# John Deere HX15 vs Land Pride RCM5615 rotary cutters



## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

Shopping around for a new batwing rotary cutter. Never run a batwing before but have used smaller cutters from both JD and LP in the past with good luck. Specs between these two look pretty similar. Will only be used for mowing pastures. The Deere is priced $2k higher from what I've checked so far. Which is going to the best all around mower? Or is there really not a huge difference, especially for just pasture mowing and given the price difference.

Also may have the chance to get a used Bush Hog 2615L for roughly 1/3 the cost of either of the new ones I mentioned. Has some dings and seen a few acres but been well maintained and I know the family who owns it. Would that be a better route than new? I don't particularly like the thought of spending a fortune on something that will only cover a couple hundred acres of pasture each year. I obviously don't expect to get as many years out of the used mower but I ought to run awhile at least.

Thoughts?


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## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

I bought a new Woods brush mower many years ago - not a batwing. Didn't take long for the unit to pick up some dings & dents. When you buy new, often it's a lot of extra $$ for paint that shines and sheet metal that's straight - but with some equipment those things don't last long.

Gary


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

Since I've never run a batwing before the idea of getting a used one that's pre-dented does sound appealing. I know where all the rocks are with my ten footer but might be a different story with a bigger mower : )


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Gently used is my choice.....


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

JD all the way
Double deck design keeps them looking good for decades after others look all dented up and rusted
Superior paint jobs, too.
I have 2 of them. Might buy a 3rd
Had a woods BW180XHD and it looked battle weary after clearing 50 acres of brush.
Then the paint flakes off all the little dents.


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

Yeah I've always liked the double deck design. Pretty sure this particular model Land Pride has a double deck also.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I'd go with a nice used one before buying new.

I bought a new BushHog 15' last year. Looked for a used one for 2 years. Every used one I found they either wanted new price or it looked used to death. Even auction sales they sold high. One month after I bought mine, saw a nice used bushhog a few years old that sold at auction for half of what I'd paid. Wished I'd have waited but oh well.

So far I like my bushhog but it is the only one I've ever used other than a small 7 ft 3point farm king that I have. I've only mowed some weeds, cattails, and a few ditches with it and let a neighbor borrow it to shred some corn stalks.


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## Circle MC Farms LLC (Jul 22, 2011)

HX15 all the way. We've had ours since 2005 and it's been used and abused since then. Only issue was one snapped yoke after someone grounded it out into a small hill, but more operator error than anything else. Still cuts great, and the paint is still in decent condition (has the double deck and stump jumpers). Best advice is keep it cleaned off because if it lives outside, the rotting grass is the quickest way to rust the paint off of one.


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## rajela (Feb 15, 2014)

> Also may have the chance to get a used Bush Hog 2615L for roughly 1/3 the cost of either of the new ones I mentioned. Has some dings and seen a few acres but been well maintained and I know the family who owns it.


This the route I would go....if you know the mower had been maintained and not abused then this mower will last for years and years if you take care of it.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Couple other nice things on my CX-15 (little heavier than HX-15)

Deere comes with air cushion suspension: air bags/individual springs. Woods only came with one "master spring". It worked, but the Deere rides really nice over bumps

Deere comes with Deck Rings: They keep the blades from striking the underside of mower. Woods didn't come with that. You'll see a lot of old bush hogs will have circular dents in deck from being single layer deck and no deck rings. It a great feature and they should all come that way.

Deere Paint: Deere has a beautiful long lasting paint job. It'll last a long time. The others look good when you buy them, but like a trailer, the paint is not what I would call long lasting. I have a 10 yr old MX-8 that still looks good overall.

Deere comes with Road lights: They now include a road light kit with turn signals/4ways/brake lights. This is huge for me. I just traveled 15 miles to a site Im cutting, wouldn't want to be without them.

Raised SMV emblem- sure beats the woods SMV emblem that gets torn off first time you back into a branch.

Deere comes with front rear safety chains standard: Woods was optional-came with plastic shields standard.

Landpride may be different. May come with some of those features.


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## 506 (Mar 22, 2016)

I just went through this decision making process myself and landed on a MX-15 in January. For me, I thought long and hard about the use of the machine. In the end I landed on a plan to only shred pasture grass with it. I have no intent to run over anything bigger than 1/2" as all that does is bang up the wing or scrape the bottom of the tractor then bang into the center section of the mower. So, I didn't need a driveline or machine capable of running over 3" to 4" trees like the two models you mention. I felt like making the 'mow grass only' decision took me into mowers that required less from my tractor. This saved me money on the initial purchase but also saved me money down the road in terms of less wear and tear on the tractor and less fuel burn.

During this process I had a conversation with my Deere salesman. I was challenging him on his pricing strategy for a Deere and Rhino mower. The learning that came out of the conversation was that this dealership was large enough to get advantaged pricing from Deere. This allowed them to sell Deere products at lower price as compared to other makes/models as well as compared to other Deere dealers in the area. So, if you have the option, you could consider contacting other dealers of either product you are interested in to see if this same pricing deal exists in your region.


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