Rotary Cutter 60" or 72" Bush Hog for brush clearing with 40hp

[IslandTractor]

I don't know exactly how you plan on going about "backing into thick brush", but the first thing that came to my mind from that description was, lift the mower a few inches, back in, and then let the mower down on the brush. That sort of changes things a bit. When I had my farm, I had to mow about 1100 feet of creek bank. It required raising the mower, easing back to "the edge", lowering the mower, then pulling forward. I bought a Woods BB840 to use on my Deere 2440 just for that occasion. 7' mowers are disproportionatly heavy compared to a 6'er. The 2440 is a stout tractor. 60 pto hp, It's ballasted to over 7500#. It handles the 7' Woods mower just fine in ordinary conditions while "going forward" mowing. After a couple cuttings, I went back to my old MD172 Woods mower or a newer Bush Hog 286 I own to cut that creek. (Both 6'ers) That's drastically UNDERKILL on that tractor. If you're going to be doing a lot of manuevering and backing with a raised mower, a smaller than normal mower ISN'T a bad situation.

Also consider you're planning on using the flail mower once conditions permit. That makes a smaller rotary mower less of a long term "liability". If you were clear cutting 100 acres, I'd HAVE to have as big of a mower as money and HP would allow. With 12 acres, we're only talking an extra hour or so per cut to make a once or twice cutting. For rough conditions like clear cutting brush, you might just learn to APPRECIATE that smaller mower.

This is an old thread I started several years ago when I first upgraded from a 20hp to 40hp tractor. The original question was: assuming I had a six foot flail mower, would you choose a 5ft or 6ft bush hog for initial clearing of thick brush. After a few years experience I figured I'd give y'all an update.

First, I initially did not get a bush hog at all and just used the Caroni flail TM1900 for clearing both thick brush and field mowing. It worked fine. However there were a few issues with thick brush, mostly related to the short distance between the mower and the operator when backing into thick material. I continued to clear with the flail but kept an eye on Craigslist for a decent used 5foot or 6foot brush hog.

About a year ago I saw a nearly new Woods Brush Bull 600 (5ft) for sale and made an offer. Got it for half price. I then used it rather than the flail for initial clearing of thick brush. My experience has been that for initial clearing of thicker brush it is easier to use the brush hog simply because of the ability to back in with the cutter raised a bit. The key points are 1) the thrashing about is going on about eight feet from the operator instead of three feet away and that is more comfortable, 2) a slip clutch and heavy blades give one more peace of mind when backing into the unknown. 3) when driving forwards through thick brush the flail, which is wider than the tractor and offset to the right sometimes snags on brush with its skids while the 5ft brush hog just fits barely within the wheel track. 4) the brush hog is heavier and better ballast when I pick up debris with my grapple.

I'll add that the Caroni has been great and while it was a bit slower and required more careful attention in thick brush, it really can do thick brush. It just chews brush up into fine mulch rather than clobbering it though so it takes a bit longer than just knocking stuff down with the brush hog. The area is much much cleaner after brush clearing with the flail than with a brush hog. However, as my second and subsequent mowing is with the flail anyways, that mulching step just happens later. I did find that when I used the Caroni for initial clearing that I was replacing flails more often due to loss from hitting hidden rocks. At about $15 a pair with clevis from AgriSupply that was annoying especially as I would lose about four or five pair a season. Not an issue with regular field mowing.

The Woods Brush Bull is a very solid and nice mower. I did manage to break one of the blades (backed into a hidden basketball sized chunk of rock). What impressed me was how easy it was to replace the blades. No big breaker bar or flipping the mower over etc. Woods has engineered a very simple and secure blade attachment system that allows a blade switch with a few hand tools and can be done with the mower still mounted.

Regarding the 5ft versus 6ft original question: I would have bought whichever came available first but the 5ft mower has worked out fine. Cheaper for starters. I didn't need a wide cut as that is more important for routine mowing and I use the flail for that. I would therefore say that FarmwithJunk's advice worked out perfectly. The five foot medium duty hog is a good addition to the collection and increases versatility.

 

[jbrumberg]

I found that my 5' rotary cutter is relatively "manuverable" when cutting in reverse in heavy brush with some trees beyond the capacity of the RC's abilities. A 6' would not fit in the places a 5' will fit. As an aside a 5' RC clears my track and 6' RC would be on the "large" size for my tractor and its use.