clearing trails through brush

[cajun in texas]

Now that we know that that the current tractor owner knows little about the implements, we can be pretty sure that the blades will be dull, and we can assume that the stubble will be frayed good enough that the tires won't be punctured.

But I have gone thru fields after the owner has sharpend blades, and have had the stubble cut up my shoes while walking.

I would assume that too but I looked at the hour meter and it's got only 49 hours on it and not all of it was using the brush cutter.

[TripleR]

Even a brand new cutter won't have "sharp blades", they will be squared off, those on all of my new cutters were like that, no real "cutting" involved.

[mmurphydds]

Hope your trail cutting has gone well this fall. That's my main job with my tractor. We cut trails though our woods for 4-wheeling and also use them for deer hunting and bringing firewood out of the woods. The main principles I use are: 1: FEL down low to the ground so the blade bites into any larger brush and rips it out (then the shredder can grind it up). 2: Shredder (I have a rotary cutter) set very low to the ground. This will fray the resultant "stumps" enough that they won't cut tires. I have even followed with a disk harrow to chew up the ground some more and level out any ruts caused by pulling out roots. Some plants will try to regrow, and repeated cutting may be necessary every year. I have a pull-behind tank sprayer that I have occasionally used to spray Brush-Be-Gone the trails right after cutting. Then the plants other than grasses won't regrow. I agree with other posts that trail width should be about double the width of the vehicle you'll be driving. Then overhanging branches won't interfere as much and you'll be less likely to hit trees and such at the trail edge. Best of luck to you! It's really fun to take my kids around on the newest trails I've cut and see their reaction, then to turn them loose on the trails for themselves.