Using Brush hog as a chipper ?

[MikePA]

Perhaps it's worth stating the obvious.....Whether someone can use a brush hog as a chipper is determined by what they mean by 'brush'. No one in their right mind would drop a mower on a tree stump or tree trunk.

 

[AndyMA]

Andy,

I would use the chipper, but 1) its manual feed and I've got too much to do, 2) I'm told my chipper doesn't like brush-type stuff and 3) the chipper weighs 1000lbs and I've just got a Kubota 7500 and its very dicey if not impossible to get it up the hill where the brush is and too much work to move the brush to the chipper and 4) I don't have a FEL grappler, so it would be a major difficulty moving that much brush to where my chipper is. Its okay if I end up with banana peel chips, I'm just trying to reduce the volume and unsighliness. Maybe then I could move it with my FEL somewhere. Believe me I would use the chipper if it weren't for 1) - 4). (Don't ask how I could get the chipper where it is but not move it where it belongs- long story).

Thanks for responding.

Bob

BTW, Even though I have a chipper with hydraulic feed and a good sized tractor, I've been known to drop a bush hog on a pile to make it easier to handle. You might want to "shrink" the pile with the bush hog and then put the rest of the pile in the bucket and bring it to the chipper.

Even with hydraulic feed you still need to handle the dam stuff.

Andy

 

[HomeBrew2]

Perhaps it's worth stating the obvious.....Whether someone can use a brush hog as a chipper is determined by what they mean by 'brush'. No one in their right mind would drop a mower on a tree stump or tree trunk.

Indeed! Very well said! I thought the context was established in the first post ... as maybe you did as well. ... knowing/remembering what is in the pile is key. Also, being in a perpetually wet environment can slant one's view when the rest of the world has burn bans for the majority of months of the year.

 

[Highbeam]

"I've got piles of cedar branches ranging from twigs to 2-3 inch branches.

If I get limbs more than an inch in diameter out of the piles, can my brush hog chip them up pretty good or will it damage the brush hog ?"

I reread your first post and while you didn't specify the size of the piles, I can make a school bus sized pile in one day, you did specify all stuff is less than an inch thick. These piles can be pulled apart and mulched into dust yes dust. Larger trunks and stumps shred into more banana peels but my experience with that overgrown grass is that it goes away and turns to duff like on the forest floor.

So I change my vote. You can do it. Sorry for the change up. The week of 90+ temps and no rain, plus the burn bans, have gotten to my head since I am so used to the perpetual wetness.

Oh and I may not be in my right mind but I have been known to brushhog certain stumps, logs, and trunks if the material is soft enough to be chewed up. My pile from the last 5 clearing days is 8 feet tall, 40 feet wide, and over 100 feet long. I will add another 20 feet of length to that tomorrow. When the brush pile is that big it is time to hire the disposal out. Burning is risky, time consuming, and hard on equipment if I do it myself so the logger comes and does it with a big honkin excavator plus his inurance. Other more expensive options are loading the material into a semi trailer to be transported to a grinding/compost operation or to be loaded into a tub grinder on site. Economics dictate burning in my location.

 

[sandman2234]

I have been working on clearing a piece of property next to the church. It was bought for future expansions and I just do it when I have extra time. No cost to the church. The property does not get city pick up of lawn debri or trash, so when one of the neighbors across the street started putting his brush on our side of the road, it just grew into a very large pile. I asked the Pastor if he wanted to confront the man, or if I just needed to make the pile disapear. He took the latter of the two.
I waited till one fine afternoon when a national superbowl game was going on, and proceded to start to back into that pile. Talk about a bunch of noise! I worked on that pile, over and over for almost an hour till I got it in small enough pieces to suit myself. He came out twice, never saying a word, and I never said anything, but we haven't had any more piles on our side of the road.
David from Jax

 

[HomeBrew2]

I have been working on clearing a piece of property next to the church. It was bought for future expansions and I just do it when I have extra time. No cost to the church. The property does not get city pick up of lawn debri or trash, so when one of the neighbors across the street started putting his brush on our side of the road, it just grew into a very large pile. I asked the Pastor if he wanted to confront the man, or if I just needed to make the pile disapear. He took the latter of the two.
I waited till one fine afternoon when a national superbowl game was going on, and proceded to start to back into that pile. Talk about a bunch of noise! I worked on that pile, over and over for almost an hour till I got it in small enough pieces to suit myself. He came out twice, never saying a word, and I never said anything, but we haven't had any more piles on our side of the road.
David from Jax

Cheers!, man!!! As the kids say, "that's what I'm talkin' about" !!!

 

[daTeacha]

And here I was thinking you'd use the FEL to sneak the stuff back into his yard during the halftime commercials.

 

[sandman2234]

daTeacha ,
Can't do it that way, since I spent most of my front end loader money on a forklift. Got some stuff to do with it, then I might put it on the market for sale. Then back to the FEL project.
David from jax