Any brush hogging tips?

80sDweeb

Member
Because our house burned on Nov. 1, 2014, we're building a new home farther back on our 5 acre property - the old farmhouse was RIGHT by the road. The new house will now have no back yard, until I can clear out the overgrowth back there, so I'm looking at tractors and brush hogs, and thinking about what I'd like, and what I can afford (which isn't much.) But my question is more about technique than equipment, but any advice would be welcome.

I was watching a couple YouTube videos about brush hogging in overgrown areas (lots of saplings, vines and stickers, etc.) I saw that one guy was "ow, ow" -ing a lot, as he want along, getting scratches on his hands from stickers as he leaned away to try to avoid the worst of it (but his hand on the steering wheel was very exposed.) Watching another video, the operator had his leather roper gloves on, and as soon as he came upon sticker branches across his path, he reached back into his toolbox, and came out with a small pair of pruners, which he used to clip the branches and keep going at one point, and at another point he got off and clipped them before passing through (he was maintaining trails, rather than just clearing all the brush away.)

This got me thinking, there must be a LOT of good brush hogging experience and ideas out there (like "wear gloves", have a dust/pollen mask with you, keep a pruner in the toolbox, etc.) I'd much rather go to bush hogging school here on YT, than try to figure it out myself, and get hurt or worse in the process. So please, don't be shy - share what you know. I'm old and I learn slow, but somebody will have to clear this land once my new house gets built where the old barn was.

I have heard a few times about how a rotary cutter can "push" the mower if you don't have an overrun clutch, on a manual pto (aka transmission pto) machine, and that can create some wild rides! (Maybe through a fence, or over an embankment.) So one "tip" would be, get an overrun clutch if your machine needs one.

Scott in Brighton NY
 
I hardly mow through stuff that thick I am always cautious driving in stuff like that cause all the post and branches that can come up and get
you, it can be pretty dangerous.
 
If you can leave it until Winter when you can see a whole lot better what is in there it'll be better for the 1st time thru.If I'm 'going blind' into an area I've never cut before I always try to use a tricycle tractor so I have a much better chance of the wheels running over something like a big rock or stump before the 'hog hits it.Also if you have to cut it now take it very slow and cut it high the first time thru.
 
You could look into renting a skidloader with a brush hog mounted on it. Local dealer charges $175 per day for the hog only. I"m looking to buy one- they"re in the $4-5000+ range. google Brush Wolf or Bradco Sharktooth for an example.
 
We cleared 50 acres two years ago that had 6 or 7 years of growth since it was farmed last. They started mowing with a small 3 point brush hog, I came down later with our 10 ft pull behind. All the larger trees were plucked out and piled. All the small trees, cedars and rose bushes were mowed and then disced twice with a plowing disc.

Most of the fields I could drive through and mow, most dangerous place on the mower was the rear, we didn't mow where other people were working because it would kick lots of pieces out the back. Some places the bushes were so thick you couldn't drive through, so I would back the mower through, I would chop trees up to about 2 inches with my mower and leave the rest to the mini excavators to pluck. Out of 50 acres I'd say we probably mowed 40 acres of it, the rest was so thick we rented a machine mounted grinder to chop up all the junk. Out of all the work we did we only lost 2 tires, one from a sticker in the front tire of the mowing tractor and one on the backhoe because it had a split in the side wall.

You should try to walk what you can to get an idea of what's there. Beware of any old fence lines, if you wrap fence wire up in a mower you'll wish you never started.
 
What all the others here have said. I will add a few thoughts as well.

If you have a tractor with a FEL then you can use that to push down some of the thorny stuff to help prevent scratches.

When I am hogging in thorny/sticker stuff like brier patches or areas with thorny trees I wear a good Dickies or Carhart heavy canvas jacket and good heavy leather gloves to help avoid scratches as well. I know the jacket is hot in the summer but it has also helped prevent a few wasp stings as well. If you forgo the jacket then at the least wear a good heavy khaki like long sleeved shirt.

I also wear a good wide brim hat with a chin strap as you can tilt your head a little to let the hat top and brim take some of the sticker limbs that come over at you too.

Heavy denim jeans or brush pants are a must. Along with a good high top leather boot.

I know some of these things might seem like common sense but I know a guy that hogs in t-shirt, shorts and sneakers cause its hot and he gets scratched up pretty good.

One thing that I do to help the tractor and hog out when clearing bushy areas like you are talking about is after first pass only cutting about a 2/3 wide path as this helps the tractor maintain RPM better and allows some area under the hog to not be under load thus allowing an area for some of the debris to be spread out a bit. Usually keeps the tractor from bogging down as bad and chops the stuff up a bit better.

Another thing here. GO SLOW trying to hog this stuff down running the tractor in to high a gear is asking for trouble. Slow down and you will not shear as many shear bolts, possibly twisting a PTO shaft (saw a guy do that one hogging to fast), twisting the jack shaft or other bad expensive things. Speaking of shear bolts go to your local favorite Farm supplier and buy a few. NEVER and I repeat NEVER use any bolt other than a shear bolt. Knew a guy that got tired of replacing those (he would not slow down) and replaced a shear bolt with a grade 8 bolt. That was one seriously expensive lesson he learned.

Another reason to slow down is should you see something you have more time to either drive around it or stop.

Keep your gear box on the hog at proper gear lube levels and your blades sharp. Keep a light coating of grease of other heavy lube on the jack shaft so it slides in and out easily.

Just my 2 cents
 
One other thing. When hogging in general stop about every 45 minutes to an hour and clean out the screen that is in front of the rad as this screen has a real tendency to collect leaves and stuff restricting the airflow through the rad.

This may seem simple and some here will go "DUH" but have seen some guys that don't and have seen them overheat an engine.
 
I appreciate all the shared information! I just spoke to a guy with an apple farm, he's selling his pesticide spraying tractor, a 1972 MF 135 diesel, should be perfect for what I need, with live pto and hi-lo transmission (of course I could always use more HP, but you can't have everything!) I'll put a 5 foot rotary cutter behind it and do some clearing. I hadn't considered how much easier it would be after the leaves fall, that's probably when they'll be building the house, so I'll have a lot of time to do clearing before the snow falls, if everything works out OK.

Scott in Brighton NY
 
Also put the 3 point in float I snapped a few shear bolts before I
did that.i would also get a Bush hog with a slip clutch a lot better
then shear bolt. As odd as it sounds unless I'm cutting grass I
would rather have the blades dull it does take more horsepower but
looking at thistles and other woody plants I'm thinking that a
ragged cut and it wouldn't heal as fast in other words a clean cut
and the plant can recover but one with the top all busted up won't
 
X2 on backing thru the heavy stuff. I actually cut the back deck off anold heavy duty what had a slip clutch and wiped out over 5 acres of stuff up
to 2 inches that had heavy vines also. Replace your top link with a chain and wear protective clothing. carry a can of 20' range wasp spray. After
chopping everything mow it like you would normally. mow again every 30 days and shred the dead stuff and kill the sprouts. Dull blades do work
best. i'm in the jungly part of Florida and this is what we do.
 
That is the perfect tractor for you, and difficult to find. Don't let it get away. Try for a little haggle discount but pay whatever you have to to get it.
 
MF 135 will run a 6' mower which is just slightly wider than the tractor itself.

Other than what's been said, have an escape plan if you find bees or a large wasp nest.
 
(quoted from post at 22:26:14 08/03/15) That is the perfect tractor for you, and difficult to find. Don't let it get away. Try for a little haggle discount but pay whatever you have to to get it.

I bought the MF 135 diesel for $2000, not pretty but solid, except for one tire that's got bad cracking and missing rubber on the sidewalls near the tread lugs (showing old, frayed cord.) I will use it until it goes, then bite the bullet and put on a new tire (unless I can find a good used tire in the meantime.)

Now I'm looking for the rotary cutter, but my budget got really tight when I bought the Massey. I could have bought an old Ford with a cutter included for less, but after asking around here at YT and at TBN, I was persuaded that a creeper low gear and a live pto were important for the work I need to get done, and even morese considering my inexperience (not to mention there's a good chance that the MF will cost less for maintenance in the long run.) So I'm happy the way things are working out so far, but searching hard for a bargain 5 or 6 foot cutter.

Scott in Brighton NY
 
Five footers are very light duty. Buy a 6 foot and be done. 90% of the used small bushogs I've seen are TOAST. Be Careful. I think Cabela's has a new line implements that they are selling at 0% interest.
 
I would make a pass around the outer edge first. Then cut a few paths across it that way you can walk through and cut down any large saplings with a saw and keep from damaging your mower. The slower the better cut your gonna get
 
Make a field out of the area you are going to mow and mow around the field, not back and forth. No matter what rotary mower you purchase it will have a discharge side. They all discharge out the rear but due to the direction of blade rotation the material will be biased toward one side or the other. You will notice a windrow when mowing in heavy material, that is your discharge side. I have a 6' Rhino and it discharges on the left side (looking from the rear) so I go around my fields in a clockwise direction. In heavy stuff I always overlap at least two feet (only four feet of new cut per round). This allows the cut material an escape route and cleans up the cut a bit.

If you go back and forth you will have to rechew most of what you cut on half your passes.

If mowing against a fence go the 'opposite' direction so that your mower discharges away from your fence, then turn around and go the 'correct' direction. You will have to rechew that one round but its worth it to keep your fence row clean.
 

+1 on the go slow and cut high.
Doing multiple passes can save you from frustration . . . like getting stuck on a rock pile - trust me, I know! :oops:
 
Sometimes it helps scatter things by
having the nose of the Bush hog lower and
the back higher . I used to run them flat
but I looked at the operators manual on my
three point one and they recommend an
offset of a couple inches and it doesn't
leave much behind
 

Farmerwithmutt - are you in the driftless area?
I'm up on Irma Hill and have found that if I don't run my mower flat that the response for the 'self-leveling' action on the 3-point doesn't respond well. (Leyland 270 w/ 5' 22-178 mower) And being on hilly ground you realize quick that the 'self-leveling' feature is very nice.

Admittedly I am new to tractors so maybe I need to experiment more. . . .
 
Yes Lafayette County sitting on a copper
mine. What I did when the tail wheel hits
the ground it's about 2 inches higher in
back the 3 point is adjusted to run lower
in front then back . I also taken the stops
out of the 3 point (oliver) and let it
float. That way if you hit a hump the mower
will float over i busted a few shear bolts
trying to level ground with it before I
figured that one out. all the weight is
carried on the tail wheel or the bottom
part of the 3 point holes
 

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