Using Brush hog as a chipper ?

[bcarwell]

I've got piles of cedar branches ranging from twigs to 2-3 inch branches. A builder friend was over the other day and said when he gets lots cleared for homes, a guy just lowers a brush hog on them and voila, they're chipped up into coarse chips.

Is this true ? If so, how do you do it ? I've got a PTO chipper I've never used (because I suspect the manual feed would wear me out) and a brush hog and Kubota 7500 (21HP).

If I get limbs more than an inch in diameter out of the piles, can my brush hog chip them up pretty good or will it damage the brush hog ? I don't care if its very course chips as long as the huge volume is reduced and then movable with my FEL. If its okay to use this method, how do you do it ? Spread the stuff out and then lower the brush hog onto it ? Spread it out and drive over it, or what ?

Bob

 

[jjcc246]

I do it all the time. I make sure the hog is at operating speed and raise it all the way up. When I'm over the pile I let it down slow and a little at a time until it's down. Chews them up and spits them out pretty good. Never had a problem (yet) and i've been doing it for years. I do the same thing with the big thorn bushes. Raise her up back into it and let it rip. Have fun.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Yep, works good !

 

[California]

It works for me. But I avoid anything over 2", or just hit it once to get the twigs off then work around it until I get a chance to pull it out of the pile.

First get some body armor - at least a heavy leather jacket and hardhat. You could be on the receiving end of a flying object similar in size to a thrown baseball bat, or some smaller high speed shrapnel. A big bruise would be preferable to a puncture.

And don't look back when it starts chewing on something big, just raise the mower.

 

[Ford960]

I do it too, Just bush hogged 3 lots today and knock the trees down and chop them up.
The low hanging limbs that I cut off get thrown on the ground and I run over them to chop them up completely.
I'm hogging 3-4" trees with a Model 305 Bush Hog.

Bent the right lower lift arm and replaced it with a new one and it snapped off in the first 2 minutes, gotta figure out why that happened. That's the second time that I've snapped off a new lift arm this month.

Good Luck.

 

[MikePA]

I'll add to the parade I cut up a bunch of sticker bushes in the spring that resulted in a pile over 5 feet high. I smashed the pile down with the FEL, turned around, raised the cutter, backed over the pile and slowly lowered it. Too fast, and the tractor begine to bog down, so take your time. It doesn't turn things into mulch, but it's close enough for me.

 

[kentrodngun]

I'll join the bandwagon too. I've been reclaiming fields with tons of 1", 2" 3"+ saplings. I brush hog through them like a hot knife through butter. It'll do the job. I'll also mention that I always wear a hardhat while hoggin.

 

[Redneck_Randy]

Same here. My brush hog has eatin plenty of Sumac. Sumac here can get up to 2" around.

 

[bloody_peasant]

I would add the kind of tree being chopped up would be a factor on the max size to tackle.

 

[mikim]

I've done it - but ever since a cedar limb hidden under the leaves put a hole in my back tire as big as my big toe - I just pile 'em, let 'em sit for a year or two, then burn.