bushog sharpening?

[Professor Marvel]

I have a very heavy duty 5' bushog (brand unknown)that came with my tractor. My tractor is a 45 hp NH hydro. The bushog seems to work fine but it leaves a very ragged cut. Never had trouble knocking down bushes etc but the cut is pretty bad looking for just grass. I have thought about sharpening it but have been told that bushogs don't get sharpened. What do you suggest?

 

[CobyRupert]

You have two contradictory goals.
The blades shouldn’t be lawnmower sharp if you are cutting bush. You want the blade to smash the stem and not leave sharp punji sticks. I do sharpen my blades, but not so they slice. Some say leave 1/8”-1/4” bluntness.
Sharper blades will cut grass better, but never give the cut of a finish mower.

 

[Professor Marvel]

good point. Also I consider that if I sharpen it the edge is real susceptible to getting beat up by rocks

 

[workinonit]

I've had mine since 2002 and never sharpened them. Some time ago I bought a new set of blades. I need to change them out now and put a bit of an edge on the old ones for spares.

 

[RickB]

There's conflicting thoughts even among manufacturers. Woods replacement rotary cutter blades have a sharp edge. Bush Hog replacement rotary cutter blades have about 1/16 to 1/8" of bluntness at the edge. New Bush Hog blades cut grass well enough for most critical eyes.

 

[workinonit]

I had never actually thought about the ramifications of having the sharp. I was gonna put a razor edge on mine until I read this. :laughing:

 

[John0829]

Back in the day when I used a brush hog for mowing the pastures I did keep the blades sharp and could get an almost finish mower cut plus it saved a tiny bit on the fuel used. However if I was going to be clearing an area I would dull the blades somewhat so there would be no sharp surprises to puncture a tire.

 

[oosik]

So.....this summer I mowed down a few small patches of Buck brush with my new JD 570 riding mower. It looked great. However, upon closer inspection - all the "brush stubs" were sharp & pointed.

Used the grapple to grub out the roots and sharp stubs. Last time I'll engage in that folly. The old JD riding mower with its dull blades will be used in the future.

 

[Avenger]

I broke the weld that holds the stump jumper on. It was only welded 1/4 the way around. Since I had the blades off, I noticed some larger dents and dings on the cutting edge. I took the blades off, mounted them up on the mill, and milled the edge. I left maybe a 1/8in blunt rounded cutting edge, but a good taper. Cuts weeds and brush well.

A rotary cutter is not a lawn mower. If you are looking for a tractor pulled mower that will leave the grass like a lawn, get a finish mower. But even those wont do as good of a job as your lawn mower. Might google search "Golf Course Mower"

 

[Beaver Cove Deere]

Land Pride blades are rather sharp when new. Not lawn sharp but far from blunt. I've bought many replacement blades for them. By the time the rocks eat up the blade its not worth the time to sharpen them.