Cow catcher would be usefull

[coffeeman]

I just used brush hog to cut about 15 acres. Lots of small trees. I imagine about a 1000 small animals are having a town meeting and have put out a contract on me for slashing their homes and kicking them out of town. i was thinking a simple attachment like a cow catcher would be nice when cutting a lot of heavy brush. Keeps the brush away from the steering and under carriage of tractor.

Just thinking. That can be dangerous.

Cheers

 

[BamaRob]

That's one use for my FEL. Keep the bucket low and go slow when I'm mowing thick stuff.

BR

 

[sandman2234]

Using the fel is great, if you just happen to have one. But if you have one, why are you tearing up your bushhog, instead of just putting the toothbar on it and digging them up by the roots?
Sure wish I had one on my tractor... (so does my bushhog!!)
David from jax

 

[BamaRob]

I assumed he was talking about brush of an appropriate size for the rotary cutter. As long as the stuff I'm cutting isn't over about 2" diameter (with maybe an occasional 3"), I'll cut it with my rotary cutter. I can cover much more ground in a given amount of time with it than I can popping them out with my FEL.

I don't have a toothbar (yet... it's on my list), so I can't pop them out with the FEL as efficiently as I may be able to with a toothbar.

Later,

BR

 

[sandman2234]

The stuff I have been cutting, when it wasn't a 3" thick rattler, or a 3" hole in the ground, full of yellow jackets, is some nasty stuff. Pretty much a solid wall of 2 to 4 inch brush, and it never ends. I just mow a little here, and there, hoping to one day actually get all that I want done.
With a front end loader, I could just push it into a pile and let it rot.
David from jax

 

[knute_m]

Until a week ago, I had a little neglected tractor I bought mostly for nasty jobs.

It didn't have a cow catcher, instead, it had more of a "bull nudger." The bumper, made from 5/16 inch plate and 4-inch pipe, was about a foot wider than the tractor.

If I could push it over, the bush hog would chop it. (Hopefully the photo will really get uploaded so you can see it.)

One caution -- I thought the bottom of this little tractor was pretty well protected. After a couple of hours of "mowing" 1 - 2 inch diameter oak saplings, I suddenly lost my hydraulics. Apparently, as the tractor moved over the brush, the brush slowly loosened the hydraulic filter, which was up within the frame of the tractor. Oh well, I needed to change the filter and fluid anyway.

A year ago, the area where the tractor is parked for the photo, was a tangle of brambles, samplings, and construction trash.

(And for anyone following the discussion about welders in the do-it-yourself forum, most of the welding and repair on this tractor was done with a little Lincoln 115 VAC 140 amp flux core welder.)

 

[coffeeman]

Hi knute

I like the "bull nudger". That's a good point about oil filter. In my case the brush is popping out pins holding brush cutter. I'm going to get bolts for pins till the brush is cut. Got about another 20 acres this year and 40 I'm going to clear next year. I just thought about it today; I'm lucky I didn't break a line with some of those bigger trees I cut. Now I'm cutting the bigger stuff on the left side as the oil lines ore on right. Also, I'm now using tires to push heavy stuff down. (Probably not so good on tires.)

That nudger might be better for brush if lower closer to ground. I would do something like that if I wasn't about 3/4 done. In my case I have a smaller tractor pulling an 8 ft woods and I could use a little front weight. I would include a box that I could load some solid blocks into. I still may get some front weight, everything would be more stable.

Cheers.....Coffeeman