Mowing Bushhogging vs. mowing

Bob_Young · Sep 16, 2005

Getting a break from a bushhogging job today thanks to rain and want to vent a little. Thought I'd let you guys, who hog/mow 2 to 4 acres an hour, know that I envy you. On this job it's more like hours per acre. I think it's going to come out all right, but barely.

I'm into about 15 acres that borders a swamp and hasn't been touched in 4 or 5 years. In the open areas, goldenrod and fescue (I think?) present a solid wall to the tractor and rise above the radiator (and I'm sitting between a pair of 13.6x38s on an old Ford 4000).

In the not so open areas it's a nightmare. 1" to 2" ash and poplar saplings, sumac, multiflora rose, grapevines, berry bushes and an assortment of what I call bush-trees some bearing dark purple berries in clusters, some with red berries and some bearing greenish-white berries. Whether open or jungle, visibility in this junk ranges from about 1 foot to nil.

I'm using a new Woods Brushbull 720 and it's getting a workout. Thought I'd overbought when I got that thing, but not anymore.

The old Ford seems to be taking this stuff in stride. It lumbers along in 2nd gear at about 1500 RPM (540PTO at 1800) and only gets pulled down when one of the bush-trees go through. Trouble is, 2nd gear is only 1.4mph at 1500 RPM. It's a big jump to 3rd where 1500RPM nets 2.4mph and the tractor ride is getting hairy, rocking and rolling from one anthill to the next. There's a couple of stretches where I can run in 3rd, but I hold my breath whenever I do. In the really thick stuff I'm down to 1st gear and keeping my fingers crossed. One nice thing about the Ford is that the engine doesn't have to be screaming to get a reasonable PTO RPM....there's no substitute for cubic inches.

Anywho, I figure I'm covering about .75 acres per hour and hope I can maintain the pace. I figured 20 hours for the job and might make it if the acreage estimate was right. Just want you Southerners & Midwesterners to know that NY can grow weeds on a par with anyplace...and with a short growing season to boot.

One funny thing. When I started the job, the owner (a fishing buddy) was talking about maintaining this plot with an ATV pulling a 4 foot self-powered brush cutter once I got the big stuff knocked down. I just looked at him. Now that I've slogged through this mess for about 10 hours, he's talking about me mowing it every year to keep it under control. I'm still just looking at him.
Bob

P.S. Anyone know of a book that would help me identify some of this trash? I can sometimes smell the slip clutch when those bush-trees with the purple berry clusters go through the cutter.

BadDog · Sep 16, 2005

Sounds like a regular laugh-riot your having there, Bob!

Given what you're doing, and the tools you're doing it with, I'd say you're making great progress. If you want to go faster and have some fun doing it, rent a bulldozer.

The owner is an idiot if he thinks this property will be under control with one cutting from a hog. Maybe if you cut it four or five times a year it will start to settle down, because the stuff you're cutting will completely grow back in a year if left alone. You need to keep after it if you want the grass to take over.

In the long run, it will be a lot cheaper and the owner will be a lot happier just to pay someone with a dozer to come in and level the place. He can then burn the brushpiles, drag it with a cultivator or an old bedframe, then reseed. A dozer won't take more than a few days on that size of property, and now's a great time to get the seed down. Do this, and he'll have a nice field come spring that an ATV with a pull-behind will handle with ease.

What do the berries taste like? One taste won't kill you, and my bet is they're edible, and you're making some nice jam with your hog for the bugs and mice to eat. Your'e sure doing a good job spreading the seeds around for more nice bushes to spring up!

Highbeam · Sep 17, 2005

I spent 10 hours on 6 acres just last Saturday. That was with a 30 HP tractor and 5' hog. The hog wasn't the trouble it was ground speed. Same as you, any faster and I risk falling out of the seat or spilling my beer. As it was, major monkey butt.

Just hope you miss the bee hives. I figure I 1.5 hours per acre or .75 acres per hour jsut like you but the field I did was thistle, fescue, and goldenrod no woody stuff.

tkcomer · Sep 17, 2005

Now that you have it knocked down, tell your friend to get a cheap sprayer for his ATV. Next spring, spray the field with 2-4-D and wait a few weeks. Then mow it again. Probably have to spray again in July, and then mow it again in the fall. If you don’t have some sort of livestock to pasture the field, you really need to mow it twice a year. Maybe 3 times without livestock to keep it clean. And in a field you don’t know, you have to go slow. It’s frustrating. You never know what you might run into. Or fall into.

hobbyfarm · Sep 17, 2005

I Agree...

( The owner is an idiot )

georgeT · Sep 19, 2005

On your PS: I think I know what your "bush-tree" is. I have trouble with a plant called Poke weed. It is a perennial, and gets bigger and tougher every year. Don't eat the berries, if it is poke weed, they are not good (I've tried) and somewhat poisonous. The young shoots can been steamed and eaten before they are more than about 6 inches high. I've never tried this, but I had a neighbor who eat them every spring. Anyway, try this link to see if you are dealing with poke weed: Poke Weed

Farmwithjunk · Sep 19, 2005

The greens are mighty good too. They just need to be boiled in salt water. Poke is natures best laxitive.

Farmwithjunk · Sep 19, 2005

And I have the complete opposite to mow this coming weekend. 60 acres of unused pasture that hasn't grown 6" since the last time I mowed it. Owner insists it will "get out of hand" if I don't cut it again. In places, I'll have a hard time telling where I've already mowed it's so short.

B.O.R.I.N.G. @ $65 an hour X 18,

Jagmandave · Sep 19, 2005

$65 X 18 is a fairly nice paycheck, boring or not..............

I agree with the others, at least twice a year, probably 3 times to get it under control. At once a year it will get worse, not better.............

John_Mc · Sep 21, 2005

( an assortment of what I call bush-trees some bearing dark purple berries in clusters)

Those may be Buckthorn. It's an invasive species which will crowd out other, more valuable trees. The berries of this are worthless, and may be contributing to the demise of various songbirds (laxative properties, little nutritional value...) If that's what this stuff is, terminate with extreme prejudice. They won't survive repeated mowings, but a single mowing will just call them to sprout again. Roundup on cut stumps also works wonders, but is very labor intensive.

Some types of dogwood bushes also have blue-black berries, others have whitish berries. You may have some of those. These do have some wildlife benefit as a food source.

( Anyone know of a book that would help me identify some of this trash? I can sometimes smell the slip clutch when those bush-trees with the purple berry clusters go through the cutter. )

You might try the National Audubon Society book: "Field Guide to North American Trees, Eastern Region". Has descriptions, and photos of bark, leaves flowers and fruit of various trees and bushes.

John Mc