Bush hog heaven

My tractor is broke... so I rented a bush hog that fit my skidsteer. I bush hogged all my old firelanes and road beds yesterday on my lease, what would have taken 2 days considering they have not been bushogged in 3 years. Most of it head hi. My grown up food plots were a breeze. Thick grass worked it the hardest, as it does a tractor bushog. I mowed the power line area where the power company skips every year due to it being to wet. My tracks giving my the flotation I needed to get through. LOL, if I had been on my tractor I would have used over 200 shear pins. The hydraulic motor allowed me to cut 1.5 like butter. With my tractor, it would have been a hard day, fighting with no power steering, tractor on the verge of overheating, having to clean out the radiator fins, sneezing, arms cut from briars, dangerous from having been almost pulled off the tractor, etc. But with the skidsteer, I mowed over head high weeds as fast as the skidsteer could run, never broke a sweat with the cab door shut, air conditioning on, went home clean. Also it did a much better job, able to see what I was doing because it was out front. Able to reach over stumps, creeks, etc. Able to drive into briar thickets, able to turn 180 degrees on a dime, able to raise up and cut any over hanging limbs. and more. I will never as long as I live, ever bush hog from a tractor again. If you ever get the chance, try it. Fun day, with much accomplished .

Neighbor did that a few weeks ago it was amazing what they did. To bad I don't have a skid steer...lol

Can't decide whether to buy or rent. I usually don't rent. However, it was so easy, I will be able to allow it to grow up without the chance of it getting to big.

I bought one. It has been the go to tool. If you get into a lot of saplings we also bought the root rake to push it off the trails and fire breaks. Just keep a bag of 5/8 shear pins in the cab and a 9/16 wrench. Been running ours 2 years and replaced the pin once

I'm a believer...

I bought a 4wd tractor about 2 years ago, I had some old equipment and thought I needed a tractor to bushhog and other things. After all that's what farmers use. Everyone told me get a track skidsteer. Now that's what I'm looking for. You can till, cut, grade and maneuver so much easier and in tighter areas. Changing attachments is easier too. If I find a good deal I may sell the tractor to offset the cost, we will see.

ucfireman said:

I bought a 4wd tractor about 2 years ago, I had some old equipment and thought I needed a tractor to bushhog and other things. After all that's what farmers use. Everyone told me get a track skidsteer. Now that's what I'm looking for. You can till, cut, grade and maneuver so much easier and in tighter areas. Changing attachments is easier too. If I find a good deal I may sell the tractor to offset the cost, we will see.

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Attachments are addicting. I have a back hoe, 2 4in1 buckets, a narrow deep bucket, Scarfier, trencher, auger, Harley rake, stump bucket, 7ft forks, 4ft forks, LOL and a 3pt adapter so I can use all my tractor implements. All I need is a hydraulic bush hog and tiller. If your looking.... A track skidsteer, just so you know will beat you to death and have a slow ground speed compared to a tractor. Comparing tracks to tires, imagine a 5 inch concrete rd curb. A tire unit will roll over it 5 inch hi, twice, two bumps. A track unit will climb it until the half way point, the front climbing to twice the 5inch hi, and then it will tip, falling 10 inches on the front. With a hard landing. So, tires have twice the bump, tracks one bump, twice as hard. I have rubber tracks over my tires. The best of both worlds. My machine will handle heavy loads waaaaay better than a typical track machine. I have ran back to back with heavy dirt loads in soft soil. The wheel unit tracks are wider and reach further forward. The typical track machine, with a heavy load will begin to tip, at which time all the weight is loaded on the front, at which time that front sinks straight into the dirt, in an instant, almost as if your being dumped out of the seat. Reason being that front track axle is like 12 inches radius, it becomes a small wheel once it tips. When the machine is flat, the weight per square inch is very little. If it starts to sink/tip, then that front becomes a extremely high pounds per square inch. My machine, if it would tip, would be a 36 inch radius/tire. Much more flotation... and mine is over 8" wider. So, if your looking for a skidsteer, if you find a good wheel unit, you can get the rubber over tire tracks for about $4K. Much better ride and flotation. Something like a T190,not enough power to really do heavy dirt work, but enough, good for hauling down the highway. A T250, Plenty of power, all you need. A T300, that's a little dozer. All the current Bcat model numbers are different now, but basically the same steps in size. Many people love the joystick. I hate them. I often use the side of the bucket to push dirt. You can't make this move with the joy stick. It has no ability to push sideways, and hard to turn on a dime without forward movement. You just can't mimic the spin ability of one lever forward and one lever backwards with a joystick. Those who love the joystick usually don't know the limitations it has. However, the foot controls will get you sore if you run it all day having not ran it lately