Hello and good morning Malvern Michael,
A flail Pick up mower like the Major brand will work but you will be picking up 15+ plus loads per half acre of food plot and then you have to transport it to wherever you want to dump it.
The other thing is that the mowed brush will begin to smolder and degrade as the season progresses.
If you intend to compost the brush and have the room and time to do it along with a way to turn the compost so it does not burn all the better.
If you only wish to mow annually will you also be investing in the dethatching knives for the flail mower to over seed the food plot as well?
The issue is how much time do you actually have to mow the food plot.
Please find below a picture of a 6 foot Hiniker crop shredder for your examination.
You can purchase this small 6 foot crop shredder from Hiniker to mow the foot plot with zero issues and shred the food plot crop well and keep it open and growing for the deer or native avian population that exists there.
The towed design of this flail crop shredder allows you to make tight turns with its Rezeppa type universal joint.
The height adjustment is accomplished using a ratchet jack or a hydraulic cylinder to raise or lower the dual rear wheel linkage and it eliminates the use of a rear roller
which is not needed for brush mowing in a food plot.
The Hiniker 6 foot crop shredder will cost you less money than a PTO powered flail mower that has a collection basket of any brand and you will be able to mow down to 2 inches each time.
If you only mow annually your going to be operating at about 1 or 2 miles an hour so keep that in mind too.
If you have a good radio and air conditioning in your current mule you will be able to mow with the Hiniker 5710 crop shredder flail mower.
You can visit the Hiniker home page
www.hiniker.com and type in your location and zip code to find their nearest agricultural implement dealer.