In July 2009, I had the distinct pleasure of abusing the Brush Ox for two hot, humid days on the 10-acre, former dairy farm’s vastly overgrown pasture areas on which I reside. The quality of Brown Products (www.brownproducts.com) components, coupled with engineering dimensions and attention to operator safety, comfort and ease of operation, is exemplary.
The Brush Ox has .25-inch steel, full wraparound hand guards; bolts secured with either elastic stop nuts or serrated flange nuts; NTN bearings; six-gauge battery cables; 3/8-inch battery hold-down bolts; tires that are factory-filled with Flat-Free; Kevlar belts; and a 13-inch Goodyear flexible oil drain hose rated to 300 PSI. Parking brake and freewheeling levers are easily accessible, as well as access to belts, whose replacements, if ever necessary, and their high-quality pulleys round off the impressive features of this virtually indestructible machine. As someone who has literally repaired/rebuilt thousands of pieces of outdoor power equipment over 30-plus years, I am familiar with quality and durability.
Although vastly underrated for the cutting of brush up to 2.5 inches, I have easily minced saplings that encompassed 3.5 inches in diameter. The 13 hp Honda engine provided an excellent meld of torque and speed as demonstrated by the mere fact that I utilized this machine up 30-degree inclines, across hills and downhill, and never felt as though I was losing control.
I intentionally and forcefully jammed the Ox in order to ascertain how easily one could extricate debris that had been bound around the spindle.
I have personally met with Lee Campbell, sales manager and technical representative for Brown, as well as Matthew Bobbett, vice president of sales for Kimbers, Inc. Power & Parts in Syracuse, N.Y., the designated distributor in my area. I was pleased with their degree of technical savvy and commitment to customer satisfaction.
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Lastly, it is not at all uncommon on these testing grounds to encounter boulders, cement blocks, discarded cast-iron farm implements, etc., which I did. Although unintentional, it was unavoidable due to their concealment in the underbrush. I examined the blades at the end of my test and to my amazement, they were barely nicked. This is a machine that you will pass along for generations.
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