Finish vs bush mowers

[monkeybreath]

What is the difference in the end product when a finish mower is used instead of a brush mower (not certain my term is correct) - what would I notice ? Same question, and assume I have a crummy lawn (in the country - mountains - here it is difficult to keep a pristine lawn - so a combination of grass and interesting weeds). (by the way, a weed is simply a plant whose purpose has not been found yet - heard that somewhere - not original with me)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The bush mower (rotary cutter, brush hog etc.) has heavy blades that are not typically very sharp because they are made to cut heavier material. They don't cut so much as tear and chop. They also are not designed for airflow, that is, to lift the grass, cut it and discharge and disperse it. That which is cut just lays on the ground where it was cut. It does not give a very finished look and you may not be able to cut as low or even as a finish mower.

If you are cutting grass and plant material whose purpose has not been found yet, I think you would be happier with a finishing mower. This is assuming of course that your lawn is not full of rocks as well as weeds. I have 3 acres of pasture that was pretty overgrown when we first moved here. After cutting it a few years with a rotary cutter, I now just use my MMM once a month. I know there are no more rocks or brush and the MMM does a better job.

Jeff

 

[Anonymous Poster]

A finish mower is just as it's name indicates. It gives a finish mowed look just as if you mowed it with a push or riding lawn mower. Bush mowers are usually used to cut rough brush and weeds they can produce a fairly decent cut but must be kept rather sharp. The biggest difference you will probably notice is that the cut from the bush mower will look like it tears off the grass/weeds instead of clipping it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I went with he bush hog rather than finish mower because I also have that......er how'd ya say it "country lawn" /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

The BHs don't cut bad and as long as I see a couple of acres of green that is about 4" 'high I'm happy. Many of my neighbors do the same.

I realize I'll never have that estate like lawn but then again the finish mower isn't going to clear the jungle I have out back /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[chim]

The above posters have given you an ample description of the two mowers, but reading the thread reminded me of my first experience with a bush hog. Before being blessed with my own tractor, I borrowed a Massey Ferguson 265 with a 6' brush hog to clear the "weeds" - actually anything from grasses to 1-1/2" woody stemmed plants - from our home site. I was absolutely amazed at how the thing managed to grind up anything in its path. I had been accustomed to using a store brand 5HP rider. The MF/'hog combo was downright awesome. Like the others said, it wasn't up to producing a nice finished look..........chim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Our brush hog has been doing just as good a job on my son-in-law's grass as his Craftsman 50" cut garden tractor with a so-called finish mower. It's "country" grass, mostly bahia, 2-1/2 acres of it. He now prefers to use my tractor and the brush hog because there isn't much difference in the cut, and it's a lot faster.

Couple of key things - yes, the brush hog leaves windrows of cut grass rather than dispersing it, as mentioned above. And, since it's fairly new and hasn't been used to mow rocks (there aren't any rocks in our part of Florida), it's still pretty sharp. If he as really concerned about the windrows of grass, he could use the landscape rake on the back of the tractor to clean it up, but they disappear after a day or so through wind and sometimes rain. The brush hog is a 4' Rhino SE4 (light duty), and I've been reading some good things about the Rhino in the last couple of weeks. We have it adjusted pretty close to the ground; probably 2-3", and cut every week.

Not only does it do a fairly decent job, but the end result looks better and better when factored against the brush hog costing less than 25% of what a finish mower would cost...

Attached is a shot of his "lawn" near the back fence. It's never going to be on the cover of the Scott's catalog, but it doesn't look any worse than the neighbor's grass on the other side of the fence, which is primarily maintained by goats... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Gatorboy]

The difference in the cut is mainly because of blade speed -- you will find that finish mowers have a much greater speed than that of a brush mower.

If you cut with a brush mower on a regular basis, you can get a pretty good finished product.

Here are some pictures of my property which is mowed with a Rhino 15' Flex-wing (Heavy Duty Brush-type) mower.

Pic #1 | Pic #2 | Pic #3 | Pic #4 | Pic #5


I think it does a pretty fair job. I cut it about every 3 weeks (excluding this year -- too wet).

 

[Boondox]

The absence of rocks is definitely something to consider if using a finish mower. My FM does a fine job on my country grass, but the rocks bite back. See my thread "Finish Mower vs Rocks." Pete

 

[pennwalk]

<font color="blue"> heavy blades that are not typically very sharp </font>
Although some guys here who are cutting only grass and don't have to worry about rocks have sharpened their bush hog blades. I imagine they get a nicer cut.

Chris

 

[icat]

Dave,
That pano view is quite impressive. Thanks for sharing!

 

[GSS]

That's pretty much my predicament too. I got a 72" RFM with my Cub, but may sell it after I get the 72" Woods BrushBull (this week?) and cut my *grass* with it. I'm just looking to keep its height down and don't care much for the end result. If it's uniform and short, I'm happy. Should save me a lot of time swapping between my most commonly used (and heaviest) implements too. I'll post once I have decided...

- Gerald

 

[ipwanab]

go take a look at the last couple of posts from "Whiskey", I think in JD forum. He attached a picture of his new tractor and the swath it cut with his new cutter. I had to brag on it ,as it looks to my eye as good a cut as I do with my RFM.I dislike my RFM 's four hard wheels leaving paths in damp ground. Does the lone wheel on a cutter leaver less of a trail?I am starting to rethink my decision now that RFM is used and I will have to keep it.

 

[Alan L.]

If your grass is not very tall, you mow often, and there are no rocks or brush, the finish mower will do a prettier job, and pretty fast too. Plus, you can usually use a wider cut finish mower than you can brush hog with the same horsepower.

However, my experience is that if I let the grass and weeds get even 6" tall, the brush hog (Rhino SE5) is faster AND does a better job. By "better job", I mean it cuts the grass and doesn't leave any survivors, whereas the finish mower cuts beautifully to a point, but starts leaving survivors when it gets a little tough or tall.

I'd like to get to a point where I could always use the finish mower on my acreage, but frankly, the brush hog still always does a better job on most of it. Plus, I have areas back in the woods where I wouldn't think of using the finish mower. The result is that since I moved from town where I mowed a one acre yard with the finish mower, I really don't have much use for the finish mower any more. I am considering selling it or trading for some other implement.

I am happy with the cut the brush hog gives, especially when I don't let it get too tall between cuts, and hit it with an angle grinder from time to time. From a distance, looking out over several acres, there's not all that much difference in the cut. Get in the middle of it and look closely and you can tell the grass is a little taller and rougher cut than what the finish mower would do.

My wife uses the Craftsman for the acre or so "yard" and the rest is brush hogged. Our neighbors all use brush hogs too, even up next to the house. Of course this is no country club I live in, so you might not be satisfied with it.

However when we both mow on the same day, you really can't tell precisely where the Craftsman leaves off and the brush hog takes over.

 

[cisco]

A good finish mower with sharp blades cuts grass as well as a quality lawn mower. The lawn will be pristine, like a golf course (as such is what is used on the fairways of most courses). However, if you've rocks, small tree stumps, large branches or whatever hiding in your grass/weeds, a finish mower will rapidly become toast (dull or chipped blades, bent blades, etc). A light duty brush cutter will do a reasonable job (and not just tear the tops off of grass shoots) if the blades are kept sharp, and the tractor motor rpm's well above 2000. However, brush cutters do not discharge large amounts of fiber well (no outlet shoot), and if you let a field of thick grass/weeds get fairly tall, you're going to need a lot of pto power to keep brush cutter rpm up enough to cut, and not tear/rip, grass - especially if you hope to cut it fairly short - all the cut stuff just sort of "osterizes" inside the brush cutter, as there is no way out except for right against the ground as the cutter moves along.
Me, I use a brush cutter, as my property is no where near tame enough for a finish mower - however, someday ---

 

[agcomike]

I have a curtis 6' finish mower i've used it maybe 3 times this year. I wish i'd went and bought a 5' bush hog instead. i realy don't think there'd be much to see in the way of cut quality i've been told ?

I'd rather of got a LX-5 or another good brand. Then if you hit a rock you could just smile instead of worring about what you broke.

Of course my neighbor's jealous he bought a L-120 and my yard looks like a golf course and only takes 30minutes to mow about 1.5-2 acres
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I use both an 8' Woods finishing mower and a 5" bush hog. The 8' Woods finishing mower is great for the pastures if I cut them regularly. However if a field gets too high I need the bush hog to blast my way through. Some fields I only cut two times a year and the grass can get to be 4'+, that's when I need the bush hog as the finishing mower will bog down and the belts start slipping. If I cut in a counter clockwise direction with the bush hog I recut the windrow each pass and it makes for a nicer look without the big rows of cut grass. On the other hand, an 8' cut makes a faster job out of it. (about 4+ acres an hour.) Someday I'll get a 15' batwing and cut every week. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Whatcha going to pull that 15' batwing with, those suckers are heavy and seem to take about 40 hp PTO to run. They will pull you sideways on a slope unless your tractor is heavy enough.

 

[SPIKER]

the boss has a 15" woods batwing, it does a good job with ihs 80 hp tractor, though it can stall the thing if he gets one wing too close into the lake... it will smoke the tractors clutch where as the old one would smake the clutch on the batwing. stall or smoke? well old 150 hp ones gone and only has the 80 hp one.

as for the rest, I have caster type wheels on my finish mower which have 10" inflated rubber tubed tires. it is 1/4" material and 5' wide heavy, but does not leave marks from the weight as the tires I think help that out, 3" wide (4.10 X10) same size that is used on cheep cart/dolly tires, though with a better bearing (used for caaters too.)

I got my reply form the dealer today they have 5 of the international brush hogs left. Hope they still have them next week when I get there!

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[GSS]

Thought I'd update you guys since getting my BB72...

It doesn't look like it's going to give me the cut that the RFM did. The key thing is that the RFM rides a long the ground on its 4 wheels. The 'hog is essentially rigidly fixed (side to side at least) to the tractor. So, if your land is not flat and varies quite a bit, you will not get an even cut. I may just deal with it and sell the RFM anyway, but do not expect a 'hog to take its place, especially if your "lawn" is uneven and not relatively flat.

- Gerald

 

[djradz]

Since the BB comes with a swivel top link, with the addition of "check chains" you can get a very near "mower-quality" cut. With these the BB will float and no longer be limited to the up and down movement of the 3-pt lower links as the tractor travels along over varying terrain. Especially, if you're looking to cut fairly short, I'd say give it a try.