Brushhogging 101

[Tom_H]

A BX has plenty of power for a 36" to 48" rotary cutter. At the 36" width, I am only aware of light duty models. At 42" and 48" widths, there are light and medium duty models. I have a 40" heavy duty Gearmore. It is the only small HD brush cutter that I am aware of. I can cut clusters of saplings over 2" thick. If you have rocks, it would be beneficial to have guards, unless there is nothing they can hit. These machines can launch a baseball sized rock like a missile. Rough cutters, especially HD models, do not rely on torque and a sharp blade to cut. Instead, the massive blades build very high inertia. They are mounted on free pivoting spindle pans aka stump jumpers. When a blade hits a stump or the tip of a buried boulder, it just glances off, as opposed to stalling the engine. The inertia in the blade breaks or pulverizes the material that it hits, rather than cutting it. For this reason, most Rough cutters, especially heavy duty models, do not really need to have blades sharpened; sharpness makes almost no difference.

If you were to use a 40" Gearmore HD rough cutter on a BX, the DR will no longer be your favorite piece of equipment, it won't even come close.

As others have said, be very careful of even breathing the poison ivy dust. And especially, don't burn it. Several guys on here have reported spending 4 to 6 months in the hospital after breathing the smoke. A couple of guys reported the deaths of friends or neighbors after breathing it.

 

[savageactor7]

My question is: can brush hogs sustain frequent knicks with rocks?

Our brush hog has the blades that fold back when they hit an immovable object like a hidden stump or large protruding rock. That model will hold up better than a 'fix blade' brush hog.

What you can do to minimize those hits is keep the bucket close to the ground so you can feel the rocks out first.

Also take you time, go slow with a hand always ready to lift the cutter quickly.

 

[radioman]

As others have said, be very careful of even breathing the poison ivy dust. And especially, don't burn it. Several guys on here have reported spending 4 to 6 months in the hospital after breathing the smoke. A couple of guys reported the deaths of friends or neighbors after breathing it.

Then hire people like me who are poison ivy resistant to do the dirty mowing in those areas for you. I'll be happy to come down to where you are to mow for the day .:thumbsup:

 

[Ken45101]

Our brush hog has the blades that fold back when they hit an immovable object like a hidden stump or large protruding rock. That model will hold up better than a 'fix blade' brush hog.

By definition, a "brush hog" has the swinging blades. If it has "fixed blades" it's not a brush mower, it's more likely a finish mower.

Ken

 

[First one]

I've seen a guy using the bush hog once and came back an hour later with it so messed up it had a round circle cut almost though the deck and would just shake all over when you engaged the pto. He said he hit a couple of rocks hard, after looking up under it, the stump jumper was dam near cut into and the shaft was bent. $1500 later and it was as good as new.I guess he didn't take the time to walk around to see where the rocks are before he started and didn't pick it up fast enough when he hit something.

 

[Denwa]

My question is: can brush hogs sustain frequent knicks with rocks?

Our brush hog has the blades that fold back when they hit an immovable object like a hidden stump or large protruding rock. That model will hold up better than a 'fix blade' brush hog.

What you can do to minimize those hits is keep the bucket close to the ground so you can feel the rocks out first.

Also take you time, go slow with a hand always ready to lift the cutter quickly.

All Y'all,
I love his list. GREAT pointers and information to help a newbie keep out of trouble. One just needs to dig around in the threads for the wisdom.

The idea of running the bucket close to the ground is so simple and logical, but not necessarily a strategy that one would come to before something evil happened.

Thanks!,
Dennis