MMM v. Bushhog

[KennyG]

I got by with just a bush hog for years. Tune it so it is level and you can mow quite short. Actually looks dang fine. Sharpen those blades.

That's an interesting thought. If you look at bush hog instructions you will find they are not supposed to be sharp. They should have a slightly blunt edge, which minimizes the wear on the blades. They are intended to beat things to death. However, if you aren't really cutting rough stuff, I suppose you can sharpen them like mower blades.

 

[Bluegill2]

I keep the blades on our two bush hogs pretty sharp and they will cut grass to look almost as nice as a finish mower. But the big advantage, is they will cut tall grass, very tall grass and brush, and short grass. Our finish mower is very limited...

 

[riptides]

I have a B series tractor with the mid and rear PTOs. I use the 60" inch brush bull for everything. Including my front "lawn".

I purchased the tractor with the intentions of getting the mid mower deck. I never did. I ran the pull behind rear finishing mower (RFM) for a year or two. I ended up selling that because I got tired of swapping the bush hog and the RFM out.

The bush hog, I never have to worry about how-high the grass gets. I have yet to sharpen the blades, but I never really ran it over stumps and whatnot.

I get a nice quality cut, pictures are here on TBN, the cut is higher than my real "lawn" but it looks great.

 

[RoyJackson]

Since it's a field, I'd go with the bush hog (proper name is rotary cutter).
Cutters are robust and can take a lot of abuse...finishing mowers (be they midmount or rear mount) cannot. You'd be risking a rather expensive implement mowing that field with your MMM.

 

[riptides]

And welcome to TBN!

 

[TripleR]

Depends on the "field", we have some I wouldn't go near with a MMM and some I would. We have mowed 10" and more with our BX, but I have done stuff I wouldn't recommend to others. Once you go outside the design parameters, you have to accept increased wear or damages as a possibility.

 

[Ctytrctr]

Thanks to all for the advice and the welcome to TBN. Now all I need is for 5:00 to get here, so I can get out of the office chair and on the tractor.