How long should it take to bush hog an overgrown field?

Jim Timber · Feb 10, 2016

A buddy of mine asked me about doing a job for him this spring, but I've never run a bush hog and don't currently own one either.

He wants to get it cleaned up enough to plant it to grass for pheasant and grouse. He's not worried about the roots or debris. I'm thinking spray it with gly when the rain is right, wait a couple weeks, then come back through and mow it down. His place is about an hour away, so travel isn't that big of deal for timing.

Figuring I can rent a 6 or 7 footer, how many acres an hour should I be able to clear with 1.5" or less stems?

davesl708 · Feb 10, 2016

The time to clear an acre will vary with type of brush/weeds/grass you're clearing. Figure two to three miles per hour mowing speed. Terrain will also be a factor in the time it takes to clear. Dryer is faster.

kevin37b · Feb 10, 2016

Have you checked this area for land mines ?

bfletch7441 · Feb 10, 2016

Could you disc the edges and then burn it off?

jeff9366 · Feb 10, 2016

Burn it with REAL FIRE?

Why, golly, how low tech, ancient regime and cheap is that?

I LIKE IT.

Jim Timber · Feb 10, 2016

I haven't seen the property yet, but I've seen pics of the over growth. It's former pasture, but may have been planted at one time judging by the surrounding fields.

I'm actually wondering if it wouldn't be faster to just scrape it with the root rake and pile the debris.

nybirdman · Feb 10, 2016

I have done a lot of this for bird hunting(own a preserve);the biggest problem with brush-hogging and bird dogs is the pungi stakes left after BH ing.
Time wise it depends how thick it is,you may do acre/hr.Run with your FEL bucket close to the ground to help find rocks,stumps ect.
I would BH,spray with brush killer and disc.

Sawyer Rob · Feb 10, 2016

When I do this, first of all, NO one calls me unless it's pretty over grown and odd shaped fields, so I'm lucky to get 2 ac's an hour AND I go over it until NOTHING is left standing.

I'm betting you will get 2 to 3 acres, maybe a bit more with a 7' and GOOD going...

SR

LD1 · Feb 10, 2016

Way too many variables.

Is the a large open rectangular/square field? Or small and irregular?
If you only have 1 acre to mow your acres per hour are going to be alot less than if you have 20 acres to mow, all else being equal.

What are you mowing? Dense grasses are harder to mow and leave a clean cut than "stemmy" stuff like ragweed/golden rod. I have had to slow to a crawl before for 12" grass, but can cruise through waste high "weeds" at 5-6MPH no problem.

How rough is the field? Often times when mowing the "weeds" mentioned above, my limiting factor of speed is being able to stay on the seat.

With your tractor, even a 7' cutter I dont think power is going to be a concern. So I would think ~4 MPH wouldnt be a terrible average. If conditions are nice and things are smooth, you can certainly go faster ~6-7MPH, but things can get bumpy and dense and may slow you to 2 MPH.

To figure cutting time, the formula most use is mower width x MPH divided by 10. And that accounts for some inefficency like overlap and making turns.

So with a 7' cutter and worst case scenerio of ~2MPH....about 1.4 acres/hr
Best case @ 6mph......4.2 acres per hour

And could be anything in between