Is there a front mount flail/brush mower for CUT's?

[brandoro]

I have a B7610 HST with LA 302 fel. I also have 16.3 acres of almost entirely forested land. The trees are mostly poplar with some pine, no problem there. The problem is lots of 1" or less diameter stuff that grows straight up about 6-7' tall that I can barely walk through. I would like to open up some trails for cross country skiing and to get a better idea of the contours of the land and get some use from the land. A brush mower on the 3 pt would work but I would rather not have to push through this stuff to be able to cut it. If I could find a small mower that could mount on the front, maybe on the fel arms, it would suit me a lot better.
Does anyone know of such a mower? I have found some meant for skid steer use, lots of HP and hydraulic flow required, so far nothing small enough. The tractor is 17 or 18HP on the PTO, does have the front (mid) pto and about 7gpm hydraulic available.
Any information would be greatly appreaciated.
By the way, I am a fairly new member, this is the first thread I have initiated. I have been doing a lot of reading and gained some very useful information already from this site. I did do a search for what I am after but didn't find anything like that from previous threads. I didn't read all of them so hope I am not starting something that has already been sorted out.

 

[radman1]

The basic answer to answer your question is no. Your 7 gal/min flow is probably total flow including power steering. Your probably closer to 5 gal/minute usuable flow. Flow is to low for any realistic power. Hydraulic motors are about 65% efficient so you loose even more power. Rear pto on a brush cutter is also probably marginal. You will have to go very slow and if it is as dense as you say, probably not practical.

 

[brandoro]

I suspected that would be the answer. I have been looking for a while now and haven't found anything that I even thought I could adapt.
The other option I am looking at is to rent a skid steer with a front mounted mower for a day or two and thrash out as much as I can. Once I have some trails opened up I should be able to maintain them fairly easily with maybe two passes a year.
There is an area behind my shop that was cleared once then let go, about waist high and maybe 1/4 to 3/8" diameter. After the first really slow pass with the finishing mower set high it has been easy to keep clear. Now the grass is starting take over so even better.

 

[638]

How about using a bush hog and running backwards.

ron

 

[diyDave]

Another option, not mentioned yet is to buy a used 4' bush hog type rear mower probably for less than $300.00, then back through the trails. Once you have backed through, then go forward. Shouldn't be anything major!

 

[Eagleview]

Give "self powered flail mowers" a Google , there are many on the market . You will need one around 20hp and it will need to have cast flails . They tow like a trailer . As with all flail mowers they only cut going forward . You will need to push it into the regrowth about a metre and then drive forward . It will transform scrub to lawn instantly . Look in my gallery at the 2 photos of my flail mower before and after shots , its just a bigger version . Dont take anything on bigger than an inch though . It will keep your property tidy for years . If your handy you could buy a heavy duty flail mower and fit a good sized Diesel motor to it . I have thought in the past of making one myself with a 6 cylinder Deutz to power it for clearing scrub . I would mount it on wheels and have the drawbar behind the unit . It would hook up to my front tow pin so i could push it into the scrub clearing a path as i go . A small version of this with say 35hp would be awsome .

 

[texbaylea]

Caroni makes front mount flail mowers. I don't know if Agri-Supply imports them or not or if mounting kits are available. You might talk to Agri-Supply about using a rear mount unit - backing into the brush and pulling forward. Do a search for Caroni flail mower here on TBN. Several of us own one and like it.

Vernon

 

[patrick_g]

I have had some damage from driving over too large of brush. Backing over much larger brush (than damaged the tractor going forward) with the cutter elevated with the top lift raised up quite a bit with the 3PH has worked really well. Once I have cut the little trees and brush to about 10-12 inches high I can lower the cutter and level it more and cut as low as I want next time (after waiting for a little rotting action.)

I received advice from my tractor salesman who put himself through a couple years of college doing brush hogging. His recommendation was to never cut brush shorter than about 10-12 inches (on the first cutting in a long time) if the stobs (little stumps left behind)would be a tire hazard. Let them age for a year or so and most of them will rot some at ground level. Then a subsequent pass will break them off at ground level. Of course a percentage of the brush will not die from the first cutting and the second cutting will get a portion of those (lather rinse repeat.)

The salient feature of this approach is you don't set up a field of punji sticks to poke holes in your tires as stumps a foot high and under a couple inches in diameter can be driven over without puncturing a tire. If you mow as short as possible you will leave lots of tire hazards out there to give you grief now and in the future as even dead rotted off at the ground short stumps can puncture a tire.

Pat

 

[dsb5610]

brandoro,

I had the same idea in the past and did some research on it. Back then I discovered Deere offered a front hitch on models sold outside of the US. A company called Laforge makes a front hitch. Not sure if that is the same one Deere showed on their website or if they make one for your particular tractor. If you do a search on Laforge front hitch then look at the Field Pictures you will see tractors doing what you are describing.

Having dealt with a similar problem on CRP for years I recommend whatever method you use does not leave any sizable stump. I still have spikes that were mowed off years ago that will damage tires.

dsb

 

[patrick_g]

I recommend whatever method you use does not leave any sizable stump. I still have spikes that were mowed off years ago that will damage tires.

dsb

Purposely mowing brush to a height of 10-12 inches (first time) allows you to return next year (or subsequently) with little risk of tire damage. Any of the dead ones will rot some or all near ground level or a bit below and a close subsequent mowing will take them off flush with the ground or a bit below.

Thy may not all die but you'll get more of them on the second and subsequent passes. I can tell by looking which ones have been cut before and how many times. The ones that apparently are not gong to die from an annual cutting can get sprayed. I sometimes take one of my pallet forks off and use just the one as a spade downward at an angle under a resistant sample of brush to cut it off below ground level. Works fair, not great as the tip is rounded and tends to slip off the plant.

I may make a root cutting thingy to bolt on the end of the fork, sort of a Y shaped cutter like the little hand tool gardeners use to cut a weed's root underground.

Pat