Difference between a 3PH finishing mower and brush hog?

[grossgary]

I don't know much about brush hogs. I'm wanting to buy a brush hog but found a finishing cut 3PH mower that looks interesting. Is the difference only in the blades? Or are there numerous differences that make this a bad idea?

 

[cowboy357]

The finish mower is belt drive with regular blades in most cases & not near as tough as the brushhogs which are gear drive Gear drive . it just depends on what you need it for. I have both kinds . BTW welcome. Bob

 

[Transit]

It depends on what you plain on cutting, brush or a lawn. You can cut a lawn with a brush hog but it will not look like a golf course. You may cut some small light brush with a finish mower, however it's hard on the mower.

And size matters, 1 foot of width for each 5 PTO hp.
20 pto hp= 4 foot hog.
25 pto hp= 5 foot hog.

 

[RonMar]

Pretty much what Bob said. The differences really relate to what you need to do with it. RFM's usually have wheels at all the corners and are allowed more freedom of movement to follow the contours riding on these small wheels for a more even cut. As mentioned, smaller lighter blades. These things are for mowing lawns.

A brushhog has one large blade assembly with two swinging blades that pivot off a central hub. These blades are long and VERY heavy. I think the ones on my 5' brushhog are about 3/4" thick and approx 3" wide. The tip speed of this blade is comparable to a lawnmowers blade tip speed, but that is the only similarity All this makes for an incredible spinning mass that is very hard to stop spinning. This thing wades into grass, brush, small trees and rotting stumps/logs and simply pulverizes them. The deck usually only has 1 wheel in the back, and the front rides at whatever height you have the 3PH at. The deck is limited in it's movement. Over uneven terrain, his results in a less consistent cut, and even occasional scalping. With sharp blades it does a fair job on grass. I have used mine to mow my less improved parts of the yard this year and it does OK, but because of the deck design, it tends to leave large clump trails of clippings which mat down the grass. I needed to cut earlier and more frequently so the clippings were smaller The cut itself wasn't too bad though.

 

[nomad]

Main difference is in their blade speeds. In the market, they use blade tip speeds in fpm (rightly), but, i don't remember blade tip speeds. Finish mower blade speed is around 3000 rpm while rotary cutter or brush hog speed is around 1000-1500(?) rpm only. This means finish mower cuts sharper than brush hog. If you replace gearbox/pulley of brush hog by a gearbox/pulley with a bigger ratio like in finish mower, then, you can also call your brush hog as finish hog (but, becareful when you run brush hog faster, there is big inertial force on blade of brush hog due to its construction.) Brush mower: the more cutting force the lower speed the longer grass/brush. Finish mower: the less cutting force the higher speed the sharper cut. Finer grass.

 

[grossgary]

thanks, definitely what i needed to know. this is for all field cutting. i'll stick to an actual brush hog. i saw a nice Kubota rear finish mower, would have matched my B7100. no big deal, plenty of brush hogs around.