Rotary Cutter What is the biggest stuff you cut with a 48" brush hog?

[Soundguy]

i know howse and KK have multiple grades from economy to HD.. etc.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

How about 25 acres of grass surrounding 15,000 trees?

 

[jswigert]

Several years ago when I got my first tractor and bush hog I would mow whatever I could push over. The 41 hp 4wd tractor was a killer, the poor cheapo (lowest grade they made) after o ne season of forestry work the bush hog had seen its better days. Long story short but the heaviest cutter you can afford and mow accordingly. I now have a Woods and regularly mow 2"+, but after they have been pushed down and dried some. Don't know if that does any good, but makes me feel better. FYI, some kind of rear cab guard would be nice, have been wacked in the head several times by flying tree parts. I also mow at a slow speed (forward) I have tons of stumps.

Joe

 

[Soundguy]

so you bought the cheapest economy mower possible.. then did 'forestry' work with it.

and now conclude that it's the mowers fault and you must buy top of the line?

buy a mower for the job needed. if you are doing land clearing and forestry.. get hd and industrial models.

if doing light pasture clipping and ROW type work, then the economy jobs are the ticket. I've got plenty of cheap economy hogs, some bought used that are over a decade old. if I pressure washed them and painte dthem and put a new set of blades on.. they'd look new... but then I don't abuse my equpment by running a 200 $ mower in an industrial / HD job environment. I save that for the 2400$ HD mower.

 

[jswigert]

Soundguy,

I think you might want to go back and read my entry better, I was not bad mouthing the mower, simply stating what you said, don't try to over work a piece of equipment. I don't know about you, but I was not born on a tractor or raised on a farm, sometimes one has to learn the hard way. Did I over work the mower, you bet, was it stupid of course it was, I am sure you never had to learn the hard way. I bow to your superior knowledge (sarcasm intended).

Have a great day

so you bought the cheapest economy mower possible.. then did 'forestry' work with it.

and now conclude that it's the mowers fault and you must buy top of the line?

buy a mower for the job needed. if you are doing land clearing and forestry.. get hd and industrial models.

if doing light pasture clipping and ROW type work, then the economy jobs are the ticket. I've got plenty of cheap economy hogs, some bought used that are over a decade old. if I pressure washed them and painte dthem and put a new set of blades on.. they'd look new... but then I don't abuse my equpment by running a 200 $ mower in an industrial / HD job environment. I save that for the 2400$ HD mower.

 

[Soundguy]

some things don't take experience.

needing to do HD work and buying ld tools shouldn't requre expirementation.

I don't have to stick my arm into a be hive and beat it around to know i'm gonna get stung... i can figure that one out on my own.

same deal. I don't have to buy a mower designed to clip a pasture and know it's gonna get ruined landclearing with it.

Like morgan freeman said in bruce almighty.

you step out in front o a semi truck and you are gonna get hurt.

and I read your post fine.

you said to buy the heaviest mower you can afford.

op may not need the most expensivce mower on the planet.

he needs to buy a mower matched to his work. if he's doing demolition with it.. buy more metal. if he's knocking downthe black tops off bahia grass in clean pasture.. don't need a 2000$ mower if a 700$ mower will do.

lets face it. op is looking at sub and 4' mowers. he's not exactly driving a bulldozer. 4' mower tells me his power source is gonna be low. He likely doesn't have enough hp or tractor heft to make use of a 2000$ 1000# monster tree eater mower that can do landclearing, demolition,a nd grind up pavement, houses, and small neighborhoods for side jobs... he's got a small tractor.. and needs a mower he can lift and power up.

If I had 2" material in a pasture i needed to cut and my tractor resembled an expensive rider lawn mower. i'd go out ahead of mowing with a brush axe or axe, and lend the mower a hand. that shouldn't take experience to come to that conclusion either.. just an application of some exceedigly more and more uncommon these days.., 'common' sense.

 

[clemsonfor]

Several years ago when I got my first tractor and bush hog I would mow whatever I could push over. The 41 hp 4wd tractor was a killer, the poor cheapo (lowest grade they made) after o ne season of forestry work the bush hog had seen its better days. Long story short but the heaviest cutter you can afford and mow accordingly. I now have a Woods and regularly mow 2"+, but after they have been pushed down and dried some. Don't know if that does any good, but makes me feel better. FYI, some kind of rear cab guard would be nice, have been wacked in the head several times by flying tree parts. I also mow at a slow speed (forward) I have tons of stumps.

Joe

Actually cutting "dried" stuff is harder on your blades and takes more power, as there is less moisture in it which acts as a lubrication to reduce heat and allow the blades to penetrate better.

This is the reason you dull your chain saw faster in old dried out wood and also the reason they cut GREEN trees and not allow them to sit and dry. Also the loggers i deal with with fuel wood chipppers dont chip up dried stuff, its to "hard on the knives" it dulls them faster and makes it go slower, not to mention less weight on a truck that they are getting paid for by weight.