When you’ve spent more than 40 years in the mowing game, you get to know what works and what doesn’t. Few people in Australia understand commercial mowing like Colin Dawson, owner of Wanday QLD Pty Ltd in Brisbane.
His company manages huge mowing contracts for councils and government agencies, maintaining large parks such as Brisbane city. On a typical fortnight they mow around 2.5–3 million square metres, and when required, can ramp that up to 6–8 million. As Colin puts it simply: “we cut grass!”
That kind of workload quickly exposes weaknesses in any mower. Colin has run just about every brand on the market, with more than 50 machines in his fleet, but nothing has measured up to his Bad Boy 61” Rogues. He’s been so impressed, he bought two.
Each Rogue clocks 35–40 hours a week across some of Brisbane’s toughest mowing environments – from flat manicured parkland to flood-prone land and wet grass areas. Transported by trucks and trailers from site to site, they’re constantly pushed to their limits.
“Other machines I’ve owned all seemed to have the same problems – weaker spindles, jocky wheel assemblies and belts have been a bit of a fault.” After more than 500 hours of use over the 6 months of ownership, the Rogues have only needed basic wear-and-tear parts – a huge contrast to the breakdowns he has experienced with other brands.
The engine has also proven rock-solid, something Colin credits to regular servicing – a crucial factor under heavy use. On reliability, he confidently says: “compared to a lot of machines that I’ve owned over the years, these would have to stand up as probably number one at the moment.”
And the efficiency doesn’t stop there. Having owned other mowers without EFI, Colin has seen a huge gain with the Rogues: “The fuel economy has been brilliant with the EFI on it. I have other mowers without that on it and it’s probably 20% or more in fuel usage per day.” That difference is huge when you’re running a large fleet every day.
POWER THAT GOES FURTHER
It’s not just reliability that impresses Colin – it’s the sheer strength of the Rogues. With powerful engines and a deck design built to handle volume, they take on heavy, overgrown grass without breaking a sweat.
“The power is more than you need – and that’s a good thing,” he says. “It means you’re not running the machine at its limit all the time. That extra strength is why they last so much longer.”
THE OPERATORS’ FIRST CHOICE
As both manager and mechanic, Colin keeps a close eye on every mower in his fleet. But it’s his operators who put the Rogues through their paces daily.
“I’ve got two operators who drive the mowers, and I have three other makes for them to pick from, but every time you go out the Bad Boys are going into the truck. They are two very good operators, they’re worth going out and watching.”
That operator preference speaks volumes. With several brands available, the Rogues are consistently the go-to machines – proof that comfort, performance and handling make a difference where it counts
THE FINAL VERDICT
Colin’s endorsement doesn’t come lightly. With 40 years in the business and ownership of just about every mower brand available, he’s seen first-hand the strengths and weaknesses across the industry.
“If I had to sum it up: they’re stronger, they’re more reliable, and they get the job done with less downtime than anything else I’ve owned. After 40 years in this business, that’s saying something.”
Would he recommend them? His answer is clear: “I’ll definitely be buying more!”
The key reason? Reliability. “It’s killing it everywhere. We’re not having downtime hardly ever with them and we use them pretty hard. You’ve got guys on them that can smash out twice as much as anyone else, and the other machines were always breaking down – but these ones aren’t.”
