DR style trail/brush mower

[bat man]

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/grd/5135671997.html

Paint still looks pretty solid. If it was self propelled I would jump on it for sure. Its a mulcher

 

[Jim Timber]

:D

You shouldn't be picking on them. They live in a flood plane so you know they're not that smart. :p

 

[tooln]

MN redneck for sure.

 

[MoLandOwner]

I think my insurance man would cancel my insurance if I brought that thing home!:eek:

 

[BuckSutherland]

I have been looking for an actual brush cutter and cant find anything used. Really dont want to spend over a thousand on one. Striking out on craigslist.

 

[BuckSutherland]

This is the best I have been able to come up with:

http://www.mowersdirect.com/Swisher...RKWhrk_wjwxTBM2M4gdVnhlZ81qxiZbQOpxoCU8rw_wcB


My father in law has one, and they are pretty decent machines, but I would rather chew the shit off with my own teeth than ask to borrow his. I think if the cold spell continues I will just buy this thing next spring.

 

[wklman]

I'd keep an eye out on some of the farm auctions that come up. They have stuff like that once in a while.

 

[wildfire]

I have a billy goat brush cutter, has Briggs ic engine, 10.5 hp. If you have to not used one, you had better be younger than me, at 70. 24" cut.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I have a swisher 44" brush cutter and that's a really nice machine. I believe I paid about $500 for it 5 years ago and it has been worth every penny. The tongues aren't quite tough enough for really rough ground, but I'd buy another one to keep on my WI hunting land if I could find one.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I'd like a walk behind for some of my smaller trails, I don't want the trails wide enough for an atv and pull behind mower.

Same here. I want a 24-28" swath. I would like to clean up dead fall and garbage all over the woods and make little paths to get the deer used to walking a nice easy path where I want them to go. We have a lot of down fall from the select cut logging. I would like to stack that crap along the trails and train my deer.

I have found in other places where you clear trails the tree branches like to grow horizontal and try to cover the trail and that can make for some awesome scrape trees too. Our main trail on the back of the property is like that and there is usually 5-7 scrapes in the first 250 feet of trail.

 

[gunther89]

I'm not sure if $1000 bucks is cheap or expensive for a DR mower but if anyone is interested in one, here is a link to one.
http://madison.craigslist.org/bar/5173866425.html

 

[wildfire]

Tried Stu, used used email address, came back undelivered.

 

[wildfire]

I forgot the 1, could blame the computer.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Ben,

That's a pull behind right ? I bet that would be great for foodplots. The thing I like about my DR walk behind is I can easily get right up close to my apple cages and other trees without damaging them and get in tight places that a pull behind couldn't. I've been watching CL around here every now and then and the walk behind DRs are $1500 now. Mostly in the $2000 range. Sometimes they'll include the snowblower attachment too. It'll chew up to 1" trees including maples no problems. Briars are no problems. It's a little tough on my back on terrain that has bumpy up and down areas or going over 4"+ downed logs. I use it for mowing all of my trails and foodplots.

They hold their value well back east here. Mine was used when I bought it 5 years ago for $900. I'm sure I could get that back now if I wanted to sell.

That's correct, my Swisher is a pull behind with a 44" cutting width - I pull it behind an ATV. I use mine for everything - woods trails, shooting lanes, cutting around apple trees, food plots, etc., so I like the pull behind since we can do it all with one machine and do it quickly. It's a really good all around cutter, but I agree that there are likely specialty machines that work better for specific tasks. My machine is difficult to turn around in tight areas since the turning radius is pretty large, but it's not too bad if you plan for that when making the trail initially.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I used the Polish brush cutter again this weekend to start taking down an area where I want to upgrade to a much lager food plot next year. Looks Like on average we should gain about 35 x 235 feet from cleaning up this old logging road with minimal work. I suspect its compacted, but beans and then radishes should help burrow through some of that.

Most of this crap I was cutting is waist high and thick. I did it Sat afternoon when it was about 90 with 75% humidity. Major case of swamp ass.

I left some nice sized trees along the trail and made a few small incursions into the woods. I hope they put some big rubs on them small trees. They will come out for the plot next year. The pics dont do the amount of work I did any justice. Also beat up the old mower pretty good. Lost the guard on the back, the mulch cover, the side discharge shoot and anything else plastic.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I should have done before and after right away. That looks way more impressive than a beat up old push mower just sitting there with a couple of after pictures.


BEFORE:




AFTER:

 

[bat man]

Give you a cool grand for that slightly used unit.

OOps edit: Saw you broke the discharge thingy. I am out.

 

[BuckSutherland]

This one seems like a good deal for someone that wants to pull it with a wheeler. I am looking for something smaller and self-propelled.

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/hvo/5215979631.html

 

[foggy]

^ Are those Swisher "Brush Mowers" better built than the 44" trail mowers that Swisher offers? I see a number of those that sell for $500 to $600 used.....yet in pretty good shape.

This appears to be stronger built and has a bigger engine. Might be allot of motor to pull start?

 

[BuckSutherland]

The FIL has a 26"??? Swisher Walk behind mower just like this thing. I have done most of the cutting on his property with it the last couple years. It has no problem taking down the 2" stuff and I have never seen it break down. It seems well built to me. I think that has an 11.5 hp motor. Real easy to pull start it.