Brush Hog mods

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I got told that if you leave the brush hog blade dull, it chews up the stubs so much they can't puncture a tractor tire. Not sure if that is true.

But, the guy who told me that has been whacking stuff down for years. And doesn't seem to get many flats.

 

[ptsg]

I got told that if you leave the brush hog blade dull, it chews up the stubs so much they can't puncture a tractor tire. Not sure if that is true.

But, the guy who told me that has been whacking stuff down for years. And doesn't seem to get many flats.

That's correct, even more so with the chains. Technically it slows the growth down some as well.

If you zoom in on the sticks in front of the front tires, you can see how the material gets ripped apart and kinda leaving this fuzzy ends, which won't damage the tires.

This land I cut was mostly over grown gorse. About 3 to 4 ft tall. Some of the thicker stuff was in the 2.5" in diameter.

 

[D&D]

That's correct, even more so with the chains. Technically it slows the growth down some as well.

If you zoom in on the sticks in front of the front tires, you can see how the material gets ripped apart and kinda leaving this fuzzy ends, which won't damage the tires.

This land I cut was mostly over grown gorse. About 3 to 4 ft tall. Some of the thicker stuff was in the 2.5" in diameter

But it's so pretty

 

[bsekf]

Realize the last thread activity was in 3/25.

I have read this entire thread and most of the previous thread. One of the first pictures from "ptsg" was in the woods and it almost looked like it was done with a mulcher. Can you get the chains close enough to the ground to almost mulch? Many of the places I would use a chain brush hog have ruts and are very uneven. Would the chains work, kinda like a harley rake? It is hard on a blade when you excavate!

Is here a reason to use a chain shield on the back of the brush hog, other than protecting spectators? I understand a front chain shield protects the tractor and operator.

"scootr" When you cut and drill the old blades and attach the chains to them, did you consider 2 chains, one above and one below, so the shear on the bolts would be equal, not bend and shear? Or did you look for a hardened clevis? How has drilling the blades worked out for you? How hard are the old blades? Did you try to balance them?

 

[ptsg]

Realize the last thread activity was in 3/25.

I have read this entire thread and most of the previous thread. One of the first pictures from "ptsg" was in the woods and it almost looked like it was done with a mulcher. Can you get the chains close enough to the ground to almost mulch? Many of the places I would use a chain brush hog have ruts and are very uneven. Would the chains work, kinda like a harley rake? It is hard on a blade when you excavate!

Is here a reason to use a chain shield on the back of the brush hog, other than protecting spectators? I understand a front chain shield protects the tractor and operator.

"scootr" When you cut and drill the old blades and attach the chains to them, did you consider 2 chains, one above and one below, so the shear on the bolts would be equal, not bend and shear? Or did you look for a hardened clevis? How has drilling the blades worked out for you? How hard are the old blades? Did you try to balance them?

Chain mulcher is actually a more accurate name for it. You'll actually find more results searching by that name.

It does mulch fairly good and since it tends to rip/tear the material apart, rather than a clean-ish cut compared to the blades, it slows the growth of the brush down.

I deal with uneven ground all the time. It just don't care. You'll see an huge cloud of dust when it hits the ground, so I just lift it. I usually have my hand on the 3 pt lever on these areas to quickly raise the cutter, as it sometimes pops the shear pin.

As far as cutting height, it's adjustable using the skids/skates (?) on the sides. I have 3 positions on mine, lowest being about 1.5" tall and the highest being 3.5", more or less.

I used to run in the lowest setting but due to the uneven ground I usually work on, it did wore out the chains faster than it should. These days I keep it in the middle position.

The chain shield is there to prevent debris from flying and hurting someone or damage something. It's the only type of shield I want on a brush cutter and have no desire to remove it. It works very well at containing the debris and it just lasts a lifetime pretty much. It does need to be correctly built as I've seen some cheap cutters with shields that had the short chains split apart to much that makes it pretty much worthless.

Here is a video if you're interested. Just to show how it behaves and mulches the material. This is an old video and it was the first time I used this tractor and cutter, so I was going slow. Also, on a land I had no previous knowledge and was on a hunt for the limits.

 

[scootr]

As for my low cost conversion drilling the old blades was no problem, they are not hardened. I used grade 8 bolts, washers, nuts and grade 7 chain. Wonder if 2 chains might get knotted up. But has shredded everything I have run over so far. Just like a brush hog going slower produces a more complete cut and the same with a flail. I have all 3 types of mowers and they all have their plusses and minuses... mostly use the chain mower for rough cut where I'm bound to hit rocks

 

[Gord Baker]

Chain mulcher is actually a more accurate name for it. You'll actually find more results searching by that name.

It does mulch fairly good and since it tends to rip/tear the material apart, rather than a clean-ish cut compared to the blades, it slows the growth of the brush down.

I deal with uneven ground all the time. It just don't care. You'll see an huge cloud of dust when it hits the ground, so I just lift it. I usually have my hand on the 3 pt lever on these areas to quickly raise the cutter, as it sometimes pops the shear pin.

As far as cutting height, it's adjustable using the skids/skates (?) on the sides. I have 3 positions on mine, lowest being about 1.5" tall and the highest being 3.5", more or less.

I used to run in the lowest setting but due to the uneven ground I usually work on, it did wore out the chains faster than it should. These days I keep it in the middle position.

The chain shield is there to prevent debris from flying and hurting someone or damage something. It's the only type of shield I want on a brush cutter and have no desire to remove it. It works very well at containing the debris and it just lasts a lifetime pretty much. It does need to be correctly built as I've seen some cheap cutters with shields that had the short chains split apart to much that makes it pretty much worthless.

Here is a video if you're interested. Just to show how it behaves and mulches the material. This is an old video and it was the first time I used this tractor and cutter, so I was going slow. Also, on a land I had no previous knowledge and was on a hunt for the limits.

It appears that you are cutting 4" too low, not allowing the cut debris to escape.

 

[ptsg]

It appears that you are cutting 4" too low, not allowing the cut debris to escape.

I was cutting as low as I could. As for the debris, if it can't escape, it gets mulched till it can.

 

[Gord Baker]

Of course you know best. That is why you are doing it twice!!!

 

[ptsg]

I'm just mowing brush for fire prevention. It's not a lawn, it's not a scientific task. Just needs the brush gone and preferably in a way that takes longer to grow back.

This was done in 2017 and this brush was growing since the last wildfire we had in the area, back in 2009.

Came out pretty well for the first job with this setup: