Does anyone on here have one of the newer style, dual motor brushcats? I was initially looking at a 72" CID extreme mower with the open front but came across a newer 72" standard flow brush cat for a decent deal. They look pretty neat with the floating deck, dual motors, and the rear roller and seem to do a really nice job mowing. I'm concerned with their ability to handle small trees/saplings, bushes, and other brush? I'm sure for mowing uneven ground that's mostly grass they're awesome but I'm curious how they do more in a land clearing setting then just mowing. I won't be doing anything where I'd be trying to use it like you'd use a mulcher but I don't want a 3-4" tree to be out of the capacity of the mower if you take it slow and let the mower work at it instead of trying to ram through it. I'll be running it on a Takeuchi TL230 standard flow which I've used an ammbusher mower on before with good results but I'm looking to get my own vs borrow or rent.
I've seen it, and have to wonder how much more it cost's with all that extra mechanism. Can you post the prices of both ? The bobcat dealer can rent you the dual motor version for 1 day, and you already have experience with the ammbusher, so it would be nice to hear from you after the trials.
I'd have to find the quote for the CID mower I got, however I think it was for one model down from their extreme mower (their top of the line model) and it was just a little less then the 1/1.5yr old brush cat that comes with front rollers and an extra set of blades that sounds like it wasn't used much. I should have pictures of it this week to verify. Unfortunately I can't go test both for a few months yet, everything is frozen and dead here right now.
I have used the brush cat and while it may be great for mowing and established pasture it's not great at heavier brush. The drawback is you can't effectively angle the mower to lift the front to come down on the thicker stuff, and it's heavy. The rollers also seem to push dirt when it loose or sandy and it flattens the smaller brush and does not cut it as close to the ground as an open from mower does. CID makes a good mower, I have one with around 600 hours on it without any issues and I use it for things simetimes I probably shouldn't. It's the older extreme model that is not direct drive.
Thanks for the info Todd. That's what I was looking for, I was afraid it would mow a pasture or overgrown field really nicely but beyond that I'd wish I had a different cutter.
I've got a diamond 72" mower and it's one mad mother. It'll cut and grind almost as good as mulcher and much better in some applications. I know I have two mulcher a as well.
Do you have the blade type or the disc type?
A Diamond mower would be awesome but they're $$$$. Maybe some day down the road but just starting out I think it's a little bit to much of a risk. The extra $3-5k for a Diamond mower could buy me another attachment or more that could produce more jobs.
For what its worth Mark, I'll give you my two cents on a brush mower. I, too, have the Diamond Mower like southernman and I love it! It does cost a bit more than the others I looked at on the market, but now that I've run it a bit, I have to believe that its totally worth it. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. I bought mine slightly used from Diamond Mowers. It is virtually new but was a demo unit for a new dealer. Being used they knocked about 1k off the price. It is built very well and does a great job on the big sagebrush, willows, and aspen that we have here in Northern Nevada. Its incredibly heavy but that's what I wanted in a brush cutter as the lighter units tend to buck and jump when you start getting into the heavier brush. I also run a Favre grapple which is a brute and expensive as well, but I wouldn't go any other way with either of these attachments. Out here I need machinery that can handle the rocks and crap I have to deal with and both the Diamond Mowers and the Favre do just that! Oh yeah...I am running both of these on a Takeuchi TL150 with 23 gpm hydraulic flow.
I've got a grapple already, had a local shop fab me one a few years back. They made it pretty heavy. I'll have to check with diamond and see if they make a 72" mower that will work with my machine, it's got a fairly low gpm flow at 18gpm max I believe. My machine has every option from what I can tell besides high flow which would be sweet and make things much easier for buying mowers.
Blade speed is everything with brush mowers. Don't buy a mower bigger than your machine can drive. I would reall recommend taking a look at the CID mowers, they are a great value. I bought mine from a guy on Ebay, MarkSupply. Great to deal with. I recently picked up a 72" Daimond mower to replace the CID. Not because I had any problems with the CID, just in hopes for a little more productivity in taking advantage of the flow and pressure increase on my newer machine. The deck on the Diamond IMO is better engineered to mulch things up as you go but I'm still not sure it's worth the extra 4-5k over the CID. I do think it will hold up longer as it's direct drive and has a heavier duty spindle setup. I need to put some more hours on it before I can really compare the two. I have about 30 hours of mowing coming up in the next couple weeks, some just overgrown pasture and some in the woods.
I've looked at the CID mowers through Markssupply on ebay before, I was going to contact them and see what kind of price they have compared to a few different dealerships within an hour or two of me. I'm still leaning towards the CID mower mostly for cost and since it seems like it will do everything I need a mower to do while just trying to get into the market.
I have a CID X-treme piston motor Brush Cutter with the 17-27 GPM range. It works great with my ASV RC85, ASV RC100, CAT 289D.
These guys make extremely high quality attachments, Love everything we ever got from them, and great support on parts. Built in USA and they JUST introduced a "More competitively priced" (V40 series) http://virnigmfg.com/product/v40-rotary-brush-cutter-standard-deck/ List Price $5145 THREE blades, 16-25 gpm flow so works on the standard auxiliaries of pretty much everything out there...I am eager to try one of these out soon!
That's what I was thinking of getting for my Tak TL230 in the 60" size. I'm on the fence about buying one and hoping I can find work for it and it doesn't turn into an attachment that I use 4x a year and it takes forever to recoup it's cost and make me any money.
They are pretty handy and people are generally amazed at what they can do.
I might have to pull the trigger and get one and see what kinda business I can drum up with it. One more thing to add to my small collection of attachments.
Pulled the trigger and ordered a 60" low flow CID piston drive cutter. Only had about a half hour to mess around with it but I'm impressed so far.
Any updates on these cutters? I've looked at so many my head is spinning while trying to sort the BS from the facts. Waiting for a quote from my local dealer on a Blue Diamond, he knows I have been shopping around. CID is in the running. I love the MTL for the price, but the owner of that place is a real workaround to deal with, still..... Lastly, SkidPro just contacted me today with a "clearance" price reducing a new industrial open front cutter bye $1500. I'm thinking they might be more of a reseller as their website shows a mighty small facility for manufacturing and office. My barn is almost that large.
I’ve got a 60” Eterra Typhoon from Skid Steer Solutions. Awesome machine. I run it on my hi flow T595. You can run it open front which works great for serious brush and tree cutting. There is a bolt on cover that is supposed to be better for mowing. I seldom use it. I’m on my third summer with it and the only thing I’ve touched are the blades. Although not a true mulcher, it leaves an acceptable finish by back dragging, nose down. There is a picture of it on my avatar. I’m very pleased with it, no regrets at all.
Sorry for the delay. Didn’t see this. Ours has the blades not the disc mower. It’s an awsome cutter. I wouldn’t skimp if u can. I haven’t used the disc style but haven’t heard to much good about them. This diamond mower is very heavy duty. I don’t think anything less would have held up with what we’ve put it through
It looks like a little tank, I'll take a look. Thank you
I did request a quote from a dealer, found out from the factory that he sells them, but he sent me a quote for a Bradco instead. Not certain why, but I'll check with him after the holiday. SkidPro sent me a quote for their industrial cutter too, it's $7800 with shipping. It's a decent looking cutter but I'm a bit gun-shy due to the appearance that they are a call center reseller and not a builder. The top of line Bradco quote is $8800 with tax and no freight, it's delivered to me.
Does anybody have experience with QuickAttach Brush Buster? I am wondering how they are? Looks like it is a well built unit and the price is competitive.
I don't other than speaking to the salesmen online and watching all the videos they have on youtube. Seemed a bit too pricey for me though. Not certain whether they actually make their own product either, or are they simply another .com call center.
I bought a Blue Diamond 60” low flow, 3 blade cutter 3 years ago. Awesome attachment had a motor leak a month out of warranty and they sent me a new motor free. Great cutter, great price. Run on a s220 standard flow sage brush, willows small trees no problem.
Yes they are incredible! Mines high flow. One tough Azz cutter fosho!