LOVE It. But BROKE It! Hardee Brush Tiger, John Deere 2038R

TTWT uses the Hardee Offset rotary mower mounted to the compact tractor front end loader to mow trees and undergrowth along a walking/bike trail. Tractor Time with Tim pushes this awesome mower hard so that the volunteers don't have to work hard.
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[@Tractorman-xj4gt]

That Bush Tiger attachment is impressive - and NO man... or woman... EVER has enough tractors !! Thanks for sharing !!

[@tylermallory2504]

I know a guy here in Colorado that has so many he has actually forgotten that he even owned a couple... I'd say that might be approaching the "too many tractors" realm LoL

[@jamesdiehl8690]

You know the old saying; "if it ain't broke, you aren't trying hard enough!" 😀

[@nealtubbs9608]

Excellent video Tim and Christy. I love it when you show videos of products that the majority of us have never heard of. You don't try to hide anything about how they operate, they get a real world test. Keep up the good work.

[@curtwhite876]

That is a very impressive and versatile mower. It is awesome that the manufacturer stood behind it and worked with you to make it right.

[@stephendixon4619]

With 165K tractor enthusiast subscribers they're darn sure going to take care of Tim. I wonder how they'd take care of Joe Smuck from Nowhere.

[@curtwhite876]

@@stephendixon4619 they don't all take care of Tim, he just isn't generally one to publicly badmouth folks.

[@petenolte4192]

Glad the company stood behind there product most would just blame the owner saying you used it wrong. Great job maybe more cities with trails will start using this. Thanks for the video and God Bless

[@photocontrol]

The mower worked great for this project! The mower needs a spring trip mechanism that will act similar to the springs on a snow plow blade.

[@caseyfavia807]

My husband was so excited to meet you this week at the trade show (Jeff with C&S Solutions) you are all he could talk about.😅

[@TractorTimewithTim]

Glad we ran into you! Thanks for your support!

[@TonysTractorAdventure]

I am thinking along the same lines as you. I think the weak weld was the problem. I have hit things as hard as you have with a heavier tractor. I appreciate you.

[@johngrossbohlin7582]

Ah yes... keeping publicly accessible trails open and safe. Lots of work! I typically go out alone or with one other person to remove fallen trees from the local trails. I was out this past Friday and I anticipate being out there after Henri moves on... Fortunately the local winds from Henri haven't been nearly as bad as predicted. It's a never ending task!

[@rgd2598]

Bless you sir!

[@GrampysTractor]

Another real world use of a needed product. With all the rail trails popping up somehow they will need continued maintenance. Even home trails will need the brush moved back before it takes over and the Hardee Brush Tiger did the job. Great video Tim and Christy.

[@NicFarming]

Hey there pretty tough Mower, perhaps if you can get your hands on a Embankment flailmower you could put them against eachother. I am curios to see how they do in this vegetation, we use one for Forest Roadsides and it cuts and cleans up the debries in one go, the speed however is determined by Tractor size through the 2038 is a powerfull tractor indeed. So far this little mower has me impressed

[@Kcolby47]

The Brush Tiger is quite a unit! Great real world use and comprehensive report. Also, a good follow up on the manufacturer response which makes sense and is a good indicator of their customer service. Thanks and blessings.

[@goddukee]

I purchased one a few months ago. Absolutely loved it. I got it for clearing an old fence where over the years people just kept moving further away from the fence while mowing. Privet, small cedars and other saplings had taken over. Some areas was 25 to 30 feet away from the fence. It looked like a daunting task looking at 2000 feet of fence. Using the Brush Tiger I cleaned up 700 feet in 4 days of cutting. I didn't push as hard as you. Just took my time and was very impressed. Great tool for mowing ditches also.

[@haroldphipps3457]

It looks ideal for ditch Bank mowing! Thanks for mentioning that!

[@ritterjon]

💥 The failure part didn’t fail, it succeeded! Very smart of the manufacturer to design it that way. *Keep on tractoring!* #ARITTERBITWILLDO

[@rebelcitysports1outlook713]

That entire section of the boom needs to be on a pivot with heavy duty springs (think snow plow).

[@charlesbessenbach6252]

I was about to say the same thing

[@paulkleinschmit9871]

The only possible downside (maybe) is that a sufficient trip mechanism may add some weight or the complexity may add some cost. I think I am reaching, but I am no mechanical engineer though I do play devil's advocate. What do you think?

[@rebelcitysports1outlook713]

@@paulkleinschmit9871 I think a fractional increase in initial cost would be greatly offset by potential downtime and potential replacement costs due to the frequencies at which incidences like those that occurred in this video can and will likely happen. People will pay more for fail safes that prevent destruction and excessive downtime of their equipment (think slip clutches and shear bolts).

[@paulkleinschmit9871]

@@rebelcitysports1outlook713 I don't disagree with you. Like you, if I am going to spend the money to buy this very cool but expensive setup, I'd be willing to shell out a few dollars more for a trip system.

[@paulkleinschmit9871]

Another thing to consider would be safety. This mower can operate at some crazy angles. Would a trip system function at all angles, or if it did trip, would it create a safety concern?

[@thomasyerbey337]

Run it until it breaks I can see how that would be a weak area on this mower hey Tim 🚜 🇺🇲 another great video I really enjoyed this video Tim

[@philsmock4943]

Wow, I can see how that Hardee Brush Tiger would come in handy with so many project I have here on my property. It did take some punishment before it broke so I'm impressed with that as well. Thanks for showing us this mower in action.

[@timraber6575]

Good job. It’s not that it broke at it’s designed weak point, but how the company stepped forward to explain it’s thinking and provided parts quickly for the repair. You knowledge of the equipment helps too as this company works to design a better product. And I like that zero turn mower. I can bet that one is pricey. Maybe they will have it at GIE. I got my ticket the other day.

[@terrygroce1594]

One must always understand and expect equipment to bend, break or just quite working. I agree with you that you used the mowed as designed and that the company planned the break on the equipment properly in that the repairs were simple. I enjoyed watching the mower in action and would agree it is a fantastic mowed designed well and functions well. I don't see you as an abusive tractor or equipment type person. Glad it worked out well and no one was hurt during the incident. Love your videos and watching your talent in using the equipment.

[@OrangeismyNewGreen]

Two super cool tools to see in action, both pretty impressive but the Hardee cutter WOW… have a great week to you both 🙋🏼‍♂️👍🏻

[@jamescochran8509]

I ran a Tiger mower for Penn Dot ,almost got a set of bed springs in the briars,down electric pole and the list could go on.

[@jdschini]

Another great video and a really cool tool for mowing brush. And congrats Tim on being the first guy to break it! You’ve just got that touch brother!

[@rickb5575]

That’s impressive. I could definitely see having a use for it! It ain’t cheap but it works.

[@bartonmd]

That type of mower is really neat! There has to be some kind of weak point like you mentioned, with the way it's offset like that. It would be really easy to really mess something expensive up if there weren't a mechanical "fuse" out there somewhere. Good on them for their response too!

[@gordonbrown6616]

Looks like a great piece of equipment. Initially I thought that arm was under engineered but there a lot force placed on that arm that damage much more expensive items. Great response from the manufacturer. Another great video .

[@rebelcitysports1outlook713]

Yes but it could be engineered much better. That entire area of the boom should be able to pivot via springs when enough force is applied (think snow plow trip). That won't prevent destruction from recklessness, but it would eliminate added costs due to unseen obstacles.

[@komitadjie]

I'd have been seriously tempted to bring the offset flail along, just to grind up that stuff after its hit the ground. Pretty impressive piece of kit, it seems way better suited this kind of use than trying to use it around the pond. Think you finally found the "this is how hard you can use it" point. Just learned where the failure point in the structure is, especially with a cold weld. Good test for the company, for sure they're going to be reviewing that welding process for that weld! That probably cost half of the weld's strength right there, and if this is a rare failure, that suggests a process issue in the welding.

[@semco72057]

That is a nice attachment and it does a great job of cutting down the brush higher up as well as that near the ground also. The damage which occurred can be expected and where I live the county have a mower on one of their tractors and use it to trim areas along the county roads and it does a great job and I believe that it is a great investment by the county.

[@steventhomson2042]

That is impressive!!!! Really liked how you put it thru the paces. Great video!

[@donbrutcher4501]

Attachment did the job. Needs a couple small mods, but that is why companies put their products out there to learn these things. Everyone wins. Thanks for sharing.

[@jasoncastro7486]

This one is an awesome piece of equipment! Very useful

[@brucep9123]

Tim, I have seen something similar to this sort of extension, but the one thing I saw have a beefy spring taking the hits. If the object hit was too sturdy the spring flexed and damage was prevented (and the head flexed right back into ready position for more work! Obviously there was also a tensioning bolt that allowed the spring to be set to the proper tension!

[@jasonmcdaniel3520]

I own a lane shark. I looked at many different brands and what swayed me to the lane shark (LS)is that there is nothing tying up my rear pto. My plan of attack on stuff like this is to use the LS for trimming overhanging brush and also use a bush hog to mulch it up and cut saplings. Just my opinion though. Keep up the good content!

[@IHcubcadet]

Nice work. That mower did a great job. My town has just rented a large John Deere with a forestry mulcher head on a arm rear mounted for trimming the sides of the road.

[@bradmeacham6982]

A thought... Maybe the end of that bar that broke could be designed with a pivot that is pinned in place with a shear bolt. The shear bolt could then be the "fusible link" in the system and easily replaced in the field.

[@davidcanfield4347]

A spring return.

[@davidcanfield4347]

Or maybe even have an upgrade with a ball detent and spring return.

[@mlindholm]

@@davidcanfield4347 a shear bolt is an easily replaceable, inexpensive "overload indicator". If it simply trips off a detent and springs back to normal position, an operator could miss that they're pushing it too hard, and not realize they need to back off. Then again, a cheap or annoyed operator, could replace the shear bolt with a grade 8 bolt, and break the implement instead. Gotta factor-in incorrect maintenance!

[@ziggycoops]

just to add for the mower you are showing. suggest a spring loaded pivot on the part that broke, it will allow the head to retract around anything that, that corner hits...

[@ta65mail]

That ability to mow out to the side like that really saves a lot of abuse on the tractor as well as the operator. Really enjoyed the demonstration of this type mower. It does an excellent job. 👏

[@ww3ok]

Awesome test of a great little mower.

[@CapeAnnImages]

Another great video! If I were that mower manufacturer I would change that "weak point" 90 degrees and allow it to pivot when hitting an obstruction. Best Regards, Jay

[@miltonaliff3316]

Glad you showed the after , tube vs weld

[@Mike-hn5xg]

I wish I had this many trees in my yard! I guess anything beats the empty old farmland that I'm starting out on! Thanks for this interesting video, Tim.

[@kevinbaker6168]

Beats the heck out of waiting on a trail crew to get it done. When I worked for the Missouri DNR (Parks) we sometimes had Boy Scouts working almost every weekend during the summer and our staff and a Civilian Conservation Crew working on them. Our problem was our trails were often to narrow or hilly to run power equipment on. We often had them wheel narrowing chips a mile or more from a trail head where we could stage a truck.

[@williamgaines9784]

When you are basically mowing/trimming "blind" you are going to snag a tree, hump, or stump now and again, I know I have. That mower looks to extend further than other brands so forces of such encounters, especially at the outermost edge, will be greater. That it can articulate while in motion is a great feature, but also creates more weak points. I would accept such a tradeoff if my budget allowed and probably would have already suffered a couple of such "mishaps". The manual angle/offset adjustment brand I use has "sprung" a bit with such contacts and always needs a bit more oomph to get it back into orignial configuration. They don't call it #wearandtear for nothing. Great post.

[@heartland96a]

The Convertable mower motto is "walk the slopes ride the distance"

[@richardhowell2607]

Its good to know that a company stands behind its product and works with you when issues arise. Good to know that a fail point was built into it

[@terrybenson3632]

This mower is pretty awesome.. I need to get one for my Kubota L4630.. This would work great for clearing my local county's snowmobile & walking/biking trails here in Wisconsin.. Excellent video Tim & Christy!!.. Have a nice weekend.. :o)

[@ranger6x660]

Great video guy’s! Love that mower!

[@johnmedlin5894]

Tim, I love that implement, I see adding one of those to my collection in the future.

[@georgecostanza9387]

Would be nice if it had a break away system like a 3 point disk mower

[@jean-philippegagnon9189]

wow i did not expect this mower to cut things as big as this! You're gonna have to buy another truck and a trailer for Christy and she'll follow you so that you'll be able to have all your toys with you anytime.

[@kivetts04dmax]

That stuff really flies out the front (Look out Christy!!!) haha. Sure making quick work with that mower.

[@golfer963]

Away love the Bible verse at the end of video. Very nice video on the Bush Tiger it was good to see the company step up to the plate on the parts

[@drich6816]

Or build it with round tube with a shear pin set up so if you do hit something the bolt breaks and not twist the square tube

[@TractorTimewithTim]

How about round hole with spring? Allows it to flex in case of hitting something.

[@qcan8468]

Or a spring loaded trip mechanism similar to a snow plow ….

[@nathanbrodeur]

Tim something I see that they could improve is they could do is put a bushing sleeve where that pin is and use a shear blot and gusset that tube where it sheared it would be faster down time repair

[@davidhayden6724]

Great video Tim! that company may want to hire you as a product tester!!!!! That is a very impressive mower and I may have to look into that. Thanks again.

[@jeffstrains4014]

That is an awesome attachment

[@carlstrohm3785]

Double plate wall where it mounts to the loader, hinge on the right side holding the plates together. On the left side, the backing plate would have a rod welded on pointing forward. The hinge plate would have a hole for said rod to pass through. Thread the end of the rod, throw on a spring, washer, and nut, and voila, the entire unit moves with an obstacle. No need for anything fancy, just an attentive operator. Now go 'abuse' that Tiger some more! Great work Tim ;)

[@TractorTimewithTim]

My idea exactly.

[@davesmith8936]

I think the manufacturer needs to look at that much harder. As previously mentioned there should be EITHER shear pin design OR an actual pivot with a spring system. It's unreasonable to expect a user to never hit a tree with this mower doing the job it's designed to do.

[@fpresley]

A thought Tim, maybe a setup like on a breaking plow that allows it to "break over" and then all that would have to be done is reversed back into the position slot like on the breaking plow. Something the manufacture might think about.

[@Matt10Lawrence]

Wow that Hardee redeemed itself from the last video. Last time it seemed like it was more of an ugly butcher. But this time man it ate everything and did a great job.

[@martineastburn3679]

I think you are right - top weld wasn't in the tube. Others were plenty if not to much. That is a cool option and now you have a real workman.

[@newhampshire-bob1604]

Those blades look like they are very light weight for the size of the material you are cutting. The blades on my field mower are thicker.

[@garymeyer3294]

That's exactly what I thought a soon as I saw them. They look to be thinner than on my commercial Kubota front mower for GRASS.

[@beezie22dub]

Impressive and thanks for showing us a real world task. Showing the strengths and weakness. I’m sold for the tilting over all the other manufactures. Ventrac always showing it’s self off and ease of use. Like comment and subscribe.

[@leeroyjenkins9992]

Wish I had this setup!

[@chrisduncan2626]

Sounds like they at least tried to make sure that was all that would break. Looks like a beast to me 😎

[@caryholt54]

It definitely looks like a handy unit. It did appear that you were pushing it pretty fast and hard for some of the material you were going through and the size of the mower. I also thought you should have worked out from the trail one pass at a time.

[@PaulThomas-qo9vy]

Way to go Harder ! Now I wanna buy one too!

[@bp4170]

I feel very confident you will break it again. Cheers!

[@TractorTimewithTim]

Yea, I’m thinking probably so.

[@jjacres129]

Way to go Tim you had to be the first to break one haha hope they build the new ones heavier with your input on it I love that mower to I really want one

[@cameronward7137]

Seems like that mower head should be made with some kind of spring relief joint or something that’s not just rigid mounted to prevent breakage.

[@mysmallgarage9824]

You should mount a snowplow marker on the right side so you could see where it's at a little easier

[@johanbos160]

Nice video tim and kristie and good job with the tree mower tim and the damage is always not nice but it happens

[@DXT61]

Years ago i was cutting with a side mounted hydraulic bush hog on a bigger tractor . I worked for a small town street dept. I was cutting along the road and looked up about 50 ft and saw a power pole with a cable running beside it straight down. What i didn't know was that it was a guy wire cable and the end had come loose and was extended along the road in the bushes/grass. Well my blade caught it and within a split second it snagged it and ripped it out of the top of the pole. It looked like it was fixing to pull pole over but snapped at the top. I slammed the hydraulic lever to kill the blade. Had to cut that cable off with a torch. It was thick.

[@dangerrangerlstc]

Needs a bar at the front of the mower to push the tree over a bit before the blade smacks it. Keeps it from bunching up in front of the mower.

[@daveknight1154]

Tim you have all the cool toys.

[@houndsmanone4563]

This is how I'd use the Brush Tiger. I don't want a tool that I have to baby. I need it to be rugged. Tim were you able to establish an agreement with Hardee to recognize the TTWT Discount code for new patrons? Appreciate your response. Have a fine upcoming week. As always, enjoyed a full-watch. 👍🏽🙂

[@TractorTimewithTim]

I have not been able to establish such a relationship. Sorry.

[@heathalford4721]

Nice machine. Limb ninja has one that tilts off a cylinder also

[@douglasbuhr5741]

I wonder if it could have a spring loaded breakaway.

[@jccorder1]

Looks like a good mower. I wish they made one for a little bigger tractor like my Kioti DK 4710

[@troyeager8877]

That could make my life so much easier. I'm using a Dr walk behind brush cutter. Its been great. But some things are less labor. Plus it would cut down on my chainsaw time.

[@anthony84501]

Probably need to put like a flag on that corner I like the snow plows use So hopefully you can see more of that corner

[@kb7722]

If it was orange, I think the criticism of the failure would have been greater. I didn't see where it was used any harder than most of us would have used. I agree the mower does a great job. Based on the design, I see this being a regular occuring issue. The way it sticks out there it's going to catch at some point. People can say reinforce the area but then it just transfers the force to another point. In order to keep it light enough for this size tractor, the design is what it is.

[@TractorTimewithTim]

Ha!

[@danielniquette5187]

You could install a fibre glass pole mounted on a spring at that front corner that keeps hitting obstacles so you can gauge better where it is and avoid damage to the machine.

[@Liam-ql7tr]

Now that’s could something I can use

[@erikgiggey4783]

i want a loader mount snow blower, i know yanmar did something and wranglerstar had issues with it but it was a prototype, i stopped watching his channel so i dont know if they ever fixed the issues but really all it needs is a hi flow pto driven hydraulic pump and skid steer snow blower. this mower uses the same concept and i like it.

[@TheOutFitPropertyMaint.]

I want one of those really bad !!

[@HoneyDoHomestead]

Looking at the back of your tractor, it's hard to keep up with all the amenities =). Have you done an overview video of all the after-market upgrades you've made to your JD fleet?

[@lmychajluk]

Add a flag / indicator to the corner of the mower, like there are on snow plow blades.

[@raulhogland7309]

Yes think we all are wondering if it was covered by any warranty? Would a shear pin or spring tension arm be a better solution? Great video. Would like to see before and after pictures of the blades on these types of videos! Thanks again

[@TractorTimewithTim]

Yes, was covered by warranty.

[@jjjustin17favs]

Good opportunity for a design change. Your gonna bump into things with that kind of work. Could use a shear pin or something.

[@MyHMMWVaddiction]

Welds brought to you by Colgate. That being said, that mower is great.

[@Cav5419]

Tim, I just purchased a Lane Shark LS3 which is very similar. I was struggling with which unit to get between the brush tiger and LS3. I chose the LS3 b/c I felt it was more heavy duty. Not knocking the brush tiger, I believe it does what’s it’s intended for. Would love to see a comparison if you ever had the chance. LS3 runs off tractor hydraulics on my 3038e and the cutter settings are manually set which is a give, but I wanted what I perceived to be a heavier unit. Thanks for sharing, great video.

[@jimmcknight3021]

What I really would like to see is a comparison between Lane shark, the brush shark and the trailblazer. I feel the trailblazer would be better for our needs, because I think it has a little bit better construction than the lane shark and like the lane shark you can put it out front as well as offset. That's why this unit won't work for us, because it is only made to be offset rather than the option of having it in front. Also, the extra hydraulics on this unit makes it much more expensive than the trailblazer and the lane shark. All that said, it would be funny to see the comparison on the pros and cons of each of these three. Seems to me a lot of us out there would like to see the comparisons and then figure out what's best for our own applications.

[@phild9813]

You definitely want the attachment to break and not the loader! Looking forward to see if the weld was the issue!

[@jonnylowkon]

That brush tiger looks like a nice piece, but the torquing on the loader arms worry me enough to to stay with an offset rear flail mower for my 955 since my 70a loader is almost irreplaceable now days. I didn’t see any abuse by the user, just design angles that really push the envelope and poor welding ( is this attachment imported maybe from China?) luv the videos and keep up the great work.

[@doomman700]

We had very little rain up here this week, it seems to have all been south by you guys.

[@TractorTimewithTim]

We didn’t get it. This was done 6 weeks ago when it was raining every day!

[@dehavenfamilyfarm]

Maybe you could mount a flexible marker like on the top edges of snow plow blades to help you see where the edge of the mower is in tall brush/trees :)

[@royosborn7869]

@ DeHaven Family Farm - I was thinking the same thing - some way to know where the outside edge of the mower is

[@Bryanb28]

had no idea you guys were from thornetown, Dickerson custom trucks is there too.

[@davidbalvin8112]

Perhaps a hinge and latch on the arm like the old sickle mowers used to protect the cutter bar would work.

[@terryhelms1578]

Great video, suggestion why not have bent and broke parts fabricated heavier material?

[@scottsoper]

At first I was wondering why one would need the Hardee Brush Tiger if they had a Ventrac boom mower. Clearly one needs both as this video illustrates. The Hardee can cut the heavy stuff but not reach high, the boom mower can reach high and cut sizable stuff for a sickle mower but not that big. Using the Ventrac Tough Cut Mower might work but not as well I think because it has to knock it down to cut it and it is not offset.

[@shawndickmann8215]

Try a "Lane Shark," maybe a tougher solution.