Does anyone own or have any experience with using a DR Field and Brush Mower and could give a review of the mower and the company? Thanks.
Bill
Only heard of the company - haven't used one myself. :)
I have had the Bachtold Mower for years as did my dad...Awesome machines. At one time DR was using these but I think they found a "cheaper" supplier to hang their name on...
Here is a link to Bachtold http://www.roofmowers.com/renegade.htm
I've used somebody's (Stinger?) oversized string-trimmer (like 18")--and push kind or towable. Towable better than the hand pushed by a lot.
The man I had working for me that year refused to deal with the pushed version after about 1/2 an hour.
Yep, I bought their Professional version a couple years ago.
It works OK. The quality of the frame isn't as great as I would have like. I've bent the handles a little. Very quickly, too, I snagged a timing wire on some blackberries or something and ripped it. My biggest complaint is that the wires, gas line, etc. are not protected at all. When I first got it, I just charged it through brush and blackberries. Now, I take it easier and take extra care not to get hung up on anything.
The limited slip differential in the 1+ year old models doesn't do what it's supposed to do. Many many times I'll have one wheel spinning and the other one doing nothing. I see in the newer models, the limited slip differential can be disabled which would be a good thing. I have limited slip on my van and it works great. It doesn't seem to me that when DR talks about limited slip, they're talking about the same thing. If the newer model isn't actually better, I don't recommend the DR mower to anyone that isn't capable of muscling 350lbs around.
I have tackled 2+" saplings. It can take them down but makes a horrendous noise. On my property, it's rare to encounter a single 2" sapling; there is usually several thereby making it hard to take them all down. What I do now, is first go through with a over-the-shoulder brush cutter and take out the saplings as close to the ground as possible. Then, I mow with the DR mower. I do the same with old growth blackberries.
I didn't buy the mower from DR directly. I bought it from a local retailer for about the same price as DR. I didn't feel like going through what looked like a hassle receiving the heavy mower from DR.
All in all, I am satisfied with my purchase. Before I bought the mower, I'd spend a few weekends clearing the Alder and blackberries from an area and then I'd move on to another area (I have 40 acres). Maybe three years later, I return to that area and do it all over again. Now, I clear an area using a combination of brush cutter, Crossbow, and the DR mower. I make the area as mowable as possible. Thereafter, I mow it twice a year as needed. In this way, I'm expanding the amount of land I can mow and am finally making progress towards clearing my land.
Neil