Tractor Sizing bush hogging acreage

[leonz]

Leonz, you are recommending that this poor guy buy something to cut down 200 acres of grass and brush that has a Briggs and Stratton gasoline motor that runs it plus v-belts belts. Sorry buddy, you are nuts, the guy will be doing more maintenance than cutting. Hopefully the fellow will buy a nice big PTO driven rotary mower/brush/bull hog and not take your advice.

Unbelievable.

No I did not mention "specifically" that he "must" purchase motorised flailmower just to be clear even though they are used for the same brush clearing duties by many individuals involving large acreages in Europe.



I mentioned that perhaps the more prudent method that would save time and money for him is that he should rent a high horsepower tractor and purchase a new or used 18-24 foot wide flail shredder chopper as it will allow him to be done with it in a few days so lets be clear about this.


Ideally he should be using a "Decision Tree" to properly investigate what if any equipment he may purchase and its cost in working capital versus other methods involving power rental for prime movers and implement ownership for the job at hand which is more economical for larger acreages which apparently he has not done.

I dont believe in insulting anyone on this board or in inferring thier supposed mental condition being "NUTS" on this board or on any any other board I am an active member of and have never done so.


If his dealer had prudently mentioned the more economical method of renting power and owning implements for his initial use, he may never had made his inquiry here one supposes?


I simply wish to be thorough and if thats an issue....................

 

[CTW]

As stated before, have someone cut hay on it or graze it. Either way, you should make the property work for you (i.e. tax write-offs, ag exemptions, etc.), not the other way around. Unless you are independently wealthy like Forest Gump who just mows for the fun of it, you would be a slave to your 200 acres trying to hog it 4 times a year with a 7 foot mower. But hey, don't take anyone's word on this forum, rent a tractor/mower in that configuration and have at it. You'll see what we're talking about soon enough.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

As stated before, have someone cut hay on it or graze it. Either way, you should make the property work for you (i.e. tax write-offs, ag exemptions, etc.), not the other way around. Unless you are independently wealthy like Forest Gump who just mows for the fun of it, you would be a slave to your 200 acres trying to hog it 4 times a year with a 7 foot mower. But hey, don't take anyone's word on this forum, rent a tractor/mower in that configuration and have at it. You'll see what we're talking about soon enough.

This is probably the best advice given yet. :thumbsup:

 

[TripleR]

This is probably the best advice given yet. :thumbsup:

Very good advice indeed, cash rent around here is $100 and up per acre.

 

[montelatici]

As stated before, have someone cut hay on it or graze it. Either way, you should make the property work for you (i.e. tax write-offs, ag exemptions, etc.), not the other way around. Unless you are independently wealthy like Forest Gump who just mows for the fun of it, you would be a slave to your 200 acres trying to hog it 4 times a year with a 7 foot mower. But hey, don't take anyone's word on this forum, rent a tractor/mower in that configuration and have at it. You'll see what we're talking about soon enough.

Good idea. He should try bush hogging 200 acres with a 7 foot mower. I have never tried that but given that I can't do much more than 10-15 acres (without wearing myself out) a day with a 5 foot woods brush bull, even if he could do 20-25 acres with a 7 footer it would take him 7-10 days to mow 200 acres.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Using a 7' mower and assuming that you actually only get a 6 1/2' cut each pass allowing for 6" of overlap, at 4mph it would take just over 70 hours to get it mowed. So at 10 hour days, he would be looking at 7 days, 4 times a year, or the entire month of February worth of time in a non leap year. Even with a 15 batwing with a 6" overlap he is looking at just under 32 hours of mowing every 3 months. I sure hope that this guy likes to set on a tractor and go in circles a lot.

More things to ponder.

 

[BASSIN20]

BESIDE ALL OF THE SUGGESTIONS HERE WHICH YOU WILL HAVE TO WORK OUT FOR YOUR SELF. I HAVE 145 ACRES THAT GETS CUT TWICE A YEAR FOR SOME OF IT AND ONCE A MONTH FOR THE REST. I HAVE 50 HP WITH 6 FT CUTTER IT TAKES 18 TO 20 HOURS TO CUT 45 OF THOSE ACRES. I ALSO HAVE AN M9540 WITH CAB AND 15 FT BATWING THAT I HAVE CUT THE ENTIRE PLACE WITH. THAT TOOK ME 4 DAYS OR RIGHT AT 40 HOURS TOTAL. PERSONALLY I WOULD NEVER ATTEMPT TO CUT THE WHOLE PLACE WITH THE 50 HP AS BOTH MYSELF AND THE TRACTOR WOULD BE WORN OUT BY THE TIME I FINISHED THE TASK. IF I HAD TO SETTLE FOR ONE OF THE TWO TRACTORS I OWN IT WOULD BE THE 9540. AS IT WILL RUN A 7 TO 10 FT CUTTER REAL EASY ON THE SMALLER GROUND AND STILL HANDLE THE LARGER TASK WHEN EVER TIME COMES TO CUT THE REST OF IT.

 

[bigbull338]

sounds to me like money is an issue.an if thats the case you buy what you can afford.i priced a new 3210 bushhog for $7000 delivered.running a 10ft he can cut 120acs in 3 or 4 days.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Cheap as they may be a bushog will run rings around a flail when the going gets tough. What a good bushog can do is more comparable to the clearing a mulcher can do ... all while very seldom having any problem. A flail is good for the little stuff. A bushog is good for reducing it to bites a flail might be able to handle. I have done 6-8" trees with a bushog.
larry

Common Larry, no mower is going to stand up to a constant diet of 6-8" trees. I am assuming that those trees were soft wood, I kinda doubt that you were mowing down Oaks that size. My flail will cut 3" brush all day long and not even know that it was there. We are back to what quality and duty are we talking about. Let's not get into a pi##ing match here. To give you an idea of the build of my flail, it makes my 7520 squat when I pick it up and that is with fluid in the tires filled to max inflation. I don't know what it weighs, I will weigh it some time when our crane is at the ranch, But I would guess that it's well over 3000lbs. It's made of 3/8, 3/4 and 1" material. Oh yeah, that's in mid range 2nd and 3rd gear.

The trick is to go forward ... And the truth is virtually anything the tractor can bend down so the bushog blades hit is history. Think of an ax wielded by several tens of HP. By far the greatest capability is forward so that the bh frame doesnt bear the brunt of bending the tree.

,,, When I was in my late 30s I did light woods clearing type mowing with the JD 2010 and 5' JD127 Gyramor. It had 1/2" thick 10" knives at the end of a 3'+ solid carrier arm - no stump jumper. I remember when my dad bought it that the dealer said it had a 125HP gearbox, but, judging from its frame, medium duty. The tractor was a tricycle type having rear axle case setting about 28 inches high. That would allow me to bend a pretty good sized oak tree [4"] and cutting was trivial as opposed to if tried backing up. I noted a set of 2" holes thru the bellhousing well forward of the axle and about 4 feet high. I put a 1-3/4" steel rod thru there and bushed it with plastic so the housing wouldnt be cracked if the rod bent. TREMENDOUS difference. I could push over awesome trees with this bigwheel 2wd tractor! ... Visualize 20' high trees falling forward right next to you. Literally anything 6" or less would bend over and get chopped by the 45HP ax. Many slightly larger would too. Some would stop the tractor as the ballasted AG on that side unweighted. I learned to stop there or the rod would bend. It was truly an adventure.
,,,I now have a pretty strong Rears flail. Much heavier. But truly pitiful at dealing with the stuff that 600 pound bushog did ... and still will.
larry

 

[bilrus61]

The trick is to go forward ... And the truth is virtually anything the tractor can bend down so the bushog blades hit is history. Think of an ax wielded by several tens of HP. By far the greatest capability is forward so that the bh frame doesnt bear the brunt of bending the tree.

,,, When I was in my late 30s I did light woods clearing type mowing with the JD 2010 and 5' JD127 Gyramor. It had 1/2" thick 10" knives at the end of a 3'+ solid carrier arm - no stump jumper. I remember when my dad bought it that the dealer said it had a 125HP gearbox, but, judging from its frame, medium duty. The tractor was a tricycle type having rear axle case setting about 28 inches high. That would allow me to bend a pretty good sized oak tree [4"] and cutting was trivial as opposed to if tried backing up. I noted a set of 2" holes thru the bellhousing well forward of the axle and about 4 feet high. I put a 1-3/4" steel rod thru there and bushed it with plastic so the housing wouldnt be cracked if the rod bent. TREMENDOUS difference. I could push over awesome trees with this bigwheel 2wd tractor! ... Visualize 20' high trees falling forward right next to you. Literally anything 6" or less would bend over and get chopped by the 45HP ax. Many slightly larger would too. Some would stop the tractor as the ballasted AG on that side unweighted. I learned to stop there or the rod would bend. It was truly an adventure.
,,,I now have a pretty strong Rears flail. Much heavier. But truly pitiful at dealing with the stuff that 600 pound bushog did ... and still will.
larry

What a jewel of a thread. I laughed so hard I hurt my back.Thanks for "update" SPYDERLK! I hope all the guys that posted in the thread are still alive and doing well. I hear the OP is currently on his 34th Briggs engine......:laughing: oh and is that logo behind the "create and conserve" in the Bobcat ad at the top of the page what I think it is?!?!