Pull Behind ATV Mower Reccomendations

John Fraser

Well-known member
Hello,
I haven't posted in quite a while, but have been checking in from time to time and have enjoyed seeing what you're all up to. I hope you're doing well and enjoying winter.

I am looking to purchase a mower for work and thought that this group may be knowledgeable on the subject. We have a growing list of wetland restoration sites that need annual mowing along berms and access trails. Recently the costs to hire this work out have about doubled and our insurance requirements often prevent us from hiring a neighbor. So this winter we started looking into tractors and flail mowers. In the future this tractor would also be used for other, larger tasks like seeding. Unfortunately a tractor is not in the cards for us this year, as we still need to find a good tow vehicle and barn to store it in. We do have a Can-Am 650 ATV and a good sized trailer to tow it on, so I have been looking into the tow behind "DR" style mowers for that. Not having experience with ATV mowers before, I thought that DR was THE mower. I now realize that there's different makes and styles out there. Like I mentioned previously, this mower would typically be used to mow annually, so the grass could be waist high. A typical site would have 2-3 acres to mow at a time. Additionally I would like the capability to mow some light brush on occasion. So here are some questions I have.

I see that DR, Swisher, and Kuhn all make this style of mower. Is there one brand that's way better or worse than the others in terms of performance and reliability? Are there any other features or reasons to choose one over the other?

I did read reviews for DR and Swisher. Both had some complaints of breakdowns. However I do think that reviews can be slanted towards the unhappy customers, plus I can't really tell if they took care of their equipment or if they abused it. I also saw a comment about the DR bogging down because it didn't have any opening for rear or side discharge. The Swisher and Kuhn both have a rear discharge. As far as gauge of the steel deck; Kuhn is 8, Swisher is 11, and DR is 12.

Two wheel versus four wheels? Several of the Swisher models are two wheeled. Most of the other mowers have four. Any opinions?

Engine preference? Most of these mowers come with Briggs and Stratton engines, though some of the Swishers have Kawasaki. I don't have any experience with Kawasaki. I have heard some complaints about Briggs over the years and have owned a few that had issues. However most of my Briggs that I did take good care of (and even some that I've neglected) have continued to run without issue.

Mowing width? Many of the mowers are 44" wide and our ATV is 48" wide. Is the couple extra inches of ATV tires hanging out a big issue? They do make wider models (52"-57") which should save time, but they do cost a bit more and I wonder if they're more likely to bog down.

Thank you for any answers or other experience/opinions that you can provide.

- John
 
John,

Can you rent those kinds of mowers anywhere? I think my Home Depot has DR style brush mowers for rent but not sure if they are the tow behind or not. If you could rent them, you could try several brands out and see if one is better than another for what you guys have gotta do. And maybe if you can rent and only need to mow once a year that would be a better option....one less machine to have to maintain. Not sure the cost to rent would be any better than buying though.

I don't have experience with Kawasaki motors but in general have been very pleased with my Briggs and Stratton motors. I have a generator with a B&S motor that is 30 years old and still easy to start and runs great.

I would think heavier gauge would be best overall...maybe I am wrong but that was the deciding factor for me when I bought my zero turn...came down to good brands but I went for the heaviest gauge deck. I wanted the least likely to suffer damage from thing s picked up by the mower. Like I said though, maybe I am wrong.

As far as width, I would go with the widest you can. I am not sure that bogging down has to do with deck size. For width keep in mind if you have any gates you have to go through on the property. That might be a limiting factor. It ended up being a limiting factor for me. Had to make sure the mower would go through my smallest gate.

Sorry I can't be more help....
 
Thanks Dani. That?s a good idea to rent one first to see how we like it. Will search around to see if anyone around here rents them. You?re probably right about getting the biggest mower possible, the engines are larger so they should be able to handle the job. The difference in price just had me thinking about it a little harder. We don?t have any gates on our sites, but it does need to fit on the trailer. That will be the limiting factor.
 
John I have a dr brush mower (Walk behind) and a Dr finish mower . I knock down the big stuff and keep my trails open with the walk behind. The finish and brush pull behind mowers can be offset to not follow directly behind the Atv. I often see them for sale used, usually not running or not running well due to lack of use . I think I paid 1500.00 for the 26 inch walk behind and 1100.00 for the mower. Dr usually has 0% interest if you use the DR card. I'm sure you can rent them.Taylor Rental rents them over here Watertown or closer to home might as well. Good luck!
 
Thanks Kevin. I'll check out Taylor Rentals. We've got a few sites up that way where I could give their mower a try. There are some Taylor Rentals that I can check out down here as well.
 
Hi John,

No experience with pull behind mowers, but I rented a Flail Mower last year and was super impressed. I used it to reclaim an older landing zone on my wood lot as well as reestablish some skidder paths. Sweet fern was everywhere and the mower made short work of everything. 1/2" to 3/4" stalk did not even bog it down. Growth was 3' to 4' tall. They are somewhat pricey to buy, but I will be renting one annually for my projects.

Good luck.
Troy
 
Thanks Troy. That looks like quite the tracked machine to open up your paths. I have used rotary style mowers before, but not a fail mower. For the tractor we were looking at flail mowers because of their compact size compared to a tow behind or three point hitch mounted brush hog. That would be easier to fit on a trailer and would be better to work around the thousands of trees we have planted.

I have seen one or two atv size flail mowers online too, but would really like to see any of these machines in person. I've had no luck online looking for rentals in the area. I'll should probably get on the phone and talk to some of these companies, hopefully they can point me in the right direction.
 
Hi John,

This one is made by Orec. The company I rented from highly recommended this over the rotary blade type and the tracks worked great!

https://orecamerica.com/products/walk-behind-flail-brush-mower-cyclone-track/


Best of luck.
 
Thanks for the link Troy. In addition to being a bit more compact than a rotary mower, I believe that the flail mowers are also more forgiving if you hit a rock. I'll keep looking to see what's available locally, as it's tough to buy equipment like this without seeing it first.
 
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