What can a BUSH HOG do?

[KYDan]

Guys, you are giving me GREAT input, thanks.
Couple of questions....my "hog" is a light duty (I guess) old, bought used, FORD built BIG BEE brand?) IT has no "clutch" just a shear pin.
Would that leave the same "stakes" sticking up that a "low cut" chain saw would leave?
I never thought about the toothed FEL. Yes, I did buy some teeth last year....would I just set it about 2" off the ground and grunt thru the saplings? Or do you push up to them and lift the bucket to try to pull them out of the ground? Then what....go OVER them with the hog or throw them off to the side? It would be nice to haul them up to the field and rent a chipper. My field has such poor soil that some chips might help it...Wonder what a chipper would rent for?.

I push further up on the trunk and use the weight of the tree to assist with pulling up the rootball unless it is a small sapling. The toothbars make great rakes when cleaning up the spoil and really help with digging. A toothbar dramatically increases the effectiveness of the bucket for land clearing. You need to be very careful when pushing over trees with the bucket raised as it can slide across the trunk and create havoc if you are not careful. The toothbar also helps here as it reduces that tendency. Get the tree started over and then get a bite lower on the trunk and finally push behing the rootball. You can get underneath the rootball with your loader bucket and the teeth will hold it and then you can "shake" the rootball with the loader causing it to lose a lot of the dirt in it. When you move the tree(s) out of the way you can back drag and fill in the hole. You will still have a depression, but it is not as big a hole as you originally did.

 

[Ken45101]

Guys, you are giving me GREAT input, thanks.
Couple of questions....my "hog" is a light duty (I guess) old, bought used, FORD built BIG BEE brand?) IT has no "clutch" just a shear pin.
Would that leave the same "stakes" sticking up that a "low cut" chain saw would leave?
I never thought about the toothed FEL. Yes, I did buy some teeth last year....would I just set it about 2" off the ground and grunt thru the saplings? Or do you push up to them and lift the bucket to try to pull them out of the ground? Then what....go OVER them with the hog or throw them off to the side? It would be nice to haul them up to the field and rent a chipper. My field has such poor soil that some chips might help it...Wonder what a chipper would rent for?.

A bushog/shredder shreds the "stumps" rather than leaving them cut and stiff. You can do okay with a chain saw, just make sure that you get it very close to ground level (an inch or less) and cut it off square (parallel to the ground), not at an angle.

As for using the tooth bar, well it depends. If you are pushing over a 4" sapling, then I would go 2-3' off the ground and try to lever the root ball out (also depends on the tree species). Small stuff I would try digging them out with the teeth.

It depends on what you have but unless it's real small stuff, I'd push it off to the side. Rotary cutters ("bushhogs") are not very good at "whole tree shredding" of larger saplings.

Make sure you have an extra supply of shear pins on hand.

Ken

 

[mroldstyle]

using the equipment in your avatar shouldn't be any problem. Might want to put a skid plate under the tractor first. $40 worth of steel would have saved me $225 in hydraulic filter, housing, and unscheduled hydraulic oil change :thumbsup:

 

[jbrumberg]

You have the equipment to handle this project.

"Make sure you have an extra supply of shear pins on hand.". You'll probably consider getting a slip clutch for your rotary cutter by the time you are finished.

I would suggest that you be aware of where the limbs and branches are going as you run through the vegetation while cutting. Limbs and branches have a knack for getting caught in the worst possible places as mroldstyle has reported. There is a reason why they call a lot of couplings quick connect/disconnect (both hydraulic and electrical connectors). And also watch out for standing limbs that will want to knock off the hazard and remote lights. There is also a reason why they call knockoff hazards knockoff hazards.

Keep your FEL/toothbar down to help find hidden surface obstructions as you cut.

 

[buck12]

using the equipment in your avatar shouldn't be any problem. Might want to put a skid plate under the tractor first. $40 worth of steel would have saved me $225 in hydraulic filter, housing, and unscheduled hydraulic oil change :thumbsup:

Glad to know I'm not the only one to have tore the hydraulic filter from under their tractor. To the op I have done a lot of cleaning up old logging roads. My one piece of advice is to keep a chainsaw handy so that you can cut any bigger trees. If you have the saw you will be less tempted to try and shred a tree that is a little too big.

 

[Short Game]

Saplings are a snap to pull out, roots and all, with a Brush Grubber and the FEL. If you have two people, you can really go fast. I have a small Brush Grubber (3 inch and under) that I added easy opening handles to. I got mine from Northern Tool.

Doing it this way leaves the ground clear and almost like it's been tilled.

 

[SuperCobra]

I push further up on the trunk and use the weight of the tree to assist with pulling up the rootball unless it is a small sapling. The toothbars make great rakes when cleaning up the spoil and really help with digging. A toothbar dramatically increases the effectiveness of the bucket for land clearing. You need to be very careful when pushing over trees with the bucket raised as it can slide across the trunk and create havoc if you are not careful. The toothbar also helps here as it reduces that tendency. Get the tree started over and then get a bite lower on the trunk and finally push behing the rootball. You can get underneath the rootball with your loader bucket and the teeth will hold it and then you can "shake" the rootball with the loader causing it to lose a lot of the dirt in it. When you move the tree(s) out of the way you can back drag and fill in the hole. You will still have a depression, but it is not as big a hole as you originally did.

:thumbsup:

I've done all the trails this way. Much better than the hog because no stubs are left.

 

[Mpking]

Lots of good ideas so far. I'll add another.

I took care of a similar problem on my property 2 summers ago. I had numerous maple and alder saplings 0.5-1.5" in diameter and no tractor at the time. I just got a saw blade style cutting head for for my Stihl FS 110 trimmer and went to town. Best part was that I could easily cut them all off at ground level which solves the stump problem that a chainsaw or brush hog leaves behind. Time wise, it would be quicker than using a chainsaw but definitely slower than just hogging it.

 

[53GMC]

With a good bush hog you can clear some thick stuff. This month I had my 1952 ford 8n with a 6ft howes bush hog on a Newley purchased piece of land to clear the saplings and brush off of. I cut saplings 3" in diameter with an ford 8n My biggest drawback was my tractor goes to fast in 1st and faster in rev. just go slow backing over stuff if you are worried about scratching your tractor, and watch out for vines getting ahold of parts (I lost a oil cap and a headlight) A bush hog will also shreed and chip the saplings. If it was me I would use a bush hog on it and take a chain saw just Incase you find some really big stuff. Philip.

 

[new jersey mike]

I think it really depends on your brush hog and the condition it's in. From your comments it does not seem as if your saplings are that big. I purchased my property an knew opening up overgrown fields were going to be my biggest project. I had no experience and no equipment, I decided to buy a new 45hp tractor NH T1530, a FEL and 6'ft bucket and an new bushhog SQ172 (6ft). I decided not to cut over 3 inches although the mower was rated that high as a medium- heavy duty. I am sure I did though from time to time hit 3" and definitely hit multiple clumps of 2 inch plus. I work with an oversized milk crate on the mower which hold the stihl 16 inch saw, 1 gal of fuel, chain oil 5 gallon bucket with tools, etc.

I "had" one field that was at least 20 years overgrown which really pussed the definition of a field. I received multiple quotes for clearing it and mostly were dozer, which was not a choice for me since I wanted to preserve the 200year old soil. This was also a hillside project.

The plan was to mow always moving forward and down hill. I was able to cut a slot in the mix of trees, saplings, briar and scub brush. With a slot cut I could walk with the saw and cut then pull out larger trees and then mow through. I did make the decision to buy a grapple for the FEL so I could move the brush piles I was creating. I learned quickly to cut with the bucket attached not the grapple. I did not want the saplings to pull out they would only get caught under the tractor and some push up into the heavily shielded fan. I can not believe what I was able to do and I am 80 percent done.

In closing lower the bucket, move forward and move slow. Also post a google link of your parcel with this google pinpoint - tiny URL site. Here is mine, just click and select satellite view. The right edge is a weekend spring project. Google Maps To Send a Position

But I think a picture or 2 would show it better.