Brushhog, finisher or riding mower?

[petebert]

There's a few different subforums that seemed right for this, hopefully this is the best choice.

Just moved into a new place with a few acres. I want to cut some of the taller stuff near the house and barn and then keep it mowed after that with the lawn tractor.

I currently have a utility tractor with 3 point, PTO and a newer Husqvarna 54", that should fall into the lawn tractor category. It's bigger but no PTO, a LGT24K54.

I'll post pics below of what I'm dealing with. No trees, just overgrown grass with some thicker weeds mixed it. At first I was thinking brush hog, then since I was going to keep it mowed maybe a finishing mower if it could handle the initial cut. I'm also wondering if the lawn tractor could handle it. If I'm only to cut it this one time and then keep it mowed, maybe it would be a waste to buy either implement. I do have a lead on a used 3 point brush hog for under $200.

 

[RoyJackson]

I'd walk the area to ensure there are no hidden obstacles and such, then try it with the lawn tractor. Just raise the mower deck as high as it will go.
A rotary cutter (aka bush hog) would be nice if you had other areas to clean up...but it sounds like you'd use it once or twice, then use the lawn tractor to finish mow after that. And, although <$200 is a great price...doesn't mean it's a great rotary cutter (might need work). Of course, you could buy that cutter, use it for a season and then sell it. I'm pretty sure you'd get you money out of it.
Another option is to rent a rotary cutter for the initial clean up of that area. Rental might be close to what you'd pay for the used cutter though...and you'll have to consider transport from and to the rental company.

 

[TripleR]

My brother has the same mower as you and I would not try to cut that stuff with it.

Hiring someone for a one time cut may be your best bet unless you can rent a cutter and get it out there for a really reasonable price.

Of course another alternative is to find one on CL, use it then sell it for what you paid.

 

[jenkinsph]

I can't tell from the pictures but if it is all weeds with out heavier brush you should be able to mow it down as Roy detailed. Using a brush hog would be better but I think I would take it slow and buy a new set of blades after the initial cut.

If there is brush with tougher stems I wouldn't use the mower on it.

 

[kebo]

Fence it in and put in some goats!!!! Really, my first thought was to just hire someone to come in and bush hog it, but if you can buy a bush hog for $200, then I say buy it and knock it all down with that. Afterwards, if the lawn tractor you have will maintain it with no problem, then you can always sell the bush hog and probably get your money back out of it (assuming it doesn't break with that little bit of use). If you wanted to, you could always apply that $200 towards a 5 ft finish cut mower, that would keep it looking nice and probably take a bit less time to cut it than it would with the Husqvarna.

 

[greg_g]

Unless you've got more time than money, I don't think the Husky is up to the job of maintaining the entire acreage. And given the lack of evergreen saplings in that overgrown area, I'd say it was probably cut once a year with a rotary cutter. If that's the case, then the overgrown area should be reasonably free of mowing obstacles.

Even if you could get free goats, fencing + posts + labor can get really expensive. So can renting a tractor and rotary cutter. I did that once 15 years ago, and never again. The crook got $150/day for a little Kubota and an almost useless rotary cutter.

Given the apparent flat lay of the land, I recommend a two pronged approach; (1) hire the overgrown patch mowed on a one-time basis, (2) trade the Husky in on a 72" zero turn.

//greg//