Front mounted brush cutter with open cab

[MechanicalGuy]

Am I crazy for thinking I'll be fine wearing a motorcycle helmet while using this on the front of my mx 5200?

We have the 6' wide version and a pto hydraulic pump and typically I use it with a cab tractor...

But motorcycle helmet and maybe a heavy chest rig set up and I feel like this would be fine. I'm not hogging gravel piles, just privet.

 

[scootr]

I use one like that on the open cab skid steer. The only danger is out in front of it.

 

[oldnslo]

Motorcycle helmet face shield won’t protect your face and eyes from any significant impact

 

[4570Man]

If you use the mower on the ground it’s pretty safe. Don’t lift it off the ground to cut overhead limbs. I’ve slammed the skid steer cab pretty hard doing that.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'd suggest getting a forestry helmet with a face shield. That's what I wear when using a front cutter on an open cab.

 

[Notforhire]

Our local Bobcat dealer rents out machines with front bush hogs. I asked how the front glass holds up. His reply, they don't run doors.
I don't know for sure, but would think that practice would end with the first reported injury. That was about a year ago.
I'm going out that way next week. If things have changed, I'll report in.

 

[D&D]

Am I crazy for thinking I'll be fine wearing a motorcycle helmet while using this on the front of my mx 5200?

We have the 6' wide version and a pto hydraulic pump and typically I use it with a cab tractor...

But motorcycle helmet and maybe a heavy chest rig set up and I feel like this would be fine. I'm not hogging gravel piles, just privet.

I used to think these were great. I launched a rock with mine that took out a cab lower window. I was lucky, my neighbor launched a t-post through the door of his bobcat nicking his right shoulder. I now run a flail mower instead.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

I used to think these were great. I launched a rock with mine that took out a cab lower window. I was lucky, my neighbor launched a t-post through the door of his bobcat nicking his right shoulder. I now run a flail mower instead.

Our property is covered up with t posts and fence posts and barbed wire that is hidden from years of overgrowth. That is something to think about.

 

[D&D]

Granted, both of these incidents must have met “perfect storm” scenarios but still 2 in one season was close enough for me.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

Motorcycle helmet face shield won’t protect your face and eyes from any significant impact

My helmet has a face shield that is pretty stout.

 

[riptides]

Our property is covered up with t posts and fence posts and barbed wire that is hidden from years of overgrowth. That is something to think about.

I walked a lot on our properties before I went at them with mowers. Amazing what one finds and what pops out of the ground over the years. I wrecked a Honda push mower on some pipe that just magically appeared one day in an area I had thought was safe.

Barbed wire is still showing up in places too. I still attempt spot checks now and then, good exercise and beats equipment destruction or a visit to the hospital.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Not quite the same, but I gave up using the offset articulating flail on my open station MX5800. Even with helmet, face shield and heavy clothing, I didn't feel safe. I got hit with too much debris that bounced off trees, rocks and the ground.

Even the cab of the L6060 gets pelted. Haven't broken any glass yet though:

Might be different with a front mounted implement though.

 

[2manyrocks]

Does your flail mower discharge towards your L6060 or away from it?

Front rotary cutters have some advantages, but the amount of loose material and dust that comes back at the tractor and the operator is their disadvantage in my experience.

Some protection will be offered by having the pretty big front end of the MX5200 between the operator and the brush cutter when the cutter is run at ground level, but I'd still wear face protection.

My front cutter throws so much out the rear that I welded a piece of metal over the rear discharge. That reduced the amount of discharge from the rear. Most gets discharged from the front now. But I still wear face protection.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Does your flail mower discharge towards your L6060 or away from it?

Front rotary cutters have some advantages, but the amount of loose material and dust that comes back at the tractor and the operator is their disadvantage in my experience.

Some protection will be offered by having the pretty big front end of the MX5200 between the operator and the brush cutter when the cutter is run at ground level, but I'd still wear face protection.

My front cutter throws so much out the rear that I welded a piece of metal over the rear discharge. That reduced the amount of discharge from the rear. Most gets discharged from the front now. But I still wear face protection.

The flail discharges to the bottom and rear when horizontal and to the left when vertical. In both positions, debris is thrown away from the cab but often ricochets off nearby fixed objects.

 

[2manyrocks]

Even a speck of debris in the eye can be painful if not worse.

 

[D&D]

Not quite the same, but I gave up using the offset articulating flail on my open station MX5800. Even with helmet, face shield and heavy clothing, I didn't feel safe. I got hit with too much debris that bounced off trees, rocks and the ground.

Yes, definitely a ricochet on the neighbor. I haven’t noticed any issues with the flail. Is yours all the time or when lifted off the skids/roller?

 

[bdhsfz6]

Yes, definitely a ricochet on the neighbor. I haven’t noticed any issues with the flail. Is yours all the time or when lifted off the skids/roller?

With the roller on the ground, the deflectors keep flying debris to a minimum. The hammer flails occasionally throw a rock though.