Bush Hog / Mower

[dwilliams35]

Cutting all that brush, I'd say it's about guaranteed that you're going to break something on a 6' mower. They're simply not made to put that kind of horsepower through and into mesquite trees.. That's one thing about the 8-12' mowers, when they say they're rated for 100 hp, it's because they are built to take 100 hp; there's not many 6' shredders that aren't in the 30-40 HP range. Yes, that's mainly used to tell you how big of a tractor you need to drive them, but it can also be used to tell how much horsepower will twist stuff off with any given set of running gear.. There's some 6' brush mowers out there that'll take that in a heartbeat, but they're specialty items: can you rent one? No idea, can you?

[DIHLON]

I have a 6’ medium duty brush hog. There’s not a chance in hell I’d attempt to mow anything close to 200 acres with that thing.

[GravelRoad]

Other than large commercial mowing operations, turf farms and farmers mowing stubble, "mowing" and "200 acres" really don't belong in the same sentence. With that much acreage, it seems like you need to consider a different alternative. It makes sense to consider a serious pasture renovation program. With that, you can either run cows on it or start a hay business. It seems a shame to have that much land and not produce something on it.

[dwilliams35]

Well, he's got cattle on it, and mowing/shredding can be a pretty significant part of a pasture renovation program, so I'm not sure what the problem is?

[SmithRanchZ]

Locally, 6 foot is the biggest I have found for rental. I'll check Stephenville (hour away) and Waco/Temple (1.5 hours.)

Thanks for the thoughts and comments.

[dwilliams35]

have you looked in the equipment auctions? some of the 6’ ones near here went for $300 or so in workable order… I’m not sure how much they rent for, but it seems like that would be preferable to just dealing with it every time you wanted one.

[Bebo's Dad]

For what its worth we bought a MX8 in 2020 when we bought our 5065 and are working a deal on a MX10 now.
Still thinking of going with a bat wing.

[SmithRanchZ]

How did you like the MX8?

And, are you selling it? If so, how much? PM me if you don't want to discuss it in public.

[Hooknbullet2]

I’ve got a 50hp tractor and 6’ medium duty shredder. It’s great for doing about 10 acres a day.

When we need to do more than that, we get the 15’ batwing with the 100 hp tractor out.

[TRF]

Besides the tractors my shredders are the most utilized equipment on the place. For 200 acres I’d recommend a minimum of 10 ft. If you want advice from someone that maintains and shreds about 1500 acres of uneven ground a year it would be a medium duty 12ft batwing for the HP you have. If you plan to shred 200 acres more than once or twice a year you will not be happy with a 6 or 8 ft.

[Trouthunter]

I lease my property to a cattleman for his cattle and shredding the pastures and mowing under trees and such is part of our lease agreement.

There are many people who shred pastures for a living which might be the best way for you go to. Tractors, shredders all require diligent maintenance and all are expensive to maintain.

Might check with your local Case dealership. They have a lease to own plan on tractors where they come to you to do the maintenance and repairs. You can buy the tractor and whatever other implements you have at the end of the lease if you desire.

[Bebo's Dad]

How did you like the MX8?

And, are you selling it? If so, how much? PM me if you don't want to discuss it in public.

Its a beast but have only ran it 6 or 8 hours around our pond and dam. Didn't really get to test it on anything other than grass but I am sure heavy brush wouldn't be a problem.
We already have a deal working on trading it but if it falls thru I will let you know.

[jimk]

Neighbor's shredder rig ...18' batwing I think and tracks for the mesquite.

[SmithRanchZ]

I already own the tractor.

Good suggestion on the Case dealer, but my local Case dealer does not rent large shredders. Only stuff like trenchers, mini excavator, man lifts, telehandlers, skid steers, etc.

To hire out the work, the local people want the fields cleared and want to charge me for damages to their equipment. Or, propose to use a small, maneuverable shredder, go slow, bucket down, clip at say 12 inches, identify/clear all the obstacles, and then mow again. Once done, then it can be done with larger shredders.

That's where I got the idea of buying/renting a smaller rotary mower, and doing the slow, tedious work myself.

As an aside, the stuff people leave or abandon in fields is simply amazing. Last week I ran over a half roll of field fence. Looked to be perfectly good when left. Just in the middle of kinda no where. Buried in the grass and weeds.

Concrete blocks, wheels off implements, old tires, rail road ties, 100's of feet of super thick (1 inch?) steel cable, random foot high rock piles, and seemingly endless small tangles of barbed wire.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[Hooked]

I already own the tractor.

Good suggestion on the Case dealer, but my local Case dealer does not rent large shredders. Only stuff like trenchers, mini excavator, man lifts, telehandlers, skid steers, etc.

To hire out the work, the local people want the fields cleared and want to charge me for damages to their equipment. Or, propose to use a small, maneuverable shredder, go slow, bucket down, clip at say 12 inches, identify/clear all the obstacles, and then mow again. Once done, then it can be done with larger shredders.

That's where I got the idea of buying/renting a smaller rotary mower, and doing the slow, tedious work myself.

As an aside, the stuff people leave or abandon in fields is simply amazing. Last week I ran over a half roll of field fence. Looked to be perfectly good when left. Just in the middle of kinda no where. Buried in the grass and weeds.

Concrete blocks, wheels off implements, old tires, rail road ties, 100's of feet of super thick (1 inch?) steel cable, random foot high rock piles, and seemingly endless small tangles of barbed wire.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Back when I did shredding to pay for my tractor/equipment I hit most of those and more crazy stuff in the fields. What did the most damage was the car/truck motor someone dumped.