Tree hogging with a CUT

[daTeacha]

Pat -- have you tried putting washers under the nuts to get the cotter pin holes to line up?

 

[Charlesaf3]

Patrick - yeah, my technique will destroy your fields - I use it when I want to clear to the ground in woods. I've gotten used to hogging backwards, it doesn't bother me.

But let me know what you think/how it works for you, I'm curious.

woodland - that's more or less the approach. But I can't do 4 inch, and pto stuff doesn't lift that high. I would go slower than that guy is going - eventually a tree will flip him on his side...

 

[woodlandfarms]

That guy is me. I have 8 wheels on 2 tons. Tractor is rated at 45 degree slopes sideways. Flipping is not my issue, debris is... Going to have to add a safety cage...

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Never having used a brush hog but that seems like a good way to beat the snot out of the unit. They appear to be built for some abuse. But the vibration and torque that your stuff takes seems like it would take it's toll. Realizing it isn't very practical to take and chainsaw the larger diameter trees first then wail on them and the stump with the BH. Or run that stuff through a chipper (again more labor intensive)

 

[pitt_md]

I've no trouble believing you. I mow stuff not much smaller with a b3030 and a woods bb60 with a slip clutch. Love the slip clutch on on the brush hog.

Though I mow the saplings all the way to the ground. I'll have to take a picture, but with the right angle I can mow the forest floor to fine mulch.

Ever use your grapple to take them out by the roots?

 

[patrick_g]

Patrick - yeah, my technique will destroy your fields - I use it when I want to clear to the ground in woods. I've gotten used to hogging backwards, it doesn't bother me.

But let me know what you think/how it works for you, I'm curious.

My cab just isn't comfortable when you spend too much time looking backwards. I have two large slightly convex mirrors but they won't stay deployed in the brush as they get knocked aside.

Here is a snake in the grass I saw while tree hogin'. It is about 5 1/2 feet long. It was trying its best to get away but I grabbed it by the tail and pulled it out of the brush but before I could turn the camera on it started climbing up some small plum bushes. I had to grab it and toss it out in the grass and sunshine 3 times before I could get a snapshot. Unfortunately it is not a well posed picture. IF you look carefully you can see the business end nearest the camera. It is non poisonous. It did make a couple half hearted strikes and I like to avoid being bitten as even though non poisonous their oral hygiene is somewhat lacking and you can get a nasty infection. All this guy wanted was to get away from the big ugly two legged monster that was tormenting it.

Pat

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Pat,
I enjoyed reading how you go about operating that beast ! That bush hog is for sure a real heavy duty unit, I can see that just with the picture you posted !

I have repeatedly mowed smaller saplings around the perimeter of my fields but certainly nothing like your doing ! Im guessing maybe 1" to 1 1/2" inch stuff is about as big as I have attemted and even that can get a bit noisey at times ~! But my bush hog is a lighter duty unit and Im working with only about 30 PTO hp, and ..... I really dont want to damage the unit so much that it needs replacing... !!!

Any issues with the tires doing that type of shreding ?

 

[barneyrb]

We have what I think is a Brown Tree Cutter at our camp. It has 4 blades and will cut ANYTHING up to about 12". It is bad for cutting a sweet gum thicket. Brown Mfg Corp -  2000 series Folding Deck Tree Cutter

 

[patrick_g]

Good Afternoon Pat,
I enjoyed reading how you go about operating that beast ! That bush hog is for sure a real heavy duty unit, I can see that just with the picture you posted !

I have repeatedly mowed smaller saplings around the perimeter of my fields but certainly nothing like your doing ! Im guessing maybe 1" to 1 1/2" inch stuff is about as big as I have attemted and even that can get a bit noisey at times ~! But my bush hog is a lighter duty unit and Im working with only about 30 PTO hp, and ..... I really dont want to damage the unit so much that it needs replacing... !!!

Any issues with the tires doing that type of shreding ?

Scott, No problem with tires since I leave the "stumps" around 8-10 inches tall. The stumps (AKA punji sticks) get pushed over (they usually spring back) instead of skewering a tire. I drive over everything but the really large ones with front or rear tractor tires with impunity. Likewise my trucks.

Before someone wised me up I cut things as close as I knew how (haven't tried the suggested method revealed to me a few posts up thread.) I got two each $50 rear tire flats and one in front ($10) on different days. I had to walk to the house (1/2 mile plus), get a jack and a big board to go under the jack, take the truck with winch with the trailer too. I then jack up the side of the tractor and remove the wheel. I drop off the trailer and put the truck around in front of the trailer head to head (I have front receivers on the truck next to the winch) attach the winch cable to the wheel and winch it up the ramps onto the trailer then rehitch the trailer for towing, to drive a 60 mile round trip to pay $50 for them to fix the flat.

Needless to say I am very pleased with the lack of tire problems when the brush is left 8-10-12 inches high. Much of it dies and next year it breaks off at or below ground when run over or mowed. Some of it resprouts and is a candidate for spot spraying or re mowing. I might get a slightly better kill if I mowed close but tire damage concerns loom large on my priority list. Maybe I can employ the technique given to me in an earlier post and cut, at least the smaller stuff, too short to damage tires.

The biggest stuff I cut is considerably larger in sopme instances just as the trunk gets close to the ground and it wild be much much stiffer close to the ground. Cutting at 10-12 inches on the big stuff is more forgiving, I think.

I have a friend with about a 27-30 HP @PTO JD with a light weight JD cutter. The book says up to 2 inches with his but I think it would be a bit marginal above 1 to 1 1/2 inches.

Pat

 

[Nuru]

It is so not code, but it works for me. Trees are around 4" alders...

YouTube - Brush Hog

impressive video.