My Bush Hogging experience

[RalphVa]

My neighbor asked me about mowing her one meadow. I told her my tractor was too small. Sounds as though I don't want to do work for others and be cautious in doing any new areas of my own.

I got stung ONCE by ONE yellow jacket. This time of year, I fully suit up with big boots, pants tucked into them, long sleeved shirt with gloves, Aussie hat with netting that hangs down. Otherwise, I drive my tractor naked when just running it as a wheel barrow to go down to the garden and bring back harvest. Gotta be barefoot in the garden to avoid stepping on stuff I shouldn't.

Ralph

 

[dieselalles]

Besides the yellow jackets and ground-based bumble bees, I've had to deal with large wasp nests embedded in blackberry bushes and an occasional hornet nest in the fork of a sapling. Hornets and Bumble bees are smart. They seem to know you are the target and come after you. Wasps when disturbed by a tractor, tend to fly around aimlessly, giving one time to clear out...usually. Knock on wood, I've never been stung by a wasp bush-hogging but I've had more than my share of those black-headed bumble bees that knock your socks off. Those are the worst. I usually can see a wasp or hornet nest from afar, but not a ground nest of bumble bees. All of the sudden you're on top of the nest and they are looking for a warm body.

To get rid of wasp nests, the cans of wasp spray that can reach out 20 feet work real good, but not for hornets since they are inside their nest and come out one at a time unless you accidentally rip their nest open, then you've got a real problem on your hands.

And if you are where you can do it, the most entertaining way to dispatch a large wasp nest is with a 12 gauge improved cylinder choke shotgun loaded with #9 bird shot at 8-10 yards. Be sure to stand a little farther away if it's a full choke. A single shell should do it. But if you try the shotgun approach with a hornet's nest, be sure to use a gun that holds more than one shell. One shell for each half of the nest. Boom-boom!! But if all you have is a single shot, give it to your brother-in-law and let him go after it. Just make sure you're standing far enough away!

 

[SkunkWerX]

-100+ feet of insulated stranded wire (old invisible dog fence?)
-80+ feet of yellow poly rope.
-T post [x] check, done that, bent it up real good, like a pretzel.
-Rocks, Rocks, & more big stones.
-Concrete chunks jump in front of the mower everytime.
-That 6" to 8" diameter log, that is about 4 ft. long that jambs up underneath.
-Bees-yes. Stung-ditto.
-pile of old landscaping/Railroad ties.

For ground bees, mix a 5 gal. bucket of ice water with some BugJuice, pour it in. The cold water paralyzes them enough to reduce the amount of "mad flyers". OR, as my buddy did years ago, pour copious amounts of gasoline in the hole, add a small lit road flare. the direct quote was something like: "The flames shot 10 feet in the air!!!!"

Conclusions:

-Gotta wonder why the land owner doesn't do it, or have a close friend or relative do it. 50% of the time they know something , the other 50% they are naive about the debris, either way, you are going to hit something.
*There is a reason why the last guy isn't doing it this time.

-When feasible, I try to run over the unfamiliar area, or at least the starting portion with a Rake or grader blade to find the real nasty stumps, concrete, fence posts, large logs.

-My first swipe is up the middle, real slow. Next few swipes are half-width, watching ahead and to the side at the same time. Along the edges is where the farmer piled all the rocks back during the Great Depression. They are still there. Along the edges is also where the same farmer parked his broken/rusty cultivator/discs/Plow , etc.

-No matter how much of hurry, Slower is always better on unfamiliar terrain. If I think I am going slow enough, I probably need to slow down some more. If I think I have spotted all the obstacles, i am certain to hit the one I didn't see.

MOST IMPORTANT:
When we hear that dreadful sound that we are hitting a bad thing, always be certain to rasie up your shoulders, arching your neck, and scrunch your face up like you've just been given a cup of lemon juice.
Yes, I know that face.

It's the "I just hit something bad" face.

 

[Chuck_Lind]

Ah.... the smell of granite dust in the morning..... smells like.... new blades!


jb

I'll add a little more humor (or less humor); the sight and smell of Pennsylvania field stone grinding/slamming/crunching in the morning...smells like, yuuuck...can't even type the words!!!

The dirty-word bot would asterisk it out!!!

Don't think I've ever had such a tightening in my stomach as that sound and subsequent anxiety over that grinding noise.

 

[pnowacki]

Here's a note to keep in mind on pricing..make sure its clear from the onset. Recently I did a couple of hours of some serious bush-hogging, FEL work (about 1 acre of 1-3" trees, etc.) for a casual friend of mine (after driving 30 min. to their house. I thought I made it subliminally clear that my work wasn't a donation. Apparently, I didn't do so good of a job. They wanted to give me "some money" for my efforts. Handed me a wad of cash as I rolled out. I thanked them and felt good about making a few bucks and helping someone.

I got home and counted the money, all $17 of it! Apparently, me telling them how much gas I used was a bad call. I really enjoy working on my tractor and all but a fella's gotta pay the bills.

Needless to say, if they need any future tractor work done, they will get a clear and concise price quote. Just something to keep in mind.

Pete

 

[3RRL]

Yeah, there's a fine line doing work for friends because of that. One way or another, one of the parties is going to feel somewhat "screwed" if you don't make the terms clear up front and you expect to get paid. Even if they give you something for your efforts, it's never like it's your real pay.
In my own experience, whenever I do work for my friends I'm committed to doing it as a "favor". They get a great deal and I feel like I've helped them without feeling I got screwed. When they ask you as a friend, they are really looking to get it as a favor, otherwise they would look in the yellow pages for someone to pay. I only do it when I really feel like doing it, otherwise I turn them down or refer them to someone else. I don't even ask them for fuel. Even if they offer something, I turn it down saying, "I told you this is a favor and that's how I'm going to keep it".

 

[sandman2234]

I maintain the dirt road across from my house. My sister in law lives in the first house and the "Old Guy" that lived at the end maintained it for the last twenty five years and didn't get much help. He moved on to the land of "Greener Pastures". One of the other residents bought a 11hp grey market tractor with a loader and a 4' boxblade. It doesn't do much to smooth the road because it is too light. I run my JD with boxblade down it to keep it smooth and the Ford with it's slope mower to clear the bushes and tree limbs along side the road. The last couple times, everyone has known that I have been unemployed a couple of months and have offered me gas money. I just keep telling them no, as I am sure it won't be enough to actually pay for the fuel I use, much less the wear and tear on the tractor. I don't think they realized just how well the "Old Guy" maintained it until he was no longer there. There isn't much to bush hog on that road but I did the ditches and tree limbs this week and one of the mechanic's on the road was nice enough to look over a car my daughter is considering buying.
I would much rather trade favors...
David from jax

 

[flusher]

I have been cutting grass at the small plant where my wife works. They asked me to bring my tractor and grapple one day to retrieve a few 55 gallon drums out in their field. A passerby saw my tractor and wanted me to price hogging 5 acres. I did, and waited to see if he wanted me or not before I bought a rotary cutter. A month later he called, and I got the last Deere lx5 my dealer had for cost. I cut his land and thought I learned alot for my first time. I learned I needed a suspension seat so I could mow faster than 3mph. Today I went to move some gravel for my wifes work, and they saw the bush hog and wanted me to cut some for them. This field looks to be 20 acres, way more than I want to cut. They said cut what you can in 4 hours just to make the place look better. I learned a whole lot more on my second outing.
1. You can kill the tractor engine going through deep ruts and cutting dirt.
2. Watch out for stray concrete chunks. I hit one when I looked at the train going by.
3. A tire and wheel can be hid in tall grass. This will kill the engine also. I thought I had my bucket low enough.
4. I don't know what flying beast stung me, but 5 hours later it still hurts.
5. Deep rut make you go real slow, and wearing seat belt real tight, helps.
6. Tall overgrowth can hide a deep hole very well.
7. Try to talk to the man that did this job last, since he works at said place, he might give better insight than the guy that is paying.
8. I need a bigger tractor
9. I can drink more water in four hours than I thought. Carry more water.
All this typing took my mind off of the "bee stings" JC

Which JD 2520 do you have: the 2006 model (20 hp pto, 3 cyl Yanmar diesel) or the 1968-72 model (61 hp pto, 4 cyl JD diesel)?

I wouldn't want to tackle 20 acres of brush hogging with that little 2006 model. I have a 2005 Kubota B7510HST (17 hp pto) and it takes me 8-11 hours to do about 7.5 acres of weeds on my place in April when I do the first cutting of the season. I usually mow three times and the final two cuts go faster.

One thiing I did early on was to walk my fields and find the big stuff that could bust up the mower and/or tractor. I hauled tires, old farm fence, barbed wire and an old iron bath tub that one of the previous owners was using to water his stock. Even with this precaution I still stalled the engine when the mower hit a old almond tree stump that I missed in the weeds.

 

[sandman2234]

I have have stalled the engine while bush hogging, but not since I got the JD. The things I did to that little Ford 1100 still tend to amaze me. What I wonder is if the shock is transmitted to the tractor enough to stall the engine, what are the chances of doing actual damage to the driveline somewhere in between? If I hit a stump, I would assume that either the stump jumper would allow it to bounce over it, or the blades would fold up and keep on turning, thus allowing the engine to continue to run. If that isn't happening, why is the load transmitted to the tractor and why doesn't the shear pin fail? I know when you hit a roll of carpet, an old tire or some other things that absorb the shock, instead of allowing the blades to bounce off of it, but a blade hitting a stump should fold up in a split second.
Seems like a good reason to add a slip clutch to mower. Anyone else got any thoughts on this?
David from jax

 

[Grrrr]

I have have stalled the engine while bush hogging, but not since I got the JD. The things I did to that little Ford 1100 still tend to amaze me. What I wonder is if the shock is transmitted to the tractor enough to stall the engine, what are the chances of doing actual damage to the driveline somewhere in between? If I hit a stump, I would assume that either the stump jumper would allow it to bounce over it, or the blades would fold up and keep on turning, thus allowing the engine to continue to run. If that isn't happening, why is the load transmitted to the tractor and why doesn't the shear pin fail? I know when you hit a roll of carpet, an old tire or some other things that absorb the shock, instead of allowing the blades to bounce off of it, but a blade hitting a stump should fold up in a split second.
Seems like a good reason to add a slip clutch to mower. Anyone else got any thoughts on this?
David from jax

I would think that the shear bolt should break if you hit a hard obstacle. Perhaps you could use softer shear bolts?