Brush Hogs-Meanest & Nastiest

[Alan L.]

My Rhino's not quite that heavy.....

Alan L., TX

 

[Bird]

Steve, I would like to see a picture of those. A couple of months ago, on a trip through Tennessee on I-40, twice I saw a machine I hadn't seen before and don't know anything about. They looked like stump grinders mounted in place of the bucket on big track hoes, and they were really shredding some big stuff along the right-of-way. I'm wondering whether they were similar to what you're talking about.

Bird

 

[VinNB]

A few weeks ago I saw a wheeled excavator working along side the road clearing brush. it had a very large flail mower mounted on the arm. If they did this every year it would work quite well but they hadn't done this in at least five years. All it did was beat the trees to peices and make an awful mess. In places they also seemed to run into the ground and beat that to peices too.
The heaviest bush hog i have ever seen in action is the JD 709. We use this to keep the farm yard where I work cut. Teamed with the M8200 or another farmers JD 6300 this thing is unstopable. If you can drive over it, you can cut it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...JD 709. ..</font color=blue>

Vernon,

That John Deere unit is one of their best/ if not their best...

But... this Rhino has over twice the steel of even that tough John Deere...

 

[Bird]

VinNB, now that you mention it, it's possible that was what I saw. Of course they were running at the time, and I was passing by at 70 mph with a lot of traffic, so I didn't really get a good look either time. I know they were shredding some pretty big stuff and going right down to the ground. And the only time I've even seen a flail mower in use was on the same trip when I saw a couple of guys mowing along the U.S. 460 right-of-way in West Virginia in the rain.

Bird

 

[JonLeonard]

All of the interstate cutting crews in West Virginia, as far as I know, use flail mowers. One mounted to each side of the tractor and one in the back. The side mowers can be lifted up to get around things like mile markers and trees.

When all 3 are down and in use, they cut about a 15' path (my estimate). Leave a decent cut too.

 

[Bird]

That's interesting, Jon. Around here they generally use 15' brush hogs or rotary cutters. I wonder how either of them decided to use the particular type they picked. Of course, you have a lot of rock that we don't have, so I wonder whether that entered into the decision. It did not appear to me as if the flail mowers I saw being used would launch rocks and other projectiles like a rotary cutter, and if they did, the projectiles would go straight behind then instead of some going to the side into traffic (as sometimes happens here). And of course, that's pure speculation on my part./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[JonLeonard]

In West Virginia, such complex technical decisions like which type of mower to use by the department of highways is done the old fashioned way. A sales rep takes a politician out to dinner, the opera, a big game, sends wine, gives to reelection funds...you know how that works.

Just kidding of course, but with some of the screwy decisions that get made, you wonder if its not the case /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Kidding aside, I have never seen a flail mower throw a rock, and as you mentioned they use them rain or shine as long as the tractors dont start to sink. I also believe that flail mowers have a lower horsepower requirement, so it may simply be a monitary decision.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

How about a little "mower 101". What's a flail mower? Is it like a brush cutter or more like a finish mower? What advantage does it have? How do the 2 types compare in price?

PitbullMidwest

 

[JonLeonard]

Here is a link to one of the landpride models -> http://www.landpride.com/lp/products/fm40_specs.html

Im also embedding the picture with the post. As to how they compare in price, I really have no idea