Rotary Cutter 60" or 72" Bush Hog for brush clearing with 40hp

[JerryG]

Ed,
I hope you don't mind me asking but why a flail? They are more expensive to purchase and are more expensive to maintain. Do you just like flails or is it because they are shorter or is there a reason that I don't see? Just curious. It just looks like a rotary cutter would be a much better choice. What am I missing?

 

[IslandTractor]

Ed,
I hope you don't mind me asking but why a flail? They are more expensive to purchase and are more expensive to maintain. Do you just like flails or is it because they are shorter or is there a reason that I don't see? Just curious. It just looks like a rotary cutter would be a much better choice. What am I missing?

There are several reasons for the flail. Cost was not a major barrier as the Caroni TM1900 can be purchased from AgriSupply and delivered for about the same or even less than a premium brand rotary cutter or finish mower. I think I paid just under $1600 delivered. It is not the sort of heavy duty (expensive) flail you'd see a highway crew using but rather something to be used on athletic fields or in populated areas etc. The reason for choosing it was primarily that a good part of the routine mowing that I do is in close proximity to houses and pedestrians including children. I've shot enough lumps of wood and rock out the back of my bush hog to have worries about that issue. I didn't want a finish mower as then I'd definitely need a full sized Bush Hog too and that would essentially double the cost, storage and to some extent equipment maintenance.

I got the TM1900 because it has hammers not knives and the area I mow has lots of rocks. I'm not interested in "lawn" mowing so a rough pasture cut will be fine. I also wanted to be able to cut lower than I had been able to cut with my Bush Hog without gouging/scalping. I could never get the Bush Hog to cut reliably below about 4 inches without damaging the turf when I turned. The land is just bumpy enough that every 5th or 6th turn the conditions were such that the front edge of the Bush Hog would start plowing the turf when I tried to cut any shorter.

Storage was also a consideration. I have an old barn which was big enough to store my smaller tractor plus bush hog attached but which would have been too small/short for the DK40 plus a 6ft bush hog. The flail is much shorter so will fit in the barn. Saves time taking it on and off etc.

I am aware that flail mowers require more maintenance than other mowers but I don't think (at least I hope) that will not be a big negative. The Caroni flails are built in Italy and while they are not heavy duty flails like some of the US companies sell, they seem to be quite reliable. Again, I chose the rough cut hammer model which has "only" 56 hammers rather than the finish model with almost double that number of knives partly to cut down on maintenance.

We'll see how it goes. I know that flails are not that common in the US or on TBN but there do seem to be an increasing number of folks who have bought them and report they are quite happy with the results.

 

[JerryG]

The reason for choosing it was primarily that a good part of the routine mowing that I do is in close proximity to houses and pedestrians including children.
That is a good enough reason. From reading about you property, it didn't seem like there was home close by.

 

[scott_vt]

In 1939 it was a pristine farm. In 1972 there were junk cars lining the fields and some areas had returned to brush. In 1992, the cars were gone (thank heavens) but the brush was worse. The brush today fully covers one 5 acre field so thickly that you cannot walk at all and cannot even see beyond the first bushes. My original estimate was that the land had not been mowed in 8-10 years but now it appears we are talking 15 years minimum.

Afternoon Ed,
One word of caution, maybe you have even thought about it allready yourself ! If there were junk cars in that field becareful when doing the preliminary mowing, you may have some old car rims, etc that type of debris !

 

[IslandTractor]

The reason for choosing it was primarily that a good part of the routine mowing that I do is in close proximity to houses and pedestrians including children.
That is a good enough reason. From reading about you property, it didn't seem like there was home close by.

I think you are referring to the conservation property that I am getting ready to clear and was the subject of this thread. That is the largest area that I will work in but is a mile away and is indeed remote and not in contact with homes etc. The rest of the land I mow is near my own home and is about 4-5 acres that is surrounded by homes and roads on three sides. Several paths go through the property and are used regularly by neighborhood kids going to the beach etc. I cannot control access and I mow on weekends just when pedestrian traffic is most likely so am just being conservative and choosing the least risky (and hopefully flexible) mowing device.

 

[Soundguy]

Hmm.. junk cars used to line the field? i think I'd go at it with my existing 4' mower and let it take the beating... when / if it dies.. then get something else.

Why buy a mower just for this one time use? Once you have it tamed.. keep it trimmed with the flail..

Soundguy

You have summed up my thinking and why I have been considering the 5ft bush hog despite knowing the tractor will easily "pull" a 6 footer. I really need the bush hog just for the initial brush clobbering. What I intended to do was to use a combination of grapple pushing, ripping, lifting and as necessary a bush hog backing into the mess to open it up. Once the land is sufficiently clear that I can drive forwards, I can use the flail (again the flail has hammers so should do fine once I can get the land to resemble a rough pasture). It just seemed logical to me that putting the power into a smaller cutter would be more effective when trying to cut heavy brush. But that thought is not necessarily based on experience.

It appears I have my work cut out for me. Toe to toe combat with Mother Nature. And she is well entrenched. I got some aerial photos today taken in 1939, 1972 and 1992 of the land that I'll be clearing/mowing. In 1939 it was a pristine farm. In 1972 there were junk cars lining the fields and some areas had returned to brush. In 1992, the cars were gone (thank heavens) but the brush was worse. The brush today fully covers one 5 acre field so thickly that you cannot walk at all and cannot even see beyond the first bushes. My original estimate was that the land had not been mowed in 8-10 years but now it appears we are talking 15 years minimum. The only good news is that it is all softwood/brush/vines/briar and it is flat.

Ideally I'd probably use a medium duty cutter like the 285 but the economics don't work for me and this is after all a one time 10+ acre task. I'd hope a light duty Bush Hog would survive that and based on my experience with the SQ480 I think it will. Kossetx's suggestion that I use the 480 I already own is interesting. If I didn't need to jump through hoops to get things delivered to the island I'd surely try that first but I may need to take advantage of the truck/trailer bringing my new equipment over to get everything delivered at once.

Thanks for the advice. I'd be particularly interested in hearing from those who have tackled this type of clearing before.

 

[IslandTractor]

Hmm.. junk cars used to line the field? i think I'd go at it with my existing 4' mower and let it take the beating... when / if it dies.. then get something else.

Why buy a mower just for this one time use? Once you have it tamed.. keep it trimmed with the flail..

Soundguy

That's the plan. I do have pretty good aerial photographic evidence that the junk cars were removed sometime between 1972 and 1992. Might be a stray hub cap or tire though so I will be careful in that corner of the property.

 

[jcotta]

Ed,

Have you considered slash and burn ? Almost all the land in New England was cleared this way. Cut paths with your 4 foot brush hog and then use your grapple to create piles for burning. We are allowed to burn from Nov 1 to April 30. I am in the process of clearing 4 acres and this will be my method. You will get great new growth after the burn and will be able keep it down with your flail. You will also uncover any nasty surprises hiding in the weeds.

John

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. if junk was ever stored there.. i'd bet on finding at least a few pieces of scrap at inopertune moments.. etc..

soundguy

 

[IslandTractor]

Have you considered slash and burn ?

The plan is to pile bushes etc that are too big to mulch with the mower into burn piles. We have only a volunteer fire department on the island and a history of tragic fires dating back as far back as British raids during Revolutionary times that have caused lots of damage so the island community is a bit shy of burning. Nevertheless, the volunteer fire dept will supervise burns when climactic and water supply issues permit so I can dispose of slash that way.

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't know exactly how you plan on going about "backing into thick brush", but the first thing that came to my mind from that description was, lift the mower a few inches, back in, and then let the mower down on the brush. That sort of changes things a bit. When I had my farm, I had to mow about 1100 feet of creek bank. It required raising the mower, easing back to "the edge", lowering the mower, then pulling forward. I bought a Woods BB840 to use on my Deere 2440 just for that occasion. 7' mowers are disproportionatly heavy compared to a 6'er. The 2440 is a stout tractor. 60 pto hp, It's ballasted to over 7500#. It handles the 7' Woods mower just fine in ordinary conditions while "going forward" mowing. After a couple cuttings, I went back to my old MD172 Woods mower or a newer Bush Hog 286 I own to cut that creek. (Both 6'ers) That's drastically UNDERKILL on that tractor. If you're going to be doing a lot of manuevering and backing with a raised mower, a smaller than normal mower ISN'T a bad situation.

Also consider you're planning on using the flail mower once conditions permit. That makes a smaller rotary mower less of a long term "liability". If you were clear cutting 100 acres, I'd HAVE to have as big of a mower as money and HP would allow. With 12 acres, we're only talking an extra hour or so per cut to make a once or twice cutting. For rough conditions like clear cutting brush, you might just learn to APPRECIATE that smaller mower.

This is an old thread I started several years ago when I first upgraded from a 20hp to 40hp tractor. The original question was: assuming I had a six foot flail mower, would you choose a 5ft or 6ft bush hog for initial clearing of thick brush. After a few years experience I figured I'd give y'all an update.

First, I initially did not get a bush hog at all and just used the Caroni flail TM1900 for clearing both thick brush and field mowing. It worked fine. However there were a few issues with thick brush, mostly related to the short distance between the mower and the operator when backing into thick material. I continued to clear with the flail but kept an eye on Craigslist for a decent used 5foot or 6foot brush hog.

About a year ago I saw a nearly new Woods Brush Bull 600 (5ft) for sale and made an offer. Got it for half price. I then used it rather than the flail for initial clearing of thick brush. My experience has been that for initial clearing of thicker brush it is easier to use the brush hog simply because of the ability to back in with the cutter raised a bit. The key points are 1) the thrashing about is going on about eight feet from the operator instead of three feet away and that is more comfortable, 2) a slip clutch and heavy blades give one more peace of mind when backing into the unknown. 3) when driving forwards through thick brush the flail, which is wider than the tractor and offset to the right sometimes snags on brush with its skids while the 5ft brush hog just fits barely within the wheel track. 4) the brush hog is heavier and better ballast when I pick up debris with my grapple.

I'll add that the Caroni has been great and while it was a bit slower and required more careful attention in thick brush, it really can do thick brush. It just chews brush up into fine mulch rather than clobbering it though so it takes a bit longer than just knocking stuff down with the brush hog. The area is much much cleaner after brush clearing with the flail than with a brush hog. However, as my second and subsequent mowing is with the flail anyways, that mulching step just happens later. I did find that when I used the Caroni for initial clearing that I was replacing flails more often due to loss from hitting hidden rocks. At about $15 a pair with clevis from AgriSupply that was annoying especially as I would lose about four or five pair a season. Not an issue with regular field mowing.

The Woods Brush Bull is a very solid and nice mower. I did manage to break one of the blades (backed into a hidden basketball sized chunk of rock). What impressed me was how easy it was to replace the blades. No big breaker bar or flipping the mower over etc. Woods has engineered a very simple and secure blade attachment system that allows a blade switch with a few hand tools and can be done with the mower still mounted.

Regarding the 5ft versus 6ft original question: I would have bought whichever came available first but the 5ft mower has worked out fine. Cheaper for starters. I didn't need a wide cut as that is more important for routine mowing and I use the flail for that. I would therefore say that FarmwithJunk's advice worked out perfectly. The five foot medium duty hog is a good addition to the collection and increases versatility.

 

[jbrumberg]

I found that my 5' rotary cutter is relatively "manuverable" when cutting in reverse in heavy brush with some trees beyond the capacity of the RC's abilities. A 6' would not fit in the places a 5' will fit. As an aside a 5' RC clears my track and 6' RC would be on the "large" size for my tractor and its use.