Bush hogging torn up grass/dirt?

[matemike]

I have a New Holland T1510 with a SQ160 bush hog.

Lately we've been having packs of hogs tear up our front yard which is in the flat land, soft soil of SE Texas. I've been using the bush hog to knock down the piles of torn up San Augustine (carpet grass) and the dirt mounds that get torn up with it.

I'm wondering if I'm tearing up my bush hog by doing this? I can imagine I'm effecting the blades sharpness and ultimately the overall lifetime of the blades by mowing over the dirt mounds. But I can live with that. I just want to make sure I'm not tearing up the gear box or slip clutch every time I mow everything back down.
I do tend to bog the tractor down during the first pass or two until I find the perfect implement height for effectiveness without bogging down the tractor engine. But after that's figured out everything tends to clip right along and I can smooth my 1 acre front yard back over in about 20 minutes to an hour; depending on how much damage they did the night before.

BTW I tried smoothing everything out with a 5' box blade and even back blading with the front bucket, but the SQ160 is absolutely the most effective timewise and by quality of finished product.

We've had fun taking more preventative measures by trapping the dang hogs. I hope that soon I won't have to bush hog our carpet grass any more, or at least not several times a week. See photo of a recent success.

 

[lpigott]

Them little basturds can tear up some fields in a hurry! I have mowed my share of fields they destroyed and know what you mean. I doubt you will hurt the cutter and it is probably harder on your tractor.

 

[wagne223]

If, and that is a big if, your slip clutch is adjusted correctly, and maintained (intentionally loosened, slipped, and readjusted) annually, then the slip clutch will be the part taking the damage.
The plates are cheap compared to the rest of the driveline.

Officially a rotary cutter is not a ground engaging implement. So using it as such will defiantly shorten the life.

However, a lot of people will use what they have however they need to in order to complete a task. Myself included.
Until such time they can justify buying the best implement for the job.

As far as your rooted up yard, I would probably use a box blade tilted back for smoothing and adjust the 3ph height to control how much weight is applied to the grass to minimize tearing it up.

I'm sure someone will chime in with a better solution as I have limited experience.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Cutting into high places for the past 5 years with the 6' bush hog type cutter has not hurt it but it is helping the 7' finish mower to be able to stay out of the dirt that we just started using a couple weeks ago.

 

[matemike]

Thanks folks

Them little basturds can tear up some fields in a hurry! I have mowed my share of fields they destroyed and know what you mean. I doubt you will hurt the cutter and it is probably harder on your tractor.

It's absolutely hard on the tractor, especially when the engine slows down and the 24.5HP pto can't turn the cutter anymore. I try to not let that happen, or only once, twice at the most, until I figure out the height needed to go at it without bogging down. The cutter hasn't had any problems, just the tractor. I'll consider that to be the weak point then. Certainly don't want to stress my tractor.

If, and that is a big if, your slip clutch is adjusted correctly, and maintained (intentionally loosened, slipped, and readjusted) annually, then the slip clutch will be the part taking the damage.
The plates are cheap compared to the rest of the driveline.

Officially a rotary cutter is not a ground engaging implement. So using it as such will defiantly shorten the life.

However, a lot of people will use what they have however they need to in order to complete a task. Myself included.
Until such time they can justify buying the best implement for the job.

As far as your rooted up yard, I would probably use a box blade tilted back for smoothing and adjust the 3ph height to control how much weight is applied to the grass to minimize tearing it up.

I'm sure someone will chime in with a better solution as I have limited experience.

My SQ160 gear box is rated for 65hp. The Binacchi slip clutch springs are set to the correct lengths (1.10"), but I have not loosened them, caused it to slip, then reset to proper length. I'll run through that process soon though. I know a properly set slip clutch should slip before damaging forces were imposed to the driving gears and shaft, but I think my little tractor would still be hard pressed to get it to ever slip with only 24.5 HP at the PTO.

My experience is even more limited. I've only owned a bush hog and this particular tractor for two months. I tried the box blade and just couldn't do what I needed it to do with several different settings. Gave up after an hour and switched to the bush hog. Works for now. :thumbsup:

FWIW I had seen my neighbor use his 105hp JD with 15' bush hog to smooth out hog rootings, his machinery didn't check up a bit though. :laughing:

Cutting into high places for the past 5 years with the 6' bush hog type cutter has not hurt it but it is helping the 7' finish mower to be able to stay out of the dirt that we just started using a couple weeks ago.

This is more to my story as well. We use a zero turn as a finish mower and I will NOT drive that thing over these hog rootings. It wouldn't just bog down, it'd probably get stuck even with the deck raised.

 

[frugalangler]

We've had fun taking more preventative measures by trapping the dang hogs. I hope that soon I won't have to bush hog our carpet grass any more, or at least not several times a week. See photo of a recent success.

talk about a pig roast, that's a lot of hog meat!

 

[Fallon]

Yes it is hard on your machine, but so is mowing heavy brush. It was designed to work hard. It will wear the blades faster, but ironically it shouldn't be filling them. Rotary cutter blades shouldn't be sharp & don't come that way from the factory. A sharp blade will make a sharp cut in woody material that can spear tires & feet. A full blade shatters woody material leaving a fuzzy frayed stump that is reasonably safe.

I don't wory about ant or mole hills at all with my flail mower & it's lighter duty than a rotary cutter. If course it was also beat to **** years before I bought it for $100... It's showing wear from some of my abuse, but not nearly as much as you'd expect.

 

[450]

That’s a lot of bacon in that pin!! Wish I was close enough to help you out.

 

[Texasmark]

I have a 24 hp tractor and wouldn't do it with it. But I have a 65 hp tractor and a 65 hp rated gearbox on a Kodiac MD 6' mower and I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

[lostcreekranch]

IMHO a chain harrow would serve you better. I’d get the heaviest one your Tractor will drag.

We installed hog wire on entire perimeter of our Ranch 11 years ago but, still have an occasional visit outside front fence on our road. I usually back drag with my FEL bucket with Piranha Tooth Bar a couple of times then a few passes with my chain harrow.

 

[sixdogs]

I used to mow slash and brush and whatever with a 5' "stump jumper" type bush hog and a 25? HP Ford 1900 and nothing bad ever happened despite my not caring if it did. Hit some rocks, some rotted stumps, wire, woodchuck hills, 3' tall dry grass and never knew I shouldn't be doing it.

Oh, yeah...toss in a bunch of saplings I just mowed off. That was the primary purpose of my mowing and the other stuff was collateral damage.

 

[darmstrong2319]

The medium duty Kodiak 6 ft rotary cutter from agri - supply comes with a 90 hp gear box not a 65. I didn’t check the standard duty but either way heard some good reports on them. Kodiak also makes some of the Mahindra implements including rotary cutters.