Bush Hog / Mower

[SmithRanchZ]

Basically, what is the sweet spot here? 75hp tractor, and I will only mow about 200 acres of pretty rough ground. Rough in the sense of some rocks, uneven ground, and chopping up some inch or inch and a half thick brush.

I can rent a 6 foot unit for 80 a day/240 a week plus any damages. I can borrow my neighbor's 15 foot batwing and his tractor, but I hate - really hate - borrowing stuff. Plus, I will likely have to work on the batwing and the tractor, and dodging obstacles with 15 footer may pose a challenge.

Used units range from projects that could possibly someday become a rotary mower, beat to death stuff at 50% of retail, and lightly used at 85% of retail. Tons of smaller light weight units available.

So, do I buy a light weight, medium weight, or heavy duty unit?

Buy a cheaper, light weight 6 foot unit with the idea its semi disposable? Or, buy a pretty nice, used, heavy duty dual spindle 8 footer under the doctrine of buy once cry once to the tune of 5k to 8k? Or, rent the 6 footer for a week and hope I don't trash it?

Thanks in advance for comments and suggestions.

[wfishtx]

I'd buy more cows that'll actually get you a potential return.

If that's not an option then I'd take the buy once cry once approach and get the biggest and best you're comfortable with. 200 acres is a lot of land to shred. For perspective, it takes me 6 hours to shred 9 acres with a 5' shredder. Not that you'd need to mow all 200 acres at one time, but even mowing 20 acres with an 8' shredder is going to take some time. Tractor should be able to handle as much as your comfortable spending the money on.

[On The Hook]

Can you rent the rental unit for a day or two to see how it does? Will the selling dealers let you demo their units for a few day or a week? You will need a brush mower again at least at some point if not for regular maintenance. Don’t buy blindly, get some hands on time first. Demos are something that happen regularly and will let you prove or disprove the abilities of the equipment. Negotiate the price beforehand. Watch a bunch of YouTube’s to see how a product works in similar condition and learn some pros and cons.

Something along the lines of this. https://youtu.be/3pZdfK_ddZM?feature=shared

[a couple more]

Well, this as with many other things lead me to more questions than answers.
Have you mowed it in the past? How often is it going to get mowed? how much time do you have or are you willing to invest in this?

[dwilliams35]

Buy once cry once. You don't have to get the super heavy duty rhino or bushhog, the medium duty should be fine for all you're doing there. Inch and a half brush shouldn't be an issue for those, but may beat up a lighter duty unit pretty bad very quickly,.
8' would probably be a bare minimum, you're talking about a lot of time on the tractor for 200 acres there..

[Buckweet]

This is good question, with sure lots of answers for different reasons. and from what i have had there is indeed a difference in light duty and heavy duty.
one that has lasted me made by Modern Ag out of Beaumont. But have used shedders to clear brush and trees bigger than suggested by manufacture.

Never rented before, seems like that may be option to try out different ones. Would really consider renting, as they say, treat like a rental...

[DEXTER]

X2 on everything Doc said. You will be spending a whole lot of time trying to shred 200 acres with a 6 or even 8 foot shredder.

[98aggie77566]

I was mowing 25 acres with my 6' shredder.......took me long enough it felt like it was time to start over when I finished with the grass growing like this.

Now I pay a guy $350.....saves me getting beat up and allergies....and a long time in the seat.

[SmithRanchZ]

This property was mowed 3 years ago, but only about 25 acres. But, since then, couple years of drought.

Mesquite took over the two big coastal hay fields, so they likely have not been mowed in 5 to 8 years. I've now killed most of that Mesquite. That's approx 100 acres or so.

The test plot from last fall involved mowing with the zero turn, waiting a couple weeks, and then spraying. The test plot is largely weed free with great grass. Rest of the place has significant weeds from the wet Spring, and I want to knock them back now in the open areas, and then mow again before spraying in the Fall.

Buying a bunch of heifers in a couple weeks. If history is any guide, I have tons of grass from 3/1 to 6/30, very little quality grass from 6/30 to 10/1, decent grass thru 11/31, and then feeding hay thru 3/1.

So, it's a balance on animal numbers and grass. I need to be able to harvest the decent grass (hay) in May to feed late Summer and over winter.

[TheGoose]

200 acres? You need at least a 10-12 ft mower. Not sure what size you can pull with a 75 HP tractor. My advice....get the best, biggest mower you can afford, and STILL hire it out. Only use your mower occassionally to cut places that really need it, and pay somebody else to do it the other 2-3 times per year it needs done.

[KWeber]

10ft twin-rotor solid deck...75hp is enough... like any mowing, you vary the speed vs the foliage
land pride makes a decent mower....
but like all shredders, they will self-destruct...every u-joint and every gear box MUST be greased and checked daily
drag type shedders Do Not like sharp turns
bat-wings are an even bigger PIA w/extra joints. cylinders and more u-joints and shafts

[TheGoose]

10 ft mower at 5 MPH....you'll get 5 acres mowed per hour. So in a full 8-10 hour day mowing you'll get a whopping 40-50 acres mowed.

If you hire it done somebody will bring in 3-4 big mowers and get it done in a day.

[Wado II]

I disced my 98 acres with a 72" three point hitch tandem disc one time. It had been planted in wheat the winter before and they had run over the wheat stubble with some king of light disc before I got in it. It took me at least 80 hours I did it in shifts. My tractor is a 5140 Kubota I pulled the disc in 4wheel drive the entire time and either fourth gear low or first gear high if I could there was some hog holes that were a major problem in areas sometimes in a lower gear. When I started the moisture was just right when I was about finished it had dried up and I wasn't scratching very deep and I bogged in some sandy spots too. I know you are talking about shredding I have a six foot brush hog and the grass better be pretty short for me to run 4 mph usually I run fourth gear low range and make around 3.2 mph that makes for a long day. When I say short about knee high I have cut grass and sunflowers with mine that were as high as the front wheels but it was slow. I shredded a bunch of those sunflowers for dove hunters two years in a row that stuff was thick and I didn't plant them all natives. I am limited to 51 horsepower at the pto I wish I had gotten something around 80 horsepower.

[gds]

My information is pretty old, but I was in this business in the late seventies and early eighties, mowing pipelines and chemical plants and refineries. A 75 horse tractor will pull any of those mowers easily and would actually be overpowered for a 6 ft. I have not kept up with what's on the market now, but when I was in the business the Rhino was the heaviest built one, but was too heavy for my needs and I was running Woods 15 ft. mowers behind 55 and 65 horse tractors and 6 ft. Rhino's behind 40 horse tractors. My Dad had a 12 ft. solid deck that he pulled behind his 80 horse tractor and I didn't like it because in rough ground you scalped too much. If I was going to mow 200 acres I would definitely go with a 15 ft. batwing and would seriously consider leasing one.

[a couple more]

This property was mowed 3 years ago, but only about 25 acres. But, since then, couple years of drought.

Mesquite took over the two big coastal hay fields, so they likely have not been mowed in 5 to 8 years. I've now killed most of that Mesquite. That's approx 100 acres or so.

The test plot from last fall involved mowing with the zero turn, waiting a couple weeks, and then spraying. The test plot is largely weed free with great grass. Rest of the place has significant weeds from the wet Spring, and I want to knock them back now in the open areas, and then mow again before spraying in the Fall.

Buying a bunch of heifers in a couple weeks. If history is any guide, I have tons of grass from 3/1 to 6/30, very little quality grass from 6/30 to 10/1, decent grass thru 11/31, and then feeding hay thru 3/1.

So, it's a balance on animal numbers and grass. I need to be able to harvest the decent grass (hay) in May to feed late Summer and over winter.

I'd rent that 6 footer for the first mowing. It will take a lot of time, but sounds like the best option to me. Before next mowing I'd look into buying something much bigger and more appropriate for that size job. 200 acres is a lot. My 2 pennies.....for what they are worth.