Brush hogging

Farming2020 · Mar 9, 2020

Hello,

I live in upstate NY. Last summer I was not able to hay two fields because they were too wet . Is there any negative affects on brush hogging them now as spring is approaching? Will the hay be ready to get first cutting at the end of May or beginning of June?

Thank you

rrlund · Mar 9, 2020

The shredded up mess will plug the knives on a conventional haybine. You're still gonna have it in the hay whether you brush hog it or not,so I don't see the sense doing it.

MJMJ · Mar 9, 2020

As long as you keep the blades up a bit, 10" or more, and the grass isn t super thick, its fine. I ve done it plenty in March, though its a lot better to do it in the fall. My goal is to just knock the upper half off to let light in and get rid of sapling/briars. If there are any saplings or briars, drop the mower and scalp them off.

The one exception I know of is certain types of grass that don t break down easily. Reed canary grass for example, will lay there almost a year and still plug a mower. But our normal grasses here break down pretty quick if they re not left in a tight packed row from a bush hog set low.

Traditional Farmer · Mar 10, 2020

If you have access to a large flail mower like the hiway dept mowers use it'll chop up the grasses really fine and spread it out evenly,with the rain and humidity in my area (VA) it'd
rot in a hurry.

JK-NY · Mar 11, 2020

I am in Upstate NY too.If it was too wet to get on the ground last summer I would be worried about rutting up your hay fields brush hogging this time of the year. If it freezes up or the ground is fairly firm you could try it, I would mow it lower (4-5?) with hope that more of the cut material gets through the stubble so as not to cause mowing issues and try to keep what you brush hog out of your hay. If you can?t get it done before the grass starts to grow I would forget it, but it will affect the quality of the hay if the old stuff mixes in your first cutting. I would say that it shouldn?t affect when the hay is ready unless you cut it after it greens up and grows. I have a friend that was given a piece of hay to cut for free that hadn?t been cut for a couple years. He brush hogged it early in May when it had grown a little, and it regrew fast and was nice quality about 2-3 weeks later than the rest of the hay. I had some hay I ended up cutting and leaving last year, some got wet 2-3 times and a little that it just got too late.

sunbeam · Mar 15, 2020

showcrop · Mar 16, 2020

We haven't for years, but our fire dept. used to burn fields for donations.

TX-AC · Apr 3, 2020

(quoted from post at 00:19:44 03/10/20) Hello,

I live in upstate NY. Last summer I was not able to hay two fields because they were too wet . Is there any negative affects on brush hogging them now as spring is approaching? Will the hay be ready to get first cutting at the end of May or beginning of June?

Thank you

I was raised on a dairy in Central NY and if we could not get 1st off, we were allowed to burn the following spring and it gave it a great refresh, just mowed it last the year we burned.
I would consider brush cutting after touching up your blades with a hand held grinder; cut a good 8-10" high and go very slowly so it has more chance of "grinding it up", reverse direction on each pass if close to covering tractor tire tread width and see how it "windrows". If it is windrowing noticeably, go over it again in the reverse direction at same slow speed. Then cut the hay higher to prevent plugging, let it mulch down and you may have to cut 2nd cutting high as well, just depends on rains.
Short of flail cutting or burning, you just may find what you can leave as "mulch" will bring a good stand next year.
Another option is to brush cut slowly again after getting 2nd off, mow it low but no lower than what you would cut 1st cutting for hay normally and if done mid-late August you will have all winter for it to deteriorate and mulch down.

Brush hogging

Farming2020

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rrlund

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MJMJ

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Traditional Farmer

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JK-NY

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sunbeam

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showcrop

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TX-AC

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