Power Trac PT425 4\' Brush Hog Works Great
Well, I got to try out our 4' brush hog on the PT425 today. I switched from the plow(not getting any use this winter), backed it up into my pickup, secured everything and off I went. Unloaded, drove to a brushy area, revved up the engine and flipped the PTO switch for the first time(read nervous) and off I went. Started on dead grass. No problems. Moved up to small briars, no problems. Layed into some multiflora rose, ate it up. Blasted my way through some 8' high weeds, again no problems except that the weeds were so high that they started coming up over the front of the brush hog and leaning against the canopy, making it very hard to see! Man, I'm telling you these weeds were thick! Granted, they were dead. Live ones probably wouldn't have been so easy, but I cut through them like butter. Then I started going for the saplings. I went through anything that was 1.5 inches or less. Anything larger wouldn't bend under the front of the cutter and would just stop the tractor, making the turfs spin. I was not dissapointed. I was impressed.
I spent about two hours on it and I have got to say that having the cutter out in front of you is SO much better than my 5' brush hog on a 3pt setup. First of all, with the cutter behind you, you have to run over everything with your tractor before it even gets to the cutter, or you have to back into everything. With the cutter in font of you everything is gone before the tractor gets there. If you do have to back up, you are backing into an area that has already been cut, so no sticks or saplings will spring up and poke you or the underside of the tractor. Also, my neck was not sore from watching the rear mounted cutter. I just sat there with my arms on the rests, driving along, making trails.
It started snowing pretty hard and, while I do have a canopy to keep me dry, the water on all of the brush started flipping in and soaking the tops of my legs. It got cold, and I was finished, so I left.
The only dissapointment that I had was that I could not get the video camera out to film it for everyone, as it was too damp for the camera. I promise that I will get it filmed the first chance that I get.
On a safety note, I made the mistake of not checking the area near where the driveway meets the highway before I started brush hogging. I hit a large metal ratcheting tie down that was under the fallen grass. The cutter flung it against one of the plastic gauge wheels and shattered it, throwing chunks of plastic and the tie down about 30 feet. I'll take some pics of the broken stuff and post it in the safety forum as a reminder to all.
