DR Field and brush mower Pro XL30 20hp test

Testing my new DR Field and Brush mower Pro XL30 20hp with the heavy duty blade. Today I am clearing under the anchors of a guyed cell tower. Stalled at 00:28 ;) No damage at all. Other than that, so far this machine is rock solid!

[RichardTurlington]

I agree this is probably the best review for this piece of equipment on YouTube. There's no BS background music, no talking unnecessarily, just straight to work, like most people who will buy this will be doing.
Look at it take those trees! I also commend you for not just filming a tree go down, but filming yourself going back over a tree after it's already laying so that we can see what actually happens should you double over a tree that's already down as you go other paths.

[leenicholson]

I bought one of these this month and have run it in very tough terrain and 6-foot-high weeds/sapplings about 10 hours over 3 days. I have some comments for those interested in operation and getting started with this nice machine. (I am going to post these comments on a few other videos as well, FYI.):
1. This video finally shows the kind of trees and big weeds I wanted to get rid of, so thenk you!
2. My dipstick came off at some point, so make sure it is secured and keep an eye on it.
3. If you cut along an edge vs diving into the middle of a big pile, you can see possible obstacles better, avoid stall outs, use the Reverse a lot less, run at a faster speed. A different video shows a guy backing in and out of a heavy brush pile -- very slow going relativelly if you can avoid it.
4. Reverse and the steering brakes are absolutely the best features! Don't buy anything like this without these features. I rented a different machine a few months ago, and the turns and backing out of trouble wore me out.
5. Electric start is great and helps you quickly recover from stall outs -- althugh the 20 hp engine is very capable of taking out big brush.
6. Tackling larger trees and getting over obstacles is best accomplished by pushing down on the handles to raise the deck. The driver in this video does this without comment, but it is a very good skill. Also, I have very irregular land compared to this guy, and raising the deck is huge when traversing ravines and dips.
7. Pay attention to the "burnishing" comments in the manual for the clutch and brakes. It only takes a few minutes. I don't know why DR doesn't do this in the factory, but... When burnishing the clutch (PTO up/down on console) the unit almost stalls each time you engage the PTO -- so be ready to disengage it quickly before you do it again (they say 50 times).
8. When assembling the drive to the deck, a nice flat and smooth surface is far preferable. I was able to get this together by myself, but having a helper would have been great. The deck is a little heavy -- but I was on rougher gravel, too.
9. When setting up initially, make sure you bring your oil (2 quarts) and, of course, gasoline. Goes without saying that it needs oil and gas.
10. When getting the unit out of the crate, you will need (a) wire snips or tough scissors to clip lots of zip ties, (b) tools to pry various stapled boards apart (hammer and very flat pry/nail removal bar), (c) crescent wrench for the big bolt holding the deck to the side.
11. I didn't do this, but I would slide the deck out of the crate first. Set it somewhere on a nice flat and smooth surface.
12. When getting the main unit out of the crate, be sure to (a) remove the wheel blocks in front, (b) clip the zip ties squeezing the brakes, (c) put the unit in Neutral.
13. The battery is disconnected, so just plug the positive and negative connectors into the battery.
14. There is another connector down on the bottom right side under the handlebars. It also needs to be connector or your unit won't start.
15. There is a gas shut-off also -- below the handle bars. It is probably in the shut off position when you get it.
16. When putting the drive belt on the pulleys, the most visible internal pulley is NOT what the belt goes around. The belt goes around the smaller pulley deeper inside the engine unit.
17. If you are running in 2nd gear and do a fast 180, be ready to move fast! Likewise, don't underestimate the speed of the Reverse.
18. Wear gloves!!! There is a safety proximity cut-off on the left and gear enagement on the right. So, when going through brambles, you can't just take you hands off of the handles.
19. Wear long pants, boots, protective eyewear, and, possibly, a forestry helmet with mask. The unit actually kicks up almost no debris, but the sapplings and weeds not cut will snap and snag you.
20. If you get stuck, don't underestimate the great leverage you have on the unit by pulling/lifting the front push-down bar on the front of the deck.

[donjuan]

Was gifted a brush mower by my mom to get a field under control, had no clue what it does, (hasn't arrived as I type) but thanks for the demo. It is well suited for the task I'm sure.

[JADEDWILLIAM]

I bought a Pro XL30 4 or 5 years ago. I learned to spray my ankles with OFF to avoid chiggers, do a walk thru if possible to avoid stumps, concrete blocks, stones, metal debris etc and ease it down on larger saplings and brush. I keep a Stihl 170 for the larger stuff you can't run over.

[ZomBRaider]

I got the same exact model last year....It's easy to maintain an area after you knock down the big thing I don't like is the stumps from bigger stuff it leaves behind like at your 1 minute mark....You end up with a bunch of them in an area to trip over or wrestle your machine over every time you re-mow....I just ordered a JD1025R with loader and backhoe so I'll be able to dig all those little stumps out shortly....Maintaining areas will be even easier then....Before the purchase, I was concerned about all the rocks since I live on top of a ridge but it clears most of them, I pick up the bigger ones first....Hills that are too steep, I cut the brush with a chain saw and drag it to a flat area I can run over with the usually end up with long sticks I can quickly shred with my little chipper shredder since all the branches are gone, it doesn't take really glad I got the pro 30 xl, I used to feel over whelmed by all the growth over the summer but it's really helped tame areas my lawn tractor couldn't go near....I can also get much closer to the edge of banks since the mower hangs out front....I would buy it again for

[gigiparker]

I'm dropping reviews everywhere people might see them as a buyer beware - I wish I could tell any of you how well the mower works - but we received it in August, unboxed and assembled, followed all pre-use instructions, and the drive belt shredded after only several hundred feet of use. Mower won't drive forward without it, so we had to tow it back to the house. Called and spoke with the company, they agreed that there must have been an issue with the belt, but we don't have a nearby DR dealer shop or a winch to load a very heavy machine that won't drive itself forward/up a ramp, so they recommend replacing the belt ourselves. The trouble is, this mower is not user-service friendly. So, after paying 3K$, here we are on the floor of our garage with a brand-new machine, inching our way through each overly complicated step to replace this drive belt, and consequently we don't have a single kind thing to say about this machine. Since we live in WA, we may not get to even try this thing out again until next May we the rains stop. I regret buying this machine.

[INSOLENTDOBERMAN]

That was awesome 👏!!! I just bought one exactly like that yesterday & I am actually looking forward to mowing my backyard 🤣😂😆. Be done ✅ in mere minutes. Cool video, really showed the power.

[andrewbennett]

This was honestly the BEST review and demo of this product on youtube. Its honest real terrain /overgrown like country style is.
How quick do you get a feel for the controls

[spivvo]

I definetely need one of those! Thanks for demo :)

[CanadaTrapper]

my back really starts to ache from all the times the front of the mower rides up on heavy brush causing me to bend over and wrestle the mower back up level.

[alanmiranda]

what about rocks or boulders that are hidden in the brush? is there some sort of guard that protects the blade?

[johnalbino]

Does this thing works on those darn palmettos in south Georgia...? if y'all familiar with them .

[yellowmetaldriver]

Interested to know what happened at the 28 to 29 second mark that was edited. Did the blade bind and machine stall.completely?

[oakley]

What about hills around a 3 acra pond?

[georgeronnieburnettburnett]

Ever got it on wet type ground?not standing water.Will it mire down and be stuck?

[Beamin-vtjm]

I wonder how often you have to replace the blades on these things

[mikelobue]

The problem with DR mowers is the shifting. Letting go of the handle to shift back and forth constantly is a design flaw. This video is all on flat ground, when you are on steep terrain of uneven difficult to maneuver or edges of road with big drop offs, letting go of the handle can be dangerous. Even if you use the brake you have to let go of the brake to shift. Brush mowing is a constant back and forth operation. Which means your shifting constantly. This also wastes tons of time over the course of the day or couple hours of use. I'm a DR owner for years and I think it works well. I think the Kawasaki motor if a very very good motor. I use mine waaaay more than most people use their because I use it professionally, but one day I had to rent one. I rented a Billy Goat hydrostatic because rental yards wont rent DR mowers, they just don't stand up to rental abuse. The difference was amazing to not have to be shifting all the time. Now I'm just waiting for my DR to die so I can buy a Billy Goat but it just wont die.

[TomFredericks]

The DR promo videos all have a hard-driving electric guitar soundtrack. Here all we hear is a motor and a bunch of brush getting cut. Where is your guitar player?

[blahgiggy]

I need one of these I have about a half acre of over grown woods that you can’t see 30 feet into

[truthurts]

so, the face protector is to keep stuff that might fall out of the trees from hurting you?