tank!!!

The King Kutter had a cheap plastic cover where as the woods was good, and strong

Anonymous Poster · Jun 10, 2002

<font color=blue>...the Bush Hog was 3/8th...</font color=blue>

Hi Alex,

What are some model #'s of the Woods and Bush Hog units... that you've looked at and compared with KK...?

I'm not aware of any 3/8" finish mower decks from these mfrs.(…now that would be heavy duty for grass??)

KK=7 gauge
BH=11 & 7 gauge
Woods=8 gauge

What I found attractive with the plastic cover is it won't rust, durable and very easy accessibility to the belts.

I think Bush Hog, Woods, Land Pride and a number of other mfrs. make very good units, but have become very homogenized with the finish mowers... in other words... if you disguise the paint job and name plate... you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between them...

Most of the sales, ends up being buyers preference on brand name alone and not necessarily any earth shattering differences between them... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Moon · Jun 10, 2002

I have the brush hog RD72 RFM. I've only had it since April, and I'd guess of the 28 hours on my new tractor, 15 have been mowing. Unit is quiet and very smooth operation. I'm happy with it. I've never used a woods model. They have a very good reputation though for making top notch stuff. I don't think you could go wrong with either unit.

TonyC · Jun 10, 2002

I've had aKing Kutter unit. Not a bad mower but they are not made like a Woods or a Bush Hog brand. I personally am a Woods fan myself but I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

TonyC · Jun 10, 2002

I've had a King Kutter unit. Not a bad mower but they are not made like a Woods or a Bush Hog brand. I personally am a Woods fan myself but I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

Dave41 · Jun 10, 2002

You may want to check out Land Pride or First Choice. IMHO, the First Choice is a good value. Built much heavier than KK for about the same price.
Dave

Kodiak · Jun 11, 2002

I'll second that vote for the First Choice. Almost an exact clone of the medium duty Landpride FDR 2572, with some improvements. I love the powder coat finish,even comes in four colors, blue,orange, green and red. At @ half the price of both the mowers that your looking at, I don't think you would go wrong.

Anonymous Poster · Jun 11, 2002

You might be able to purchase a 5' Woods for less than $2000. Here in MI, I was quoted $1700 for a 6' and $1900 for a 7' 3 pt. rear discharge last July. I purchased the 7'(RD 8400). It is a very fine heavy duty finish mower.

MrP · Jun 11, 2002

I have a Befco C50 RD6 72" mower. I have used it for 3 years without issue. It is well build and mows well.

The price was $1,600, but the C30 model is even less.

cisco · Jun 11, 2002

Woods, Bush Hog and Landpride - basically all make very good stuff - the Woods might get the nod with the heavier duty brush cutters, but not by much. Go for dealer support and price, and if equal, heck, pick a color.

TBone · Jun 11, 2002

Alex,

I have never owned a Woods mower but I would buy one over a Bush Hog brand. I had a Bush Hog SQ600 that I had two major problems with and Bush Hog would not even answer my emails. They definitely are not responsive to customer complaints!

TBone

Bird · Jun 11, 2002

TBone, I don't know anything about their e-mail, but the only time I had a question about a Bush Hog, I called them on the phone and was very pleased with the assistance I got, and the parts I wanted came promptly in the mail.

wichiwichi · Jun 12, 2002

Have you looked a RHINO? I have a FM60 rear discharge, excelent machine. Well made and grease fitting where they need to be. Going on 2 years with it and averaging 4-5 acres per week mowing. No problems and still going strong.

TBone · Jun 12, 2002

Bird,

I honestly have not called them. So many companies nowadays have the automated "Press one if you are in your living room, press two if you are in the kitchen, your call is important to us and will be answered in approximately two hours, etc." By the time they do answer you have forgotten what you called them for.

I have developed a habit of using email. It is usually less frustrating, at least to me. I send it and forget about it.

Actually I did receive one reply from them (out of 4) but the answer was not helpful at all. I know I am in the minority as far as problems with Bush Hog products but my experience has not been good.

I probably should have given them a chance to respond to a phone call but I sold (almost gave it away) the cutter and hopefully won't need to have any more communications with them.

TBone

Freds · Jun 12, 2002

I have been waiting for over a month for a 60" Bush Hog rear discharge RFM to come in to my dealer. Does your dealer have one in stock or would he have to order? This might influence your decision. The only plus to this is I now have 38 hours on the tractor and no paperwork has been signed yet (so, no payments!). The BH side dis. I have been using in the meantime tends to bog down easily unless the chute is up. I checked into KK but was told they were not making a rear dis., yet. From my limited experience, if I were comparing weights in a mower, I would go with a lighter RFM if it was a dependable brand. The deck wheels on my loaner can rut soft ground up pretty easily. Maybe if the wheels were wider...?

I agree with you, TBone, on the phone vs. e-mail. If a co. has a customer help e-mail, they better reply to your questions on the first e-mail. Most of the time when I have to use the phone for help, I don't even bother pushing any buttons. Eventually you'll get a person. Nothing gets to me more than taking the phone away from your ear to push buttons to a bunch of questions that will "speed" up your call and then when you finally get a real person they ask you for the same info you already entered. I better stop here, I'm getting worked up /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Fred