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Build Quality

Having abused my BL CP572 for hours I can attest to the build quality. It is heavy gauge steel and you can plunge it into brush and small trees without much thought. The blades are hinged so they do not get destroyed if you hit something a little to fast or something hard. I accidently cut down an 8″ tree before I could change directions. 

The BTC is of the same build quality based on the abuse I’ve seen online. It is treated as rough as I have treated the BL so there is no indication it is not as stout at the BL. I view the build quality as a tie. 

Design

This is an area of obvious differences. Both units have an exposed area where the blades extend past the shielded area which enables them to cut up to 4″ trees. A brush hog that is completely enclosed in a steel skirt will struggle to push over 4″ trees without damaging the brush cutter.

Tailwheel

The BTC utilizes a tail wheel where the BL does not. This is the biggest design difference. The tailwheel allows the mower to ride up and down with the terrain 8-10′ behind the tractor. The tractor may be dipping in a rut but the mower will only dip slightly. This can be viewed as an advantage of the BL. The downside to a tailwheel is that it catches things, hits things and you have to steer to miss it when backing up to a tree. This can be a pain if trees and vines get caught in it and you cannot see the tailwheel to maneuver effectively. You have to get out and clear it before continuing. 

The BL has no tailwheel so the angle of the tractor determines the default angle of the BL rotary cutter. If the tractor dips, so does the cutter. This can take some getting used to in uneven terrain. To offset this, the top link and lower arms can be manipulated to improve the angle of the BL cutter to the terrain. This actually enables the BL to be positioned more precisely. I found this helpful when cutting palmetto bushes. By angling the BL deck up in the back, I was able to push into palmetto bushes and then lower the cutter down as it mulched the trunk. Palmetto bushes are very fibrous and tough and take a tough machine to mulch them. If you just want to slam into the brush, there is no tailwheel to worry about so just back it in as far as you want to go.

Cutting Area 

The BTC cutting area is 60″ which equals the CP560 where the CP572 has a cutting width of 72″. The CP572 comes in at 1900 lbs so it is a class 2 implement only. The tailwheel of the BTC is going to enable smaller class 1 tractors with the needed PTO HP to use the BTC.  

Push Bar

One feature I do like about the BL is the push bar. The bar pushes trees away from the tractor before the cutting starts. This helps keep the tractor and operator safe. It doesn’t guarantee the tress will fall away from you but there is a great chance. I had several trees fall in my direction even with the push bar because they were entangled with other trees and vines. The BTC does not have a push bar at all so there is a much greater chance the tree will fall toward the tractor when the bottom is cut out.

Final Recommendation

So which is best? Which would I choose if I could have either? The answer is the Baumalight. With the features and design both having pros and cons that offset each other, getting the less expensive unit makes sense, if your tractor can handle the size of the BL being a class 2 implement. The BL is often $4,000 less than the BTC and if there is no major difference, there is no reason to spend the money. If you go with the smaller BL CP560, you can save even more but it is still a class 2 implement.