Bushhog rotary cutter BH216 review

Demonstration of defective part

[bmiller]

I have the same bush hog. No problems whatsoever. And I’ve put mine to the ultimate test plenty of times.

[damante]

Always go with chains. That happens on all cutters with that guard

[douglaspost]

The first couple of fields I did, it clogged up to the point the engine slowed way down and actually stalled it once. I guess the grass and brush couldn't get out from under it fast enough. I took that band right off and it's like a new machine. It cuts like mad now.

[RipToeMountain]

I have the same unit and it did the same thing as yours. I had a welder cut that section off and weld me a sold piece of steel across the back to replace this. Bad design flaw …my revision has held solid for a year now.

[justincurless]

Honest word of Advice if I was you I would trade that one off and get you a Bushhog BH116 6 3 point that are a good Chopper we tried one out and I was very impressed with it and didn't have a lick of problems with it

[slademcneill]

Same problem. I think I’m going to just remove the guard and cut without it. Just broke the u joint that connects to the slip clutch. Hit a small stump. Slip clutch didn’t slip at all

[travisricks]

You’re NOT gonna beat a Bush Hog brand rotary cutter. My BH15 done the same thing. I didn’t worry about it though and just kept right on cutting. It’s just a shield. Not a big deal and still safe to use.

[naturesecho]

I had the chains on mine from the dealer when I purchased it, within the first 24 hours of use the same thing happened to mine. It's not that big of a deal that its bend except when it bends in it drives it into the blades. I bent it all back into shape and replaced the bolt that got sheered off. Two weeks later, it happened again. i have been bush hogging for years with an older "green colored" one and never had this issue. You need to be very delicate when backing into brush, and for the money that this one cost it's not impressive at all.

[BigBassDaddy]

The old models were just sheet steel continuation of the rest of the mower deck and inevitably became bent and torn reducing the integrity of the whole mower. When I first saw this design, I knew why they did it that way, but I definitely think the chains are the way to go.

[OFord]

Thanks for sharing. Any updated bush hogging videos?

[warrenmills]

Took band off and put chains on and haven’t had any problems since

[NatureIsInfinite]

Thanks for making your review. It’s revealing to see other people with similar results in the comments below. For the price point this shouldn’t happen. Why rotary cutter manufactures focus so much on gear box’s and NOT on side walls (which are always the first thing to go). Doesn't make any sense to me.

[warrenmills]

I replaced the shield with chains so hopefully good now

[Mark-Marine]

Same thing happened to mine. I am unimpressed with the strength of the metal beneath that band. I just went back to an old BH6 that has a lip support around the bottom edge.

[jeffstrains]

Could just weld a piece of bar stock in front of shield to act as a deflector I am surprised they did not do that. I am guessing though if its bending that easy all your going to end up with is a ticking sound of it hitting the blades after its bent pushing into something.

[warrenmills]

With the chains on the grass isn't getting caught and popping the bolt off and I've done a lot of mowing so it looks like that solved the problem. The only complaint i have is that the metal on the sidewalls is very thin and despite being very careful to always raise the bushhog when backing up, i forgot one time and backed into a small mound of dirt. Thus bent the metal inwards. This never would have happened on my old king cutter because the metal was lots thicker. Not sure why the manufacturer scrimped on the gauge. Could it really save them that much money?

[brucethomas]

I'm an engineer, your right it's a bad design...!

[timcline]

I bought a BH216 four weeks ago and every time I use it I have to take a sledge to side walls. They bend in way to easy in just medium brush and then the blade cuts into the side wall. Very disappointed in this $2350 purchase.

[jorgesalazar]

Your video is about 4 minutes too long... sorry