Brush hogging

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Ok guys. I found a 84" Offset Bush Hog They are asking $1,800. It seems a bit high to me, but then trying to find a 7 or 8' is not that common.

Will the 84" offset bush hog fit on my 102" wide trailer behind my tract to will it hang off to one side. How much offset is there?

If it's in good shape, that's a really good deal. I don't know how much offset. If it's 12", then figure the width of your tractor plus 12" (or whatever the overhang is). It should fit fine on a 102" wide trailer.

 

[Bradbilt]

I also found a Woods MD184 locally as well. In one any better than the other? The woods in Not an offset

 

[dieselcrawler]

If you are that worried about getting close to fence lines, un-wide the the wheel on one side. My ol man has run his MF 135 that way for years, right tire in close, left out as far as possible. It is needed for proper fitment of the sickle bar cutter, but allows getting close to fences and such with the brush hog, on the right side. Keep in mind your sidehill stability will be reduced by doing so.

Might save you money on buying a bigger than needed cutter. I would not go bigger than 6'.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think what you are missing is the power to pull anything wider than a 6 foot model in heavy cover unless you reduce your speed to a crawl. The 5 HP per foot is a minimum and I think that equates to light to medium duty mowing. If you think a bit, most mowing jobs are going to be way overgrown just because folks don't want to pay to have it cut when it needs it. I know my 7 foot bush hog will load my 70 HP tractor down in heavy grass and I have to slow way down when I get into it. You can swing the bushhog to one side 6" or more using the stabilizers so you can more directly against fencelines or move your tires in to match. It isn't going to affect your stability much to go to 72" wide stance.

 

[Bradbilt]

By using the 5hp per foot that means a 35hp tractor can pull a 7'. My 60hp should have no problems then

 

[Code54]

I pull a 6' brush hog here in WV with a 50hp machine and sometimes bog it when it gets thick and even more so if Im on the hills. I wouldn't want to go any bigger personally.

 

[Gary Fowler]

By using the 5hp per foot that means a 35hp tractor can pull a 7'. My 60hp should have no problems then

I have almost double the 5 HP per foot rule with my tractor(7ft. with72 engine- 63 PTO HP) and it will still stall it if I hit heavy grass running 7 MPH. Sure you can pull a 10 foot with a 8N ford if you are willing to go first gear and only mow light grass or weeds.

 

[Degolyerent]

I think what you are missing is the power to pull anything wider than a 6 foot model in heavy cover unless you reduce your speed to a crawl. The 5 HP per foot is a minimum and I think that equates to light to medium duty mowing. If you think a bit, most mowing jobs are going to be way overgrown just because folks don't want to pay to have it cut when it needs it. I know my 7 foot bush hog will load my 70 HP tractor down in heavy grass and I have to slow way down when I get into it. You can swing the bushhog to one side 6" or more using the stabilizers so you can more directly against fencelines or move your tires in to match. It isn't going to affect your stability much to go to 72" wide stance.

I agree that people always wait to long, I am running 40 pto hp and the 6' mower is plenty.
Sometimes you get into areas that are at a crawl.
If it where me I would get a good heavy duty 6' and later on get a 8' for larger jobs that it could be utilized on. Just my 2 cents.
John

 

[Cantoo]

Maybe you should get a job or two lined up and then just rent a bushhog for the day. This will tell you if you have enough hp or not. 5hp per foot sounds like a manufacturer claim. I deal in reality. PS, my wife cut fine lawns and we run 25 hp on 5' decks but that is on lawns. Try 5hp per foot on hills and long grass and see how you make out. Bogging the tractor will eat fuel too, not to mention how slow you will have to drive.

 

[Bradbilt]

All good info, keep it coming...

My 8n(25hp) pulled 72" finish mower thru heavy wet grass pretty good(2nd gear). I think part of it is the gearing in the gear box

 

[Verticaltrx]

The 7' offset twin spindle Bush Hog is a nice unit. I actually looked at getting one of those a few years back. My guess is your tractor would handle it well, probably even better than a 6' single spindle.

 

[Mud Mechanik]

I cut with my 7' modern ag cutter and 60hp ( ~48pto hp) tractor. It is a very heavy and cumbersome cutter and does a great job in moderate height grass, load it up on some thick stuff and I have to slow to a crawl, or slide over and only take a 5' bite. The blade tip speed is much higher on a single spindle 7' vs a single spindle 6', so inherently it seems to do a better job of cutting at the same ground speed if the grass heighth will allow. You have lots of good advise and I will go with the majority here, go with a good 6' cutter and maybe later find an 8' dual spindle for larger jobs. I am not familiar with the dual spindle 7' offset cutter but it sounds promising, the only reason I went with the modern ag is that their decks are thicker and the whole unit is galvanized.

 

[Bradbilt]

Those Modern Ag units are NICE, but out of my price range

 

[Bradbilt]

Does a dual spindle unit make a difference over a single spindle?

 

[Mud Mechanik]

I have heard that the dual spindle cutters are easier on your tractor due to having 2 smaller rotating masses vs 1 very big one.

 

[Bradbilt]

Well, I bought the Bush Hog SQ84. I went and looked at a Woods on the way to look at the Bush Hog(also saw 2 other SQ84s One Brand NEW and one pretty beat up)

The SQs are much shorter being a twin spindle 6' vs 9' All the guy did with the one I bough was mow his fields 3 times a year so it is in pretty nice shape. I needed up paying $1500

 

[Code54]

Congrats - sounds like you got a nice one!

 

[Xfaxman]

:thumbsup:

So, how much is it offset?

 

[LD1]

Nice cutter for a nice price. I am a little late to the thread, But I dont think you will have any issues pulling it. I run a heavy 6' cutter with only 29HP PTO. And yea, in tall thick grass you have to go slow. But there are many times I can run 7MPH or so across a field and still get a good cut. My next gear would be 13mph road gear. So can possibly go any faster. In cases like that, you will be glad you had the extra width. You can always go slower, or take a smaller bite, but can only go so fast and only so big of a bite if you bought too small.

As to pricing. There are several ways and each has their own method that works.

1. By the acre
2. By the hour
3. By the job.

I always price by the job. Partly cause I dont like trying to figure out an exact acreage. And then what if there is a dispute? What if the property owner claims it is less? etc. I also dont like doing by the hour. Because not only do you have to cover the time on the job, but you have to cover travel too. Which pushes my hourly rate to 60 or 70 per hour. And customers dont like hearing that because they think it is absurd to pay that much not understanding what all is involved. Not to mention competing with others that charge $40 per hour. Obviously the $35/40 per hour sounds better than my ~$60, but not when that guy is running an old 2n with 4' hog. I can likely do the job cheaper even at a higher hourly rate. Same can be said for a guy with a 15' batwing wanting 125/hr.

So at the end of the day, I estimate the acreage and condition, which gives me an idea of how long it will take me. Add in my drive time so I know a total time I will be invested into this job, and then quote a flat price. ITs easy. X number of dollars to cut the lot Y. No complaints of how fast I go or how slow. No complaints about absurd hourly rates, or questioning what an acre is. Its just $X to mow lot Y. Take it or leave it.

 

[Bradbilt]

Bush hogs site says 9" offset and I get 10". So close enough. It is nice that the mower sticks out to the once side to get close cutting without having the tractor on top of it.

LD1 thanks for the help