Bush Hog Technique

[dknarnd]

Just wondering how people use their 3PH cutters.

Do you cut square corners? If so how?

Do you lift the cutter to make turns or run it down with the weight on the wheel/s?

Clockwise or counter-clockwise?

I run clockwise around the field and cut sharp corners lifting the cutter to turn. Run straight out beyond the cut and make a left turn back around to the line of cut.

 

[RoyJackson]

Due to the changes in the ground (rutting, rises and depressions, I use a combination of back and forth and some backing up

 

[Bird]

I think I've done it about every way possible at one time or another, but perhaps most frequently going around the fields in a counterclockwise direction. Once away from the fences and edge of a field, I cut square corners by turning left 270 degrees, usually leaving the tail wheel on the ground.

 

[jbrumberg]

dknarnd:

I tend to keep my RC's rear laminated wheel down when turning while cutting except in those areas where the RC will scalp. I will lift the RC around known obstructions, going through swales and rises to prevent scalping and/or making a lot of scary sounds . I vary my cutting patterns to keep from leaving tire marks and ruts. I have some pretty steep areas that I have to approach straight up and down. In my lower field's two corners I tend to use a continuous loop and/or a continuous 180 degree turns (I used to use the turning brakes with my old Ford; I really have not figured out how to use the turning brakes on my new tractor yet ). In order to cut a square corner you may have to back into the corner and/or start off from that corner.

 

[Glowplug]

I kind of wish I would've gotten a smaller 3ph type brush cutter instead of the 10' pull-type cutter I have. Precise control is a little difficult with the pull-type. It's no fun backing up a trailer. I tend to start out going clock-wise around the outer fence. Then continue this for 2 or 3 times. Problem is then I start having to overshoot, then come back to the mow line. This leaves big protruding areas at the corners. (See diagram). It's tough to back up with a pull-type. So what I usually end up doing, after I get a couple of passes around the perimeter, is continue well past the mowed part so I can turn around. This makes a big rectangle with square corners. But this seems to be a little bit inefficient.

 

[patrick_g]

MY technique is along the lines of Birds comments, I have done just about everything. Haven't brush hogged since 5:30 this PM so can remember what I did.

I can go CW or CCW but like all drivers trained to sit on the left side when steering a car, I feel more comfortable turning left. I ordinarily DO NOT raise the cutter when turning, I'm too busy turning the wheel. I find with my short wheelbase Kubota Grand L-4610HSTC with 6 ft Cimmaron mower that if I turn the wheel sharply at the right moment, even when traveling pretty darned fast, the mower kicks out and gets the part you'd think you'd miss and produces a good square corner.

When dodging a fruit tree or whatever, on subsequent passes I tend to NOT follow the curved path used to dodge the obstacle . I only re-cut a very small amount and the subsequent passes are soon rectilinear again. With the HST it is trivial to stop and backup so if conditions, including a plain old fashioned OOPS, warrant it you can easily back up to get a missed spot and then proceed ( I have two large rear view mirrors.)

After the remaining uncut target area is reduced to a small size where continuing a 4 sided race track pattern is inconvenient I will often alternate between backing up and going forward with no real turns just a little bobble at the end of a pass to line up for next pass. This is much more efficient than making a continuous forward effort and lots of turns where you are mowing where you have already mowed.

Often you may want a nice square corner but for some reason don't have room to make say a good 90 degree left turn (or your setup doesn't make good square turns.) A 270 right turn will get you there the same. Just run a bit past the point where the left turn would have been made and then make a hard right 3/4 of a full circle and you are lined up again where you want to be.

If for some reason you want to retrace your path in the oposite direction and not back up you can make a 90 degree turn and then an immediate 270 degree turn in the opposite direction and you will be going the opposite direction from where you started the maneuver with little or no positional or heading error so no bobble in your cutting path.

A harder skill to learn that requires more judgment than the 270 or 90-270 turns is a tear drop turn. A tear drop will also put you back over the same ground you just covered but going the opposite direction similar to what the 90-270 did. To accomplish the tear drop turn you turn 30 degrees from your initial direction and maintain that for a brief period (TBD by experience and the characteristics of your equipment.) You then initiate a turn in the opposite direction from the initial turn and continue that turn until your experience tells you to straighten the wheels. After the wheels are straight yo should be closing on your initial path (followed prior to initiating the teardrop turn) at a 30 degree angle. You then turn to track over the original path preceding the turn but in the opposite direction.

The tear drop turn is neat but just isn't easy for everybody. The 90-270 accomplishes the same thing and is purely mechanical with little or no experience or judgment required.

I have hydraulic TNT and find that it makes mowing under varied conditioins much easier. Today I mowed the right of way between one of my 1/2 mile long fences and the gravel road. There are ditches so when making the pass nearest the road one wheen is in or near the low point of the ditch and the other side is on the road. A quick adjustment of the tilt and you can mow close without a frequent contact with gravel when you hit an irregularity. I typically mow with the tail wheel in contact with the ground.

My brush hog does not have a pair of round holes to accept a pin to attach the hydraulic top lift. It has a pair of slots. This allows the mower to "float" along following the contour of the ground. If I back into a pond dam the rear of the mower is free to rise (although in extreme cases you would want to raise the hydraulic top to help out.

When I first got a rotary mower (brush hog "Bush Hog") I tended to set it too low and plow with one or both of the rubbing strakes. Now I typically run it just above the point of contact. Of course it still hits once in a while. Running with it NOT in continuous contact prevents furrowing the surface when it is soft and makes for neater easier hard turns.

Bush hog is a brand name. Brush hog is a generic term for a particular type of rotary mower. Kleenex is one brand of facial tissue but through loose usage Kleenex is widely accepted as a generic term for facial tissue. Likewise Bush hog which is a registered trademark and brush hog which is not Bush hog is becoming a generic term through usage.

Pat

 

[john_bud]

Pat,

I may be a redneck, because I read your reply and understood it!

jb

 

[dknarnd]

Guess I'm still a polish yankee because these "tear drops", "30's" and "270's" got me lost!!!!! I always cut clockwise and cut square corners buy running past the end of the cut then turn left in a circle until I come around and square up for the next cut line, now the first few cuts around the field require some stopping and backing up but after a few cuts it's just gear it up and go round and round the field.

I always went clockwise because I used to cut these fields with the JD B and sickle bar mower and with that the right brake was used at every corner to turn a square corner and continue on. Never raised the bar just keep adjusting it because the power trol would slowly drop and you need to keep the pitman arm up off the ground.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

My "technique" changes every lap around a field. It all depends on the need as it occurs.

As I open up a field, (first couple laps around the outside) I simply make 90* turns, following the perimeter. I own 3 mowers. (4 if you consider the batwing my son and I share joint ownership of) 2 seem to cut better with the right side towards side already mowed. The Bush Hog mower likes the left side in the clear. They don't leave tire tracks (standing grass) and scatter clippings better that way.

After a few rounds, I'll start getting that bumped out corner that's been described in Glowplugs post. Then I'll do what Bird spoke of with the 270* turn to square off the corner. After 5 to 7 laps, so I have ample turning room, I'll start cutting back and forth "north/south-south /north" in place of running laps around the field.

The batwing is wide enough that I'll do 2 laps around, then just make 180* turns and go "north/south-south/north". The wider any implement is relative to tractors width, the easier it is to make turns. They provide you with a more gradual turning radius.

All this applies to fields with a relative "squareness". Get in an irregular shaped field and you can toss it all out the window. You then do whatever works the best.

If and when it's possible, I never lift the mower off the ground. Be it the batwing or a mounted mower.

 

[patrick_g]

Guess I'm still a polish yankee because these "tear drops", "30's" and "270's" got me lost!!!!! I always cut clockwise and cut square corners buy running past the end of the cut then turn left in a circle until I come around and square up for the next cut line,

Well DU-UH you seem to be doing OK as your left hand turn till you line up again IS a 270 degree turn!

Pat

 

[Glowplug]

Is this what you guys are talking about when you refer to 270* turns to correct the "bumped out" corners?

 

[Bird]

Yep, Chuck, that's what I was talking about. The only difference is that your diagram is going around a field counterclockwise and turning to the right where I most frequently went clockwise and turned left.

And, yes, in my first post I said I most frequently went counterclockwise when I meant clockwise, but most of the time, I can actually tell my right hand from my left.LOL

 

[mjarrels]

Corners are the biggest waste of fuel with no productivity!

mark

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Yep, Chuck, that's what I was talking about. The only difference is that your diagram is going around a field counterclockwise and turning to the right where I most frequently went clockwise and turned left.

And, yes, in my first post I said I most frequently went counterclockwise when I meant clockwise, but most of the time, I can actually tell my right hand from my left.LOL

Clockwise...? Counterclockwise...? What's the difference? I got a dang digital watch.

 

[skipmarcy]

Clockwise...? Counterclockwise...? What's the difference? I got a dang digital watch.

I agree, you're cutting the grass, not building a house !! I use the shifter to put 'er into reverse when I have to to hit a spot I can't swing into, takes all of maybe an extra 15 seconds to hit a spot like that. I do it quite a bit too, because I always leave my loader on and I do like a nice trim on my cutting. Very seldom raise the cutter at all, set it at the height I want and go - forward and reverse. Making a sharp turn on a hilly spot or something where the cutter will gouge the ground badly I'll pick it up a couple extra inches then drop it down again and go.

 

[rdbrumfield]

I mow in a clockwise fashion so that the blades take the new cut to the left instead of stuffing it towards the standing material. On large fields I like to take a few laps around the fench line to create an easy turning area so that I can make a gentle 180. By doing this I make long strips about 30 feet wide and work the field from one side to the other, it tends to chase the field mice towards the middle of each section as I move across the field. My dog loves it and so do the birds of prey. It is something special to have a redtailed hawk take a mouse twenty feet from your tractor. Once they just have a sliver to hide in the activity really picks up. Of course, by doing this you will be mowing in one direction throwing the material away and going back putting the material towards where you will be coming on the next round.

 

[Glowplug]

It is something special to have a redtailed hawk take a mouse twenty feet from your tractor.

SWEET!!!!

 

[MadDogDriver]

No need to get lefts and rights confused. The left hand has the thumb on the right, and the right hand has the thumb on the left!!!!!!

You're funny.

This worked on our kids when they were at the left/right discovery age. Hold both hands up palms out with your fingers together and thumbs out pointing at each other. The hand that looks like an L is your left. (This technique only works if you know the alphabet though and aren't dyslexic. )

 

[dknarnd]

You're funny.

This worked on our kids when they were at the left/right discovery age. Hold both hands up palms out with your fingers together and thumbs out pointing at each other. The hand that looks like an L is your left. (This technique only works if you know the alphabet though and aren't dyslexic. )

My 7 yr old daughter just told me this one tonight when she asked me about a couple tatoos, I told her dragonfly on left and butterfly on right...she quickly held up her hands with her thumbs out and corrected me.

 

[BTDT]

This is the way I mow. I start around outside and mow toward center, smaller and smaller "circles" (top drawing). Then at some point, I cut field in half and switch from mowing around perimeter, to (2nd drawing) mowing perimeter of right side to inside of left side. As long as you cut field in half, you should finish both sides about the same time.