Most of the folks in these comments have no appreciation for old iron. Personally, I would fix it. Mount the pump on the tongue and use a standard pto shaft to run it. Weld some new cooling tanks on top of the existing ones. I would do away with that pile of spaghetti for hoses. You can run hard lines to cover most of the length and put hoses only where the wings pivot. That's just my two cents.
Fix it! Weld new tanks on, run new lines. Mount the pump to the chassis and couple it with a standard PTO shaft. Those hydraulic drive/ motors are powerful.
I ran them in florida on the highways 20 years ago and I think new they were in the 30,000 range.If you put the few hundred dollars into it and do some welding and take care of it it may last for years.We used them for several years putting a hundered miles a week on them 8 hours a day,they are tough machines.
Likely a little late.... But I think the rusty tanks in the body are for fluid cooling. I would say those mower pumps, spindles, and cutter assembly's would be valuable to people wanting to make skid steer mowers.
You might be able to mount the pump on the tounge of the mower with a welded up frame, and then could use adapt a normal pto shaft to drive the pump. Would simplify the hose situation, and there would be less to go wrong with hoses chaffing on stuff. Might limit turning radius a bit though. But you wouldn't have to manhandle the big pump to hook it up.
I think you should restore it. The guy on just a few acres farm started restoring an old tractor and so many people wanted to see it that they set up a GoFundMe that paid for all the repairs. Then his viewers and subscribers shot up thousands. (Just some added value to think about)..... And when you start pricing hoses notice that some of them are too long anyway - shorter is cheaper. I vote to restore it!!! I'll donate to a "save the beast" fund. 🚜
Highway departments beat the crap out of those mowers and you can put all new hoses and tanks on it only to find out that one of those hydraulic pumps or motors is going bad, that thing is scrap metal! Pumps and motors can be a couple grand by themselves and likely not even available anymore.
If you are buying old equipment, you always have to price in the time you are going to spend on its upkeep and fixing. That classic car isn't a deal if you spend every weekend trying to keep it running just so you can drive to your job, and if you've put thousands into it you'd feel it was money wasted if you sell it. But if you are selling it, paint it first, lol... Maybe worth it if you can pay for it with a few RUclips repair videos, but do you need a bigger mower right now? On a related note, I'm always amazed at just how much equipment gets left out in the sun and rain, nobody seems to build a rough log shelter just to keep the worst off?
Big question is do you need a 15' batwing mower. New woods 15' mower is $15k. I say invest a little on main hoses and see the condition of the motors, tanks, ect.
get rid of the problem and find a good used unit pto drive, and yes its one hose per hydraulic circuit because you only have power to raise the wings or the unit
To the scrapyard, Batman! I fear that mission creep may lead you to despair. Each repair could have a downstream consequence which gets really expensive in a hurry. I’d invest in new equipment with a warranty to protect you for a year or two. 😎👍🚜🔥
With some "sweat equity " it could be made into a very usable piece of equipment. Yes there would be some costs, but if you haven't priced a new one, their so expensive, plus you can have the same expense on maintenance. The biggest problem I see are the hydraulic drive motors, but if you price rebuilt gear drive boxes, im sure there's not much difference. 👍
Win win…. Fix it… make it a video series generate 1/2 a million or more views. Would be fun to watch and may educate and encourage people to take on new things. At the end you can then do a free drawing for your subscribers or sell it and put towards a new unit.
Your dad reminds me of my dad. Probably why I became an engineer. State owned equipment is always a challenge. It's been used hard and put up wet for the most part. Maintenance is "usually" performed regularly and in accordance with required periodicities. Replacement parts are almost always OEM items so you shouldn't see any after market products from the state. I'd say if you need a mower that big and that gnarly, then, if the pump and motors are good the rest is just mainly nickels and dimes in the big picture scheme. If the pump and or motors are shot then you're in for big money and probably only worth the sheet metal and any piece parts you can sell off.Or, if you are just hard up for a winter project, then this would be a great one to document. Good luck.
Unless you need a big boat anchor sell it. I have family / friends that offer stuff and I know it is wore out so I usually just say no thanks. You are one of my favorite RUclips folks, thank you Josh.
For me the answer here is your own capabilities Josh. If you can effectively and properly weld and fabricate any repairs or adaptions yourself, then it’s definitely worth fixing. If you can’t, then the cost is going to ramp up, quickly, and is 100% not worth keeping and selling it is the right thing to do…..
We had one that we bought at an equipment auction. It was in good shape and did a great job but it was a maintenance nightmare. We sold it before we had to put any real money into it. Met a guy that was a retired highway department mechanic. He told us that the highway department got rid of them because of all the problems with maintenance. Sell it as is where is.
We love our 2016 woods 15ft batwing it’s a medium duty and I’ve mowed 4-5 little trees with it. Not suggested but it has. We paid around 15k. When our big jd was down we used our 60pto hp Kubota m4 on it and it pulled it very well no issues 6mph easy on hills. So good luck on the mower. If you do buy one get one that you can fold each wing separately it makes life nice when mowing around tree. Fold one wing up and you just clip back some brush.
Wire brush those resivores and see how bad the rust is. If its not real bad take those welded in place hoses out and drill new holes and tap for new fittings. Thats how it should of been done in the first place instead of weling them in place. I think you will have a nice piece of equipment when your done.
You might be able to get another tank to set up top. I would guess that the old tanks are shot. Price it both ways and see if it worth keeping. you may fix it this year and next year brings a whole new set of problems like pumps and hydro on the wings. If it was me I would look for a pto 15ft bat wing in better shape. Doesn't have to be new just in better shape lol
Definitely sell, I don’t know how much stuff my dad and grandfather have tried to hand down. By the time it got to me, same situation. On the other hand, if you decide to keep, there’s much less money to go into that than buying a brand new one. I would sell, time is what I battle with constantly. Rather than take more time to repair and use, just go buy one to fit and immediately put to use.
I agree with the Sell it... Option Because if it's just O rings & Hoses this year the Calculated Cost of Hydro Pumps & Tanks & Hydro Motors get alot more costly next year if you can make it that long + your time & supplies & down time Is going rack up more cost any just be a lemon honeypot Right now all cleaned up you might get more as a trade in or selling it... Think of the band aids & Tylenol you won't have to buy... + the hours of uninterrupted sleep knowing there's a nice new bat wing parked in the shed. While you're admiring the beautiful lawn with your wife at dinner...
All great points. I think should send to scrap and replace with new unit. I have a Landpride RC3615 that would work nice on that tractor. Take a look at them online and replace my vote.
Here is my opinion from the outside looking in, your are a very busy man and that is a 'project bush hog' a kin to a vehicle of some some sort that you might want to restore. If you truly need that kind of mowing capacity and have the budget and need it now, get new or quality used. However, if you are otherwise covered, spend a few years restoring it and add it to your 'arsenal' down the line at a much smaller price point. Again, my simplistic opinion given what I know or have seen. Love your videos!
I would pull of all those gears boxes and put all pto driven gear boxes. U would need pto shafts of course but u could find them online fairly inexpensive. Its cheaper than buying a new one.
Before you sell it, price it's replacement. Cylinders and lines are just part and parcel for farm and ranching. The pump and motors are what determine fix or sell.
Keep the beastwing! It was free. Anything free is worth saving up for. Use as a new video series. Slowly work on and fabricate new parts. Be awesome to see it back good as new. That thing is the beastwing!
I remember when you got that antique sawmill and had great plans to restore and use it on the farm. I don't recall a video where you said you were going to abandon the old mill, but you did wind up with a shiny new one that actually gets the job done safely and efficiently. You obviously weighed the pros and cons of rebuild/restore vs. modern, not-worn-out technology, and it seems that the modern sawmill has served you well. I'm willing to bet this choice is right up the same alley-Yes, it would be cool to have an older (and yeah, theoretically less expensive) piece of equipment that you rebuilt and know every inch of, not to mention the possibilities for mucho RUclips content in the restore, but at the end of the day, it might be better to cut your losses.
if it were mine i would mount the pump on the mower and run it with a pto shaft......would replace hoses and repack the cylinders ....biggest issue would be in the pump needed work.....hoses are not as expensive as your thinking...dont know about fitting cost though...good luck...
TIM from Canada if you have any sort of machinery that has houses like this and you were wondering if the connections are the same if you can get to a machine shop and bring the hoses with you I am pretty sure they can swap out the old connections and put them on your new hoses.... there are people that will come right to your house to do this and then there are people where you have to go through them figure out in your area what is beneficial for your usage
I hope if you decide to keep it, it won't be like so many of the other projects we see started but rarely worked on and often never completed, like the jeep, swamp donkey or many of the other vehicles . I get your busy and have a lot you do but many of us really want to see some of these projects worked on from time to time even finished. I hated to see some of the cool vehicles you had and did quick videos on then ended up selling them before anything was really done to them. Great stuff josh keep it up man!
Only way I would keep is if I could replace all the gear boxes with pto shafts instead of the hydraulic drive mess. Might could find a decent set of pto drive gear boxes that all they might need is re sealing for a decent price. Also you wouldn't have that heavy pump motor to fight with every time you want to hook up or unhook! Good luck whichever you decide to do!
That is real American steel. That will last forever if you fix it properly. Any new pos built from chinesium will dent ding chip and rust out. Repair it and paint it red white and blue!
Also I recommend ospohing it then painting. Do not leave it sitting like you did without it being washed clean beforehand as grass clippings cause an acid that eats away at metal.
I could be mistaken(and I probably am), but those tanks look to serve as a way to balance the pressure between the 3 motors so they stay at the same RPM. If that is not going to be an issue, I'd say to try hooking(plumbing?) those motors in series and seeing if they will balance themselves in that way. Might be able to run a replacement high pressure tank to have them balanced out if that doesn't work and in a sense, delete those built in failing tanks. All depends on what ya have for a limit to sink into that bat-wing mower, really.
Heck it's in better shape than ours. We haven't used it for years got a cactus growing out of it. And it's probably an Alamo brand. We been using a 3pt 8ft bush hog dual spindled mower and boy is it a bush hog.
After watching your video on the batwing mower I watched a woods video on the new15.5 woods batwing mower. Being your mower is a hydraulic run machine and the amount of repairs and rust it has I believe if you have the means to do it I would go with the new machine. One huge advantage is the new machine is all PTO driven. They have made so many changes on the new machine making it so much easier to operate. Your machine looks like a nightmare with rebuilding hydraulic rams and replacing hoses then when your all done you have rust to deal with. There’s a old saying that has helped me make decisions. You can polish a turd and when your all done all you really have is a shiny turd.
It almost feels like more work than it's worth for what you need it for. Might as well sale or give it away and buy a nice unit for your application and keep good care of it
Personally I'd keep it replace the hoses as far as those side tanks go not knowing the dimensions I'd cut them out and get some rectangular tubing heavy walled and make new tanks and weld half couplers for hose ports and run it if the hydraulic motors are weak rebuild them but then again I've done alot of hydraulic repair in the past in my eyes its cheaper than a new one and if you fixed everything it would work just as good as new
As far as the pump goes, my first thought was could you mount it solid to to mower and run a pto shaft to the tractor? I think it would make a good trade in or just sell it. A lot of work to fix it
With enough mechanical talent almost anything can be repaired or rebuilt. If you happen to have something that can't be recovered in that way, you still probably have a new source of parts as a resource for a new project. "One man's trash is another man's treasure"
If you did not have sponsorship to get another, you would clean it up, remove the bad lines, put some rust bonding pain on it, replace hoses as needed, and run the thing. A new one is real expensive, way more than the cost to repair it.
SELL IT! - There is an old saying that applies here, “don’t try to make a gold purse out of a sows ear”. The problem with that piece of equipment is you don’t know the history nor the types of repaires made previously. Typically stuff that multiple people operate, specially state government equipment is run into the ground, then sold to some poor unsuspecting person that doesn’t have the capital to purchase a new or lightly used unit. It you’re going to use the cutter for your life on the farm, get something you don’t need to constantly fix.
I’ve never been good at turning a sows ear into a silk purse however I’ve been able to keep a silk purse looking good. Now that bushhog is a sows ear if I have ever seen one. Sell buy a good used one and take care of it.
Love the channel and everything you're accomplishing. You have alot of work keeping the farm in tiptop shape. My vote is to get a new one that u can just hook up n go. Also and I hope you won't mind me saying I'm praying for the day you're blessed with a like minded wife to give you children to love and pass your knowledge to. It's clear you're gonna make an awesome dad
If this cutter was used by a highway Dept-holes in the decks-no telling what it has run over-and above the blade holders what sort of trash is wrapped in the spindles. And worse yet has the debris gotten into the motor bearings. You could be looking at rebuild jobs on the pumps and motors. And of course all new hoses. Sorry-looks like this is for parts or a scrapper.
I would fix it, but I have all kinds of used hydraulic hoses, and can weld so cost for me would be time mostly. In your case, you can take the proceeds of the sale, plus any money that would have went into it, and have a good partial payment on a new one. But even putting the money into it, it is still going to be worth that, plus $2500 or so..
I would think real hard about fixing it. If you sell it as is and get 2500, it will take over 5 times that to get a new one. It so heavy duty, it would last you a very long time.
Has it been that long since you got it!!! Wow time flys! I would of fixed that thing up first year before I would have been useing a 7 foot bush hog in all those pastures you cut!
Time, patience, know how, and money. If you have plenty of the first 3, then fix it. If you're lacking in any of the first three, but have the money, scrap it and get something that's new or in good RUNNING condition.
Dang man I took off RUclips for about month and you my friend seemed to have lost some weight. Looking healthy and fit. Gonna have to change the name to Stoney Ridge Sexy Farmer😂 setting a good example 👊🙏
RESTORE it Josh. It's Texas metal, it'll mow wide and long, you'll save it from landfill and you'll have a bunch of content showing all kinds of useful tips. A grand in hoses and fluid maybe? You know how to weld mate. Sand and paint and you got a BEAST.
FIX IT. START FARMING, STOP BUYING. even if you put 3 grand in it it will be cheaper than a new one and it will last for 20 yrs maybe more. I know you and a lot of your viewers are material girls and like shiny and glittery.
I say keep it. Even if you have to replace those tanks that's not too big a deal. I imagine those tanks are only there to increase oil volume to keep the oil temp down. You could probably add a cooler and abandon most of those aux tanks. Even with all that it will still be way cheaper than a new one. BTW you should learn to make your own hoses. Personally I would hard pipe most of that and only use short hoses where the unit needs to flex, but that's a thing that pisses me off about farm equipment.
Looks like you have it up for sale according to the pinned comment. That being said, I'd rather see you work on popcorn than that deck. Popcorn is what got me to your channel in the first place. Been watching ever since.
Maybe look at putting a new reservoir tank, between the middle drive pump and the rams on the mid deck . Can’t see the original ones being any more than a couple gallons each. Then that way you have a sight glass/hose to keep an eye on it and it eliminates those old fittings
I have the woods bw15 batwing mower its pto driven, its great if you can get one you wont regret it if you like to see it in action I'll send you some videos
I’d keep it.. start with the lines going into the tanks if they break off a welder can most likely put a patch over the hole and weld in new fittings. New one would be nice but expensive! I rather spend a grand or two rather than 20k especially for something that probably won’t be used a lot.
First, you've got to know who YOU are. Are you a guy who can effectively repair the machine ? Or, are you more of a machine Operator ? The cost of having it repaired by a third party, is a non-starter.
Sell that junk!!!
I think he did it was on marketplace for 3500 a week ago
Sell it. You can rebuild it completely. And you still have an old mower
The best financial decision is most likely sell it! HOWEVER - Rebuilding will make some good content for future videos.
Most of the folks in these comments have no appreciation for old iron. Personally, I would fix it. Mount the pump on the tongue and use a standard pto shaft to run it. Weld some new cooling tanks on top of the existing ones. I would do away with that pile of spaghetti for hoses. You can run hard lines to cover most of the length and put hoses only where the wings pivot. That's just my two cents.
O ring kits for rams are not that bad.i have rebuilt probably 20 bush hogs including the decks. I would say that its worth fixing.
Looks like it's worth fixing..if you need it...
Fix it! Weld new tanks on, run new lines. Mount the pump to the chassis and couple it with a standard PTO shaft. Those hydraulic drive/ motors are powerful.
I ran them in florida on the highways 20 years ago and I think new they were in the 30,000 range.If you put the few hundred dollars into it and do some welding and take care of it it may last for years.We used them for several years putting a hundered miles a week on them 8 hours a day,they are tough machines.
Likely a little late.... But I think the rusty tanks in the body are for fluid cooling. I would say those mower pumps, spindles, and cutter assembly's would be valuable to people wanting to make skid steer mowers.
You might be able to mount the pump on the tounge of the mower with a welded up frame, and then could use adapt a normal pto shaft to drive the pump. Would simplify the hose situation, and there would be less to go wrong with hoses chaffing on stuff. Might limit turning radius a bit though. But you wouldn't have to manhandle the big pump to hook it up.
I think you should restore it. The guy on just a few acres farm started restoring an old tractor and so many people wanted to see it that they set up a GoFundMe that paid for all the repairs. Then his viewers and subscribers shot up thousands.
(Just some added value to think about)..... And when you start pricing hoses notice that some of them are too long anyway - shorter is cheaper. I vote to restore it!!! I'll donate to a "save the beast" fund. 🚜
But a tractor has more than one purpose. The mower just mows and thats it.
Just a few acres farm is very different from this farm channel.
Belong in a museum.
Highway departments beat the crap out of those mowers and you can put all new hoses and tanks on it only to find out that one of those hydraulic pumps or motors is going bad, that thing is scrap metal! Pumps and motors can be a couple grand by themselves and likely not even available anymore.
Keep it and renew it. It will become your delight after you have worked over every art and weld.
If you are buying old equipment, you always have to price in the time you are going to spend on its upkeep and fixing. That classic car isn't a deal if you spend every weekend trying to keep it running just so you can drive to your job, and if you've put thousands into it you'd feel it was money wasted if you sell it. But if you are selling it, paint it first, lol...
Maybe worth it if you can pay for it with a few RUclips repair videos, but do you need a bigger mower right now?
On a related note, I'm always amazed at just how much equipment gets left out in the sun and rain, nobody seems to build a rough log shelter just to keep the worst off?
Big question is do you need a 15' batwing mower. New woods 15' mower is $15k. I say invest a little on main hoses and see the condition of the motors, tanks, ect.
Good morning Sir.
I am a fix it guy. But there is to much unknown on this… pass it off..
Have a great weekend.
Stay safe and always be kind.
Go 603
get rid of the problem and find a good used unit pto drive, and yes its one hose per hydraulic circuit because you only have power to raise the wings or the unit
Hi..... Thank you 🎥👍👍👍
How convenient...the hitch pins are still there
It’s worth saving. Not only is it content but you can restore and have a good mower when you are done
To the scrapyard, Batman! I fear that mission creep may lead you to despair. Each repair could have a downstream consequence which gets really expensive in a hurry. I’d invest in new equipment with a warranty to protect you for a year or two. 😎👍🚜🔥
With some "sweat equity " it could be made into a very usable piece of equipment. Yes there would be some costs, but if you haven't priced a new one, their so expensive, plus you can have the same expense on maintenance. The biggest problem I see are the hydraulic drive motors, but if you price rebuilt gear drive boxes, im sure there's not much difference. 👍
Wow you picked that up 2 years ago already?? I remember watching you load that thing up. Time flys!
As Kenny Chesney says Don't Blink 20 years will be gone
Win win…. Fix it… make it a video series generate 1/2 a million or more views. Would be fun to watch and may educate and encourage people to take on new things. At the end you can then do a free drawing for your subscribers or sell it and put towards a new unit.
It would be fun to watch an overhaul, but it probably just needs to be scrapped. Love watching your videos!
Take your time and fix it up.
Then you will have a great tool.
Your dad reminds me of my dad. Probably why I became an engineer. State owned equipment is always a challenge. It's been used hard and put up wet
for the most part. Maintenance is "usually" performed regularly and in accordance with required periodicities. Replacement parts are almost always OEM items so you shouldn't see any after market products from the state. I'd say if you need a mower that big and that gnarly, then, if the pump and motors are good the rest is just mainly nickels and dimes in the big picture scheme. If the pump and or motors are shot then you're in for big money and probably only worth the sheet metal and any piece parts you can sell off.Or, if you are just hard up for a winter project, then this would be a great one to document. Good luck.
Unless you need a big boat anchor sell it. I have family / friends that offer stuff and I know it is wore out so I usually just say no thanks. You are one of my favorite RUclips folks, thank you Josh.
For me the answer here is your own capabilities Josh. If you can effectively and properly weld and fabricate any repairs or adaptions yourself, then it’s definitely worth fixing. If you can’t, then the cost is going to ramp up, quickly, and is 100% not worth keeping and selling it is the right thing to do…..
We had one that we bought at an equipment auction. It was in good shape and did a great job but it was a maintenance nightmare. We sold it before we had to put any real money into it. Met a guy that was a retired highway department mechanic. He told us that the highway department got rid of them because of all the problems with maintenance. Sell it as is where is.
With what you have in it so far I would fix it. It’s a good mower and you will be happy you fixed it
Keep that and fix it . The hydro batwing mowers are easier on the tractors motor.
We love our 2016 woods 15ft batwing it’s a medium duty and I’ve mowed 4-5 little trees with it. Not suggested but it has. We paid around 15k. When our big jd was down we used our 60pto hp Kubota m4 on it and it pulled it very well no issues 6mph easy on hills. So good luck on the mower. If you do buy one get one that you can fold each wing separately it makes life nice when mowing around tree. Fold one wing up and you just clip back some brush.
Wire brush those resivores and see how bad the rust is.
If its not real bad take those welded in place hoses out and drill new holes and tap for new fittings.
Thats how it should of been done in the first place instead of weling them in place.
I think you will have a nice piece of equipment when your done.
Hope everything is going good with you and miss Stoney ridge are doing good
You might be able to get another tank to set up top. I would guess that the old tanks are shot. Price it both ways and see if it worth keeping. you may fix it this year and next year brings a whole new set of problems like pumps and hydro on the wings. If it was me I would look for a pto 15ft bat wing in better shape. Doesn't have to be new just in better shape lol
Definitely sell, I don’t know how much stuff my dad and grandfather have tried to hand down. By the time it got to me, same situation. On the other hand, if you decide to keep, there’s much less money to go into that than buying a brand new one. I would sell, time is what I battle with constantly. Rather than take more time to repair and use, just go buy one to fit and immediately put to use.
I agree with the Sell it... Option
Because if it's just O rings & Hoses this year the Calculated Cost of Hydro Pumps & Tanks & Hydro Motors get alot more costly next year if you can make it that long + your time & supplies & down time
Is going rack up more cost any just be a lemon honeypot
Right now all cleaned up you might get more as a trade in or selling it...
Think of the band aids & Tylenol you won't have to buy... + the hours of uninterrupted sleep knowing there's a nice new bat wing parked in the shed. While you're admiring the beautiful lawn with your wife at dinner...
All great points. I think should send to scrap and replace with new unit. I have a Landpride RC3615 that would work nice on that tractor. Take a look at them online and replace my vote.
Here is my opinion from the outside looking in, your are a very busy man and that is a 'project bush hog' a kin to a vehicle of some some sort that you might want to restore. If you truly need that kind of mowing capacity and have the budget and need it now, get new or quality used. However, if you are otherwise covered, spend a few years restoring it and add it to your 'arsenal' down the line at a much smaller price point. Again, my simplistic opinion given what I know or have seen. Love your videos!
I would pull of all those gears boxes and put all pto driven gear boxes. U would need pto shafts of course but u could find them online fairly inexpensive. Its cheaper than buying a new one.
I hope you didn't contaminate your tractor hydraulic oil by hooking that up. Hydraulics have to be squeaky clean...
My thoughts exactly, we learned the hard way. Lucky we could get parts for it though.
Before you sell it, price it's replacement. Cylinders and lines are just part and parcel for farm and ranching. The pump and motors are what determine fix or sell.
Keep the beastwing! It was free. Anything free is worth saving up for. Use as a new video series. Slowly work on and fabricate new parts. Be awesome to see it back good as new. That thing is the beastwing!
being an old highway dept. mower, it would have a ton of hours on it........I'm afraid I would just punt.....
I remember when you got that antique sawmill and had great plans to restore and use it on the farm. I don't recall a video where you said you were going to abandon the old mill, but you did wind up with a shiny new one that actually gets the job done safely and efficiently. You obviously weighed the pros and cons of rebuild/restore vs. modern, not-worn-out technology, and it seems that the modern sawmill has served you well. I'm willing to bet this choice is right up the same alley-Yes, it would be cool to have an older (and yeah, theoretically less expensive) piece of equipment that you rebuilt and know every inch of, not to mention the possibilities for mucho RUclips content in the restore, but at the end of the day, it might be better to cut your losses.
if it were mine i would mount the pump on the mower and run it with a pto shaft......would replace hoses and repack the cylinders ....biggest issue would be in the pump needed work.....hoses are not as expensive as your thinking...dont know about fitting cost though...good luck...
We’re all here for the same thing. Fix it and make the old boy proud.
Fix it!
TIM from Canada if you have any sort of machinery that has houses like this and you were wondering if the connections are the same if you can get to a machine shop and bring the hoses with you I am pretty sure they can swap out the old connections and put them on your new hoses.... there are people that will come right to your house to do this and then there are people where you have to go through them figure out in your area what is beneficial for your usage
Hey josh,used bat wings go for about $ 8500 in good condition.
Check prices on hoses?
I would try to get it running. Save $
I hope if you decide to keep it, it won't be like so many of the other projects we see started but rarely worked on and often never completed, like the jeep, swamp donkey or many of the other vehicles . I get your busy and have a lot you do but many of us really want to see some of these projects worked on from time to time even finished.
I hated to see some of the cool vehicles you had and did quick videos on then ended up selling them before anything was really done to them.
Great stuff josh keep it up man!
Plus it'll make for a good how to video in your stash to see it fixed.
You can the rust on the tanks I would fix it and keep it alot easier on the tractor than a pro driving one
Only way I would keep is if I could replace all the gear boxes with pto shafts instead of the hydraulic drive mess. Might could find a decent set of pto drive gear boxes that all they might need is re sealing for a decent price. Also you wouldn't have that heavy pump motor to fight with every time you want to hook up or unhook! Good luck whichever you decide to do!
I say sell it . But I do agree it would make good content for videos to rebuild it.
That is real American steel. That will last forever if you fix it properly. Any new pos built from chinesium will dent ding chip and rust out. Repair it and paint it red white and blue!
Also I recommend ospohing it then painting. Do not leave it sitting like you did without it being washed clean beforehand as grass clippings cause an acid that eats away at metal.
I could be mistaken(and I probably am), but those tanks look to serve as a way to balance the pressure between the 3 motors so they stay at the same RPM. If that is not going to be an issue, I'd say to try hooking(plumbing?) those motors in series and seeing if they will balance themselves in that way. Might be able to run a replacement high pressure tank to have them balanced out if that doesn't work and in a sense, delete those built in failing tanks. All depends on what ya have for a limit to sink into that bat-wing mower, really.
Heck it's in better shape than ours. We haven't used it for years got a cactus growing out of it. And it's probably an Alamo brand. We been using a 3pt 8ft bush hog dual spindled mower and boy is it a bush hog.
2 to 3 k is still alot less than 15-20k.
Looks to still have quite a bit of life left.
Looks like it needs a new home Josh. Endless project I'm thinking. Lol. Wooooo
After watching your video on the batwing mower I watched a woods video on the new15.5 woods batwing mower. Being your mower is a hydraulic run machine and the amount of repairs and rust it has I believe if you have the means to do it I would go with the new machine.
One huge advantage is the new machine is all PTO driven. They have made so many changes on the new machine making it so much easier to operate. Your machine looks like a nightmare with rebuilding hydraulic rams and replacing hoses then when your all done you have rust to deal with. There’s a old saying that has helped me make decisions. You can polish a turd and when your all done all you really have is a shiny turd.
It almost feels like more work than it's worth for what you need it for. Might as well sale or give it away and buy a nice unit for your application and keep good care of it
Personally I'd keep it replace the hoses as far as those side tanks go not knowing the dimensions I'd cut them out and get some rectangular tubing heavy walled and make new tanks and weld half couplers for hose ports and run it if the hydraulic motors are weak rebuild them but then again I've done alot of hydraulic repair in the past in my eyes its cheaper than a new one and if you fixed everything it would work just as good as new
As far as the pump goes, my first thought was could you mount it solid to to mower and run a pto shaft to the tractor? I think it would make a good trade in or just sell it. A lot of work to fix it
keep it will make great content
With enough mechanical talent almost anything can be repaired or rebuilt. If you happen to have something that can't be recovered in that way, you still probably have a new source of parts as a resource for a new project. "One man's trash is another man's treasure"
You can buy remote resivoirs that you can just bolt to the deck to take the place of those in deck tanks.
If you did not have sponsorship to get another, you would clean it up, remove the bad lines, put some rust bonding pain on it, replace hoses as needed, and run the thing. A new one is real expensive, way more than the cost to repair it.
SELL IT! - There is an old saying that applies here, “don’t try to make a gold purse out of a sows ear”. The problem with that piece of equipment is you don’t know the history nor the types of repaires made previously. Typically stuff that multiple people operate, specially state government equipment is run into the ground, then sold to some poor unsuspecting person that doesn’t have the capital to purchase a new or lightly used unit. It you’re going to use the cutter for your life on the farm, get something you don’t need to constantly fix.
I’ve never been good at turning a sows ear into a silk purse however I’ve been able to keep a silk purse looking good. Now that bushhog is a sows ear if I have ever seen one. Sell buy a good used one and take care of it.
Love the channel and everything you're accomplishing. You have alot of work keeping the farm in tiptop shape. My vote is to get a new one that u can just hook up n go. Also and I hope you won't mind me saying I'm praying for the day you're blessed with a like minded wife to give you children to love and pass your knowledge to. It's clear you're gonna make an awesome dad
Is it two years already...watched that video the day you uploaded it.... watching from Ndola Zambia 🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲
Fix it and i wouldn't be scared of them hyd tanks
If this cutter was used by a highway Dept-holes in the decks-no telling what it has run over-and above the blade holders what sort of trash is wrapped in the spindles. And worse yet has the debris gotten into the motor bearings. You could be looking at rebuild jobs on the pumps and motors. And of course all new hoses. Sorry-looks like this is for parts or a scrapper.
I think selling it and going to get either a new or fairly new batwing. Less headaches that way and you can get something that will use the PTO to.
I would fix it, but I have all kinds of used hydraulic hoses, and can weld so cost for me would be time mostly.
In your case, you can take the proceeds of the sale, plus any money that would have went into it, and have a good partial payment on a new one.
But even putting the money into it, it is still going to be worth that, plus $2500 or so..
Replace pto is the way to go hydraulic are expensive to fix and maintain. It has lived its useful life let it go to someone who needs parts
I would think real hard about fixing it. If you sell it as is and get 2500, it will take over 5 times that to get a new one.
It so heavy duty, it would last you a very long time.
Has it been that long since you got it!!! Wow time flys!
I would of fixed that thing up first year before I would have been useing a 7 foot bush hog in all those pastures you cut!
I say fix it and decide to sell or keep later after first use. Could open up more time for other things also resale after fixing could be worth it
Time, patience, know how, and money. If you have plenty of the first 3, then fix it. If you're lacking in any of the first three, but have the money, scrap it and get something that's new or in good RUNNING condition.
Dang man I took off RUclips for about month and you my friend seemed to have lost some weight. Looking healthy and fit. Gonna have to change the name to Stoney Ridge Sexy Farmer😂 setting a good example 👊🙏
bhahahha....Chad...just dropping a bit of weight buddy...much needed
RESTORE it Josh. It's Texas metal, it'll mow wide and long, you'll save it from landfill and you'll have a bunch of content showing all kinds of useful tips. A grand in hoses and fluid maybe? You know how to weld mate. Sand and paint and you got a BEAST.
FIX IT. START FARMING, STOP BUYING. even if you put 3 grand in it it will be cheaper than a new one and it will last for 20 yrs maybe more. I know you and a lot of your viewers are material girls and like shiny and glittery.
I say keep it. Even if you have to replace those tanks that's not too big a deal. I imagine those tanks are only there to increase oil volume to keep the oil temp down. You could probably add a cooler and abandon most of those aux tanks. Even with all that it will still be way cheaper than a new one. BTW you should learn to make your own hoses. Personally I would hard pipe most of that and only use short hoses where the unit needs to flex, but that's a thing that pisses me off about farm equipment.
Sell it or junk it. If you junk it keep the motors and the pump. You may find another use for them later.
I think id put a stress test on the resovoirs before doing any replacing anything significant. Tough call, but so is spending 15-30k on a new mower
Looks like you have it up for sale according to the pinned comment. That being said, I'd rather see you work on popcorn than that deck. Popcorn is what got me to your channel in the first place. Been watching ever since.
Yeah looking at the condition of it.. I think sell and get something more suited to your needs...
Maybe look at putting a new reservoir tank, between the middle drive pump and the rams on the mid deck . Can’t see the original ones being any more than a couple gallons each. Then that way you have a sight glass/hose to keep an eye on it and it eliminates those old fittings
I have the woods bw15 batwing mower its pto driven, its great if you can get one you wont regret it if you like to see it in action I'll send you some videos
I’d keep it.. start with the lines going into the tanks if they break off a welder can most likely put a patch over the hole and weld in new fittings. New one would be nice but expensive! I rather spend a grand or two rather than 20k especially for something that probably won’t be used a lot.
Stoney, if you sell it to someone who needs parts for their batwing it won’t work because the parts that need repair are usually the same parts
Rhinoag has batwing mowers that are reasonably priced.
I would send it to marketplace or Scrapyard.
Check the data on the motors and big T.
You mat be able to run the motors directly from Big T and do away with the pump and tank .
Sell it to Pete Larsson (just a few acres farm), he would just love to restore it!
First, you've got to know who YOU are. Are you a guy who can effectively repair the machine ? Or, are you more of a machine Operator ? The cost of having it repaired by a third party, is a non-starter.
Those tanks you could probably bypass them to main tank if push comes to shove. I would like to know actual hose cost first and try mounting pump