Anyone ever use one of these:
G.
following…
I’d be interested if a riding mower could pull one.
And if you could go faster than 2mph.
It said it uses your tractor’s hydraulic lift to maintain or change the mow height - does your riding mower have a hydraulic lift?
Interesting, scroll down and there’s’ a video at the bottom of the page in the link above. In it, people are using a lawn tractor at the end of the vid.
I’ve found others.
This one looks very interesting because it uses blades, not string. By changing the blade from a “grass” blade to a “brush” blade you can get saplings and heavy undergrowth.
Then there’s this one, which looks like an attachment to an existing bush hog or finishing deck:
For a few years I used a Swisher Postmaster. It’s no longer on the Swisher website although I found a few still for sale. It did a good job on flat ground but we have a lot of hills and rolling ground. It was a string trimmer and if you “grounded” the head it broke the strings. That meant dismounting, shutting down the engine, replacing the strings, restarting, and then continuing. There was no “following wheel” near the head to keep the head from “grounding.” The distance from the center line of the tractor to head was close to 30", IIRC. Around here that can mean a several inch difference in height. The machine just did not allow for this. This was a real frustration and the reason I ultimately quit using it and sold it.
The DR trimmer appears to have a large “ball” on the underside of the trimmer head and that may solve the problem of “grounding.”
There are a few that I found that appear to be “net zombie” sites for discontinued products.
I’m going to explore the DR a bit farther. If the “ball” will prevent, or at least significantly reduce, “grounding” then I’m interested. They also say it will “pivot” up and down, something the Swisher did not do. It’s unclear if this pivot motion is “gravity” or a mechanical adjustment. DR also says the machine will do at least limited “slope” cutting along driveways and the like. That would be a Good Thing for us, too.
G.
I have been wondering about that cutting arm as well. I will be interested in what you find on it along with other cutting devices for under fence trimming.
I have a walk behind DR trimmer, which has a half-ball as the front part, a foot? I just keep the turning ball on the ground when pushing forward. The string carrier loops are on the flat top. Ball half keeps the string a certain height from the ground unless I lift the front up. My Sears push trimmer is made the same way. Perhaps the DR fence trimmer is made the same way. I use my walk behind trimmers to keep under my fences clean, wires hot, they do a good job. I have wire fences, not sure I would trust a big trimmer powered by a tractor, to stay untangled during trimming. Not the same as trimming board fences!
Seems like DR has a “Try it, see if you like it” policy on equipment. Might be worth asking. Maybe shipping costs would make it too high priced to send back though, so get ALL the shipping and possible return details ahead of ordering. Any local DR dealers to go see one?
[QUOTE=goodhors;8262813]
Seems like DR has a “Try it, see if you like it” policy on equipment. Might be worth asking. Maybe shipping costs would make it too high priced to send back though, so get ALL the shipping and possible return details ahead of ordering. Any local DR dealers to go see one?[/QUOTE]
They do have a great policy like that - and also, that’s how if you’re lucky you can get one that’s been used/returned for less than the price of a new one…which is what I’m hoping for eventually. They have excellent customer service. I do all my mowing with a DR walk-behind field brush mower. I tell myself it is excellent exercise. 
I spent some time reading the Reviews on the DR website and they are not encouraging. People with the same type of land I have (pasture, rough ground, hilly ground, etc.) all report problems with breaking strings and the head following ground contour. The general consensus seems to be “good idea, imperfect execution.”
Many who were critical sounded disappointed as they had other DR products which worked well. At this point it’s unlikely I’d go this route.
There were also some comments on the return policy. It seems that there can be some hefty charges against the purchase price. I did not read the policy, but if I were to be interested I’d read it VERY carefully.
G.
