Rotary Cutter Fallen Branches

[Rail Dawg]

Scattered throughout my woods are large dead branches on the ground some which are maybe 3" diameter or a little more.

I have a medium-duty Brush Hog. Can I run over these 3" branches or do I have to scrape them up with the box blade?

Thanks!

 

[dusty3030]

I pile them up and burn them where they are.

 

[moored4]

First! :welcome: To TBN!

Next to give us a better understanding of your question. What is medium size to you for a cutter? Are the limbs new or have they been down on the ground several years and rotten? What kind of wood? What size tractor do you have? These :tractor: Nuts will have a wealth of info for you if you give them a little to work with!

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Amen to Moored4. I have 18 acres of forest and I try to get those branches before they start to rot and use for firewood. Saves a lot of splitting and work great to get a good bed of coals going fast. I have a 60" Landpride mower behind a Kubota BX25 (23HP) and it is unbelievable what it will chop up especially when half rotted. I have mowed down a couple acres of brush and saplings this summer and chopped up some rotten stuff up to 6", just spewed it all around as mulch for a crop of pasture grass in the spring. When I started I had no idea what was under the brush as we just bought this place in Feb 2010. Even found a 4' high stack of fir split logs for fence posts half rotted. They made a great start for a brush pile fire. Now I know what is there after 3 blade sharpenings. Make sure you read your manual on blade sharpening to make sure you maintain balance. Also those self locking 1 1/8" nuts are one timers unless you want them to back off on you, takes a 1 11/16" 3/4" drive socket and a cheater on the handle to get those suckers off. You throw one of those 25# blades off and I do not want to be around.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Look at this thread also

New Kubota - TractorByNet.com

 

[pat32rf]

Both the species of tree and your climate have a bearing on your problem. I hauled out a red oak today that had been cut down about 14 yrs ago and left sitting on a rock base. Gonna make perfect firewood. Other types of trees that fell last year are already rotting.

 

[Rail Dawg]

First! :welcome: To TBN!

Next to give us a better understanding of your question. What is medium size to you for a cutter? Are the limbs new or have they been down on the ground several years and rotten? What kind of wood? What size tractor do you have? These :tractor: Nuts will have a wealth of info for you if you give them a little to work with!

Good questions and thanks!

It's a medium-duty Land Pride cutter. The limbs are oaks and pine and have been down for about two years. This is a Kubota L3800.

I'm new at this but am ready to start clearing. I just don't want to damage the machine!

Thanks for the help.

 

[Chilly807]

I have an L3400 with an RCR1860 Land Pride cutter. I've hit branches the size you're talking about, and there's no damage to speak of, but it gets seriously noisy under the cutter for a few seconds.

In all truth, I try to avoid them. That kind of shock loading isn't good for the driveline, even with a slip clutch to absorb the worst of it.

It'll chew them up a little, but you end up with pretty big pieces anyway.

If it was me, I'd gather up anything over 2 inches and burn 'em.

Sean

 

[Reg]

Good questions and thanks!

It's a medium-duty Land Pride cutter. The limbs are oaks and pine and have been down for about two years. This is a Kubota L3800.

I'm new at this but am ready to start clearing. I just don't want to damage the machine!

Thanks for the help.

I would get off my duff and give the tractor seat a rest.
Saw 'em up, pile 'em in the bucket, haul 'em outta there.
{Exercise opportunity}
Burn, bury, chip, compost, whatever after that.
Leaving 'em laying around on the forest floor only provides ground level tinder for the BIG ONE.

Kubota 3800 might be a bit light and fragile for actually "running over" stuff - they seem to be Yuppie driveway ornaments in Maryland (-:

 

[Glen Watkins]

I would get off my duff and give the tractor seat a rest.
Saw 'em up, pile 'em in the bucket, haul 'em outta there.
{Exercise opportunity}
Burn, bury, chip, compost, whatever after that.
Leaving 'em laying around on the forest floor only provides ground level tinder for the BIG ONE.

Kubota 3800 might be a bit light and fragile for actually "running over" stuff - they seem to be Yuppie driveway ornaments in Maryland (-:

Good advise!

Yuppie driveway ornaments:laughing: