Buy a walk behind or Rent a mini-skid brush cutter

[suburbanfarmer]

I need to clear out about 3.5 acres of scrub brush of which 1.5 acres is swampy where no tractor will go. I am thinking of buying a brush cutter like DR XL but on the other hand I can rent a mini skid on tracks for the weekend for $500 and clear it all out. The thickest stuff is at most 2 inches.

If i buy the walk behind cutter it will be used couple of times a year only and I am getting lazier ever since I got the tractor

What do you all recommend or have experienced?

 

[RNeumann]

At 2” material and more than an acre I’d skip that DR. If the skid steer will get in there that’s a no brainer- rent that

 

[Diggin It]

My walk behind would not do well in swampy areas. It uses two independant transmissions and steers from the handle levers. At 500 pounds or more, it sinks into mud rather well, with the tires aiding to dig the holes.

Also, while it will chop and shred everything that gets to the whirling beater bar of death, if s sapling is too stiff to bend, the machine will simply butt up against it and stop. It will bend soft saplings enough to chew up, but not the stiffer ones like Locust and Oak. When I first got mine, I did much of an acre that was overgrown with Honeysuckle, Blackberry and Sumac. It did the job, but it nearly beat me to death in the process and took several days. It took out the smaller Sumac and buck bush type stuff fine, but the viney stuff wold get tangled across the front guide bars like barbed wire and there was a lot of back and forth movement to break it loose.

Mine is a 36" cut with a 22HP Robin Subaru engine, the widest and strongest I could find at the time. As I recall, the DRs were something like 30" and 16 or 18HP when I was looking.

Note the pictures shown in the ads .... mostly taller grasses and very small brush, few if any real tree saplings.

3 acres with any walk behind would take ..... well, a while.

 

[suburbanfarmer]

I appreciate the input and feedback. Looks like renting the skid with tracks once the ground freezes should do the trick. The mower on it will do upto 3inches

 

[Cord]

I've done this before and even a mini skidsteer won't get the job done. They just don't have enough hp. You'll be wanting something with at least 60hp and a 6' cutter.

Don't forget, everything that you cut off will grow back with vigor. It'll be twice as thick in 5 years.

 

[cold1313]

Pull behind brush cutter for an ATV/UTV? Then you can keep after it.

 

[mark02tj]

Can you get the tractor back there once the ground freezes? Maybe buy a bush hog?

I've got an old Gravely that will handle stuff up to 2" pretty well. It will work you. Depending on how quickly you want to get it done, that might be something to look at.

As someone else said, once you cut it, it will want to grow back thicker. You're going to want to spray the "stumps" that are left pretty quickly after cutting them. High concentrate Round-Up or other herbicide. Consult someone local to tell you what to spray on it. When cutting Honeysuckle, it's recommended that you spray it within 30 minutes of cutting it or the stump will "scab over" and the herbicide won't do as much good.

 

[Diggin It]

Key is to keep cutting it once you start. That area that was so overgrown with vines is now moderately decent lawn. No spraying involved. I would imagine that if I didn't mow it for a couple of years, the vines would return.

 

[suburbanfarmer]

Once the ground freezes, sure I can take the tractor in there but right now its just muck. I dont have much or if any vines to deal with. I like the idea of the rotary brush cutter behind my tractor but some of these saplings are like 8 ft high.

 

[suburbanfarmer]

Key is to keep cutting it once you start. That area that was so overgrown with vines is now moderately decent lawn. No spraying involved. I would imagine that if I didn't mow it for a couple of years, the vines would return.

Thats the plan, to provide more natural fodder to wildlife and clear up the thorny rose bushes.