Hypothetical situation

[JayC]

We have about 4 acres that are not cut. It has actually never been cut. I am just curious what kind of machine would it take to cut all this tall stuff? At the south and west edges the grass is REALLY tall. It is about 6 feet tall and THICK. There are also really big pricker plants and bur bushes mixed in. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif In the rest of the field is about 18-24" tall grass, weeds, and about 18-24" tall, 1-2" thick saplings. The ground is realtively flat but REALLY bumpy. There are ant hills all over the place and long little hills from when they tiled it a long time ago. It would be a real bugger to try and cut. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[DocHeb]

A HD brush hog/rotary mower/shredder would take care of that situation. The bigger units can even shred 2-3" trees. Heck, if the dirt sticks up it will even knock the tops off that! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They're designed to handle that type work.

It won't be worthwhile to buy a HD rotary mower if you have limited use (i.e., you'll be keeping better control of the weeds in the future) - it may be prudent to hire somebody with a bad-a** shredder/rotary mower to do the first cut, and then buy a lighter mower (such as a rear-discharge finish mower) that you could use on your tractor for future cutting. Either way, walk the field before cutting looking for hidden suprises.

After the initial cut, if there are areas that need to be leveled, you could use a FEL with toothbar, a box blade, or rear blade to help smooth them out.

 

[JayC]

Thanks for the reply! So it is possible to cut through that jungle! lol Anywho, what kind of tractor would be best suited for the job HP wise?

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Mostly depends on how fast you want to cut and what size the implement.

If you're looking at a real 5' Bush Hog Stump Jumper, probably need to consider near 30 HP or above to have adequate power, lift and speed.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's some links to videos of my Power Trac PT425 with a 48" front mounted brush hog. It is a little beast that eats anything up to about 2". The videos are in Windows Media format and can take a few minutes to download over dial up, but are fun to watch.
http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425DeepWeeds1.WMV
http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425DeepWeeds2.WMV http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425FieldClearing.WMV
http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425MultiFloraRose.WMV

It does the job /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JayC]

Thanks for the videos! I enjoyed watching them! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I could watch things like that all day. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif That PowerTrac seems to be quite a capable machine. It's got me interested! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif It cut through all that stuff really well! How much horespower is it?

 

[MossRoad]

25HP Kohler, 8GPM @ 2500PSI hydraulic PTO runs all of the implements out front on the FEL arms. Hydraulically articulated tractor. Pretty fun and very capable machine.

If you want to see more, check out http://www.power-trac.com.

Or, to see more of our Power Trac, just click on my little tractor icon in my signature. It is a link to our website with lots of pictures and more videos.

Plus, there is a Power Trac forum right here on TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[dieselsmoke1]

MossRoad, I'm impressed. Never seen one of these units in action. Looks like it would be a hoot to operate.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> Looks like it would be a hoot to operate. </font>

Every time I get on it, I get a big smile. All of the implements are out front right where I can keep an eye on them. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JayC]

Hmmm... a 25 hp Koehler? That is very impressive for a gas engine! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I saw the Power Trac forum, but never checked it out. I will have to see what other owners say. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I will check out your website and theirs more. I did check their website out rather briefly. Their history kinda surprised me. It was interesting. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Slamfire]

A very impressive little vehicle. If I ever need something new, I'll give it some serious thought. I hope the Power Trac people are appropriately appreciative of your web site. $$$. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So it is possible to cut through that jungle! lol Anywho, what kind of tractor would be best suited for the job HP wise? )</font>

I cut a 10ac pasture earlier this year with 7' tall weeds... They were taller than the tractor canopy.

I did it with a 5' KK rotary mower.. a medium duty ( at best ) mower, and my NH 1920 33-34 HP or so ).

If you get a tractor with say 25 pto hp.. you are in the 5' mower range.. anything less is 4' mower.

All depends on the speed at which you mow. 4 ac isn't too huge.. you could do it with a 4' mower fine... or a 5' mower faster.

Soundguy

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Just this weekend I went though some growth that was so high I was a couple feet shy of reaching the top of it when standing in the operator platform of my JD 4200 (and I'm over 6'-8" tall). I did it with the same KK 5' rotary cutter and my hydro 4200 with only 20 HP at the PTO. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The 5' rotary cutter was what Deere recommended with my tractor.

That tall stuff wasn't bad to get through at all, aside from that feeling of driving totally blind. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I had my bucket lowered fairly close to the ground to hopefully act as an early warning system for stumps or whatever. Had I known the area I think I could have gone through that a bit faster than I did, even. While the tall stuff was pretty smooth sailing, I did bog down in some of the shorter (3'-4') denser growth, though. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[fenneran]

In the past 2 years, I have cleared about 5 acres of wild roses on a hill with my Yanmar YMG1800d (18hp, 4wd) and a Howse 4' rotory cutter. Most of these were between 8' and 15' tall and as wide as 30'-40'. Like Gary said, I run with the FEL low to help clear the blinds a little and give me warning of what's ahead. The worst part for me is getting stuck with the thorns on the side that I haven't cut yet! But the feeling of knocking all of that bad stuff down and seeing it as a nice grass-covered field the next year is great. This was all done on a slope, so I tried to attack it from the uphill side and mow going down. The times I had to cut sideways were the butt-puckerest, and I always went in low-low to give me some sense of control.

-Frank

 

[Phred]

JayC,

The guys have it right. You will be amazed with what a brushhog and enough hp will do.
I mow 10 feet trees down on a regular basis with what is called a medium duty cutter.
http://www.bushhog.com/specbook/280-10.html
The limitation with a heavy duty unit is what you can drive over. And it will break up the softer dirt and rocks.

Start by finding a cutter that has the capacity you need and then look at the manufactures recommendations for hp.

Ant hills? What ant hills. They will be chopped off at cutting level.

Fred