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

LD1 · Feb 10, 2016

If thats a pic of the lot, I'd error closer to the side of 1.4-2 acres per hour.

I dont see many of the easy cutting weeds and all. Looks like saplings + grass. Thats a slow cutting job.

Grasses really cut alot better with sharp blades, but the saplings you want BLUNT blades for to splinter them and not puncture a tire.

Thats a worst-case bad combination IMO.

Jim Timber · Feb 10, 2016

LD1 said:
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.

Without having the GIS overlay, I'm not positive what all is his for scale. He's got 80 acres, but the area that's in need of clearing is a 300' or so swath along one side. I asked him how big it was and he doesn't seem to understand the concept of acreage when describing a cover type. He does sheet rock and trains bird dogs. He's not a farmer.

The plan is for me to go out there with him when the snow's gone. I'm going to have some down time after the ground thaws anyway, so we can scout it out and see what a good game plan is. I already told him that we should figure out a day rate, then go for a couple days and reassess the situation, and he likes that approach. Now I'm wondering what's a reasonable expectation of speed and you guys are giving me that data, much appreciated!

Jim Timber · Feb 10, 2016

LD1 said:
If thats a pic of the lot, I'd error closer to the side of 1.4-2 acres per hour.

I dont see many of the easy cutting weeds and all. Looks like saplings + grass. Thats a slow cutting job.

Grasses really cut alot better with sharp blades, but the saplings you want BLUNT blades for to splinter them and not puncture a tire.

Thats a worst-case bad combination IMO.

That's why I'm leaning more towards scraping it off ahead of the cutter - if using a bush hog at all.

I can drive through that crap full speed with the grapple down and it'll be bare dirt or close to it on the back side.

Jim Timber · Feb 10, 2016

Another option is to try to shear it off with the bucket while the ground is still hard. Without knowing what the rock content is, that could end badly too.

Sawyer Rob · Feb 10, 2016

I wouldn't want to drive MY tractor through thick brush/grass with the bucket down! All it takes is one good hit, and you WILL have a repair bill! That's one of the dumbest idea's I've heard in a long time... lol

SR

Jim Timber · Feb 10, 2016

I don't see how it's any different than what I've already been doing with it. I've scraped off 1/2 acre of under brush without any issue.

jeff9366 · Feb 10, 2016

Sawyer Rob said:
I wouldn't want to drive MY tractor through thick brush/grass with the bucket down! All it takes is one good hit, and you WILL have a repair bill!

I half ruined a previously good shoulder this way. I needed six weeks of physical therapy to return the shoulder to 80% of what it was. Now, three years later, I have the beginning of arthritis in the shoulder. The tractor and Bush Hog survived the hidden stump encounter without damage.

PRESERVE YOUR HEALTH.

SPYDERLK · Feb 10, 2016

Jim Timber said:
That's why I'm leaning more towards scraping it off ahead of the cutter - if using a bush hog at all.

I can drive through that crap full speed with the grapple down and it'll be bare dirt or close to it on the back side.

... A full speed of what? How much distance before stopping to shed debris?

Grandad4 · Feb 10, 2016

Every time I have gone out to mow some new property it's not the live growing cover that determines the mowing speed, it's all the unseen holes, rocks, stumps, bed frames, engine blocks, barbed wire or other assorted things that can tear up the equipment. Heading out into an an unfamiliar field at 7 mph is the tractoring equivalent of the Titanic's first and last voyage! Check out your non-farmer's field well before you start!