JD 1023 / 1026 capable of using brush hog?

[jdmarker]

Hi, I have a 75 acre place in the country with an overgrown 15 acre pasture and 4 acre lawn. I need to be able to mow the yard and several times a year brush hog the pasture. I'm looking at the JD 1023 and 1026. I like the large under belly easy connect mowing deck for the yard, but this is nit a good solution for the pasture. Can the JD 1023 run a brush hog?

 

[94BULLITT]

Yes they are capable of running a bush hog but for 15 acres I would want something bigger. I would look at a 2720.

 

[Shamus M]

sounds like you are really cheaping out. a 1023 or 1026 will not be the right choice at all for 15 acres of brushhogging. that is virtually a garden tractor. I would suggest a john deere 4x20 series or a Kubota grand l series tractor. Otherwise, you are just flushing money down the crapper

 

[charleyfarmall]

Yes they will run a 4ft brush hog which will take you all day. For the pasture go buy a used 45hp tractor and a 6 ft brush hog which will still take a long time.
I spent a lot of hours in a 13 acre field with a 5ft hog and ultimately wound up with much more tractor and an 8 ft hog.

You are undersizing yourself for that job... I do own a 2720 that I love and I mow part of my pasture with it using a 6ft flail mower or sometimes strips of it with the 5ft belly mower. It's fine for short grass (8") but under powered for overgrown fields with brush growing up. Rides kind of rough too.

If I were you I would find a two machine solution....

 

[94BULLITT]

It would take 9 hours to mow 15 acres @ 4MPH with a 4' rotaty cutter cutting 42" each pass.

It would take 7 hours to mow 15 acres @ 4MPH with a 5' rotary cutter cutting 54" each pass.

I don't think a 1023 will have enough power to run a 4' rotary cutter. If I was going to buy a Deere sub compact it would be a 1025. I think a 2720 sized tractor would be a very minimum for doing that much. You could go with a 1 series and pay some on to do it the 15 acres. You may want to look at Kubota's too.

 

[jenkinsph]

If most of what you need this tractor for is mowing then consider a lighter higher hp design for this. A Deere 3038 with a rear finish mower for the lawn area and a 6' brush mower for the pasture. I would also consider a pull type brushmower with more width to reduce the cutting time.

Something else to consider is mowing the pasture more frequently with the rfm set to the highest cutting height as more frequent cutting will improve the grass and reduce weeds too. Might need to have someone cut it down lower first then you can maintain it afterwards.

 

[jdmarker]

So how many PTO horsepower are needed to run a 5ft brush hog?

 

[murphy1244]

So how many PTO horsepower are needed to run a 5ft brush hog?

25 PTO HP, Rule is 5 pto hp for every foot of blade.

 

[jdmarker]

So would a 24hp PTO be grossly underpowered for a 5ft brush hog?

 

[94BULLITT]

So would a 24hp PTO be grossly underpowered for a 5ft brush hog?

No it would be fine. What size tractor are you talking about?