Ok you have 30 acres. How much are you going to clear and how much you going to leave in woods?
Hard to say really, at first I would like to clear abour 5-8 acres, not necessarly completely cleared, but we're thinking of about 2-3 acres lawn/field, then another 5 acres or so of rough field/thinned woods, and then transitioning to whats there now.
I envision clearing out what I need to now, and then after moving in full time, make it a hobby of mine to continue clearing/thinning the forest. I will be making trails and small 1/2 acre or 1 acre fields scattered around.
I don't think there is a 5-6' mower made that will mow down 3" trees all day without some sort of damage
I'm not sure about all day, but there are certainly mowers designed to cut 3" trees (and larger)
I don't intend to mow down forests of nothing but 3" trees, I was hoping that I could take down one or two at a time if they happen to be mixed in with some smaller brush. I would be more inclined to try taking down the larger saplings (3" or so) that are softwood, hardwoods I wouldn't try as big.
The L4610 is rated to lift 2,310 lbs at 24" behind the lift point, and the Bush Hog 296 cutter weighs 1,095 lbs.
Grandad, it's because of your opinions on this tractor that I ended up buying it, so thanks again for that. I did look up the lift capacity in the manual, for a rotary mower it lists the largest 'suggested' weight of 880lbs. I am worried a heavier duty unit would be too much for it? I know the BH296 is about 1100lbs, I'm sure I could lift it, but would be worried about ripping the backend apart from too much weight, too far out???
I don't think you are going to WANT to mow many 3" saplings even if you can do it.
Good point, your right I probably won't want to shake things up that bad. I'm new to mowing heavy brush so this is certainly a helpful thread for me, I'm learning a lot from all you guys.
I have gone the "run it till it breaks then fix it route" and it's not for me.
I also don't like fixing things all the time. From the sounds of the majority of you, it seems like I should give it my best shot with the light duty mower I have, and if I tear it up or break it, buy a good sized mower that is designed for what I'll be doing.
What's the point of mowing over a 3" tree when you've got the tractor right there, all you need is a 3' length of chain..
No way will I be getting on and off the tractor for every 3" tree I come across
3 inch trees, LOL, that is out of the question.
Out of the question for my current mower? or one similar to the 296 I was thinking about? As I said earlier I don't have experience mowing heavy brush, but reading many posts on here and looking at what these mowers are designed for, it seems entirely plausible to mow a 3" diameter tree? Thats what the specs say, and that's what some fellow TBN'ers are claiming.
many good points. pistion- you didnt state how MANY trees you got that is over 1-1.5 you have you want to mow down and what to use the cleared area for.
If it was me, I would just simply mow around the too big trees and leave it. chances are you might like having the trees there. Having a cleared area allows you to make better decisions how the large sapling if it needs to be cut or not and use the chainsaw for that. After the large sapling is cut, you can then run it over with the brush hog to reduce the branches to pieces which is what you wanted to do anyways but the large piece is laying on ground causing less damage.
Great advice. as far as how many over 1-1.5" trees. hmmmm....A lot :laughing:
But from what you guys are all saying, my best bet is to run my current setup and go from there. I will not expect to be able to take down larger diameter saplings but I will push the limit and find out what I can, and can't, handle. I will use the FEL grapple to dig up the larger 3" and over saplings and keep the smaller stuff for the mower.
I do have a lot of rocks to contend with but from what I've seen, they are all mostly contained in nice piles that some OLLLLLDDDDD farmers were nice enough to pile up for me.
I don't have any stumps to watch out for as nothing has been cut back there for 40 years now (okay maybe a few that just won't rot out but they shouldn't pose a problem) I intend to cut very few trees down with my chainsaw, most will come down with the tractor FEL and the larger ones will be knocked down with the JD410 backhoe. I hate stumps and prefer to take the whole tree down at once, should be a big time saver.
Thanks for your opinions and experiences, any other comments are welcome as well. I was hoping 'farmwithjunk' would chime in at some point as well. :thumbsup:
