I don't see a catagory for brushcutters ( the gas powered type ;) ) anybody using any and what are your thoughts ?
Talking here about the walking, carrying kind or the pull-behind kind? ??? My brush cutter is a Stihl FS120, and real happy with it. Cut a lot of brush.
My brush cutter is a $100 Walmart lawn mower.I cut out the brush that is a couple inches through with a chain saw and pick up any big limbs and than I run the mower through it all.What that don't chew up,I go back and pick it up.I do have a 6 foot Woods bushog,but it's impossible to go around the rocks and the stumps and the oak trees that I leave and really get it down the way I want it.This is probaly no help,because you are doing a big area.I must mow over 2 acres with this mower through the summer.I try to find a used mower,but I like a light mower,like a 3½ hp motor or smaller.When I hit a rock or stump,I can move it quick.
I've got a brush hog for the tractor that's fine on flat ground but also have a Billygoat mower that I use on the hillsides and up in the woods for cutting trail. 11 hp Honda motor, 3 speed and reverse. Got a great buy on it used ten years ago and can hardly live without it.
Has anyone ever tried this trick...instead of using lawn mower blades or bush hog blades, substitue lengths of cable for the cutters? I have often thought about trying this trick on my bush hog, but have not gone through the hassel of trying it yet.
I did try this on a riding lawnmower though. It works great around rough lawns such as lawns around lots of trees and roots. The cable just bounces over the rocks, roots and stumps. The rocky ground chews up the cable more, but it still works pretty good. The great part is, you can mow around the roots and trees and then finish mowing the rest of your lawn. The cable cuts the grass almost as good as a blade. In fact you can go faster because your cutting edge is the entire lenth of the blade, not just the first few inches like on a true lawn mower blade.
While I am at this lawn lower blade thing, has anyone ever tried the trick of grinding a cutting edge all the way down the lawn mower blade? This works well if you like to mow your lawn fast. With one swipe of the blade cutting over a foot of grass per swipe, you can make faster foward movements. I know some professional cutting blades have this long cutting edge instead of just the first few inches, just for that very reason.
I think if you did the math you would find you have to be doing a pretty fair speed for anything more than about a half inch of the blade to meet uncut grass.
On my big commercial mowers I calculated it to find out why just the tips got dull. I found that flat out (and the big boys can really run!) I was still only getting about 1/2" of contact with uncut material.
If you use as an example, mower is running at 3,600 rpm, and the blade is spinning the same speed, so the blade, typically about 20" long, is going to make 3,600 20" circles a minute. So the tip is making a 63.23" circle 60 times a second.
If you could get the mower travelling at 20 mph, which is really cooking on a mower, it would be travelling at 29'4" per second.
So the front of the blade's circle (the cutting part) is going across the grass at the rate of 29'4" per 60 revolutions, 1/60 of 29'4" is 0.488".
The extra length on a commercial blade is for the nice finished appearance, not to get extra cutting speed. ;)
I read that extra speed thing on a Wheel Horse Brochure many years ago Murf, but your math makes a lot more sense. Sorry about steering you all wrong...my bad, my bad!!
Speaking about blade speeds Murf, do you think a PTO driven bush hog would spin two pieces of cable fast enough to knock down grass and such? I would not expect it to sever saplins, but it would be nice to go over rocky ground without staving stuff up.
Quote..without staving stuff up.
At the risk of bein accused of giving you heck (hope I am not :o), what is 'staving stuff up' ::) ???
Inquiring mind here. :)
Beenthere, asking a question is how we learn.... ;)
Staving is a verb meaning to smash (a hole, etc in something). Example: "The door was staved in."
Deadwood, I've tried it before but on smaller machines, a string trimmer (weedwhacker) and a walk-behind, sort of like a DR. Field & Brush Mower, most of the cutting a bush hog can do is because of brute force, the sheer weight of those blades spinning at that speed is what does it. If you use anything but some really stiff cable, nearly unflexible, it will not stay straight out, and it will just wrap itself around the spindle in hopeless tangle.
Don't ask how I know this. >:(
That is why I love this site. Just when you think you have come up with a novel idea, it's been tried. In this case I am glad you tried it first!!
It's not so bad on the weedwacker though. But you have to use silver solder or brazing on the tips otherwise it just unravels and it's like trying to use a spinning Brillo pad. :D
I've used the 99$ lawn(brush)mower many times and sheared a few keyways :'( and riuned a goods days worth of mowing trying to figure out what i broke and then fixing it (got faster the third time :D)
I was thinking of buying a brush cutter to do clearing work for customers because i think showing up with my old Frankenmower would make them want to renegociate the price :D.
Most of the newer $99.00 mowers don't have keyways anymore. A 2" stump will bend the shaft. Don't ask me how I know this or how many stumps it took to learn it.
I'm a little behind the times , if i had to replace my Frankenmower (5 mowers to make 1) it might be a 99$ badboy .
The hidden rocks in the brush is what usually kills mine and makes the blade wobble .
I use a husky 240r, a 3 way solid blade for grass, trees up to an 1" and multifloral rose bushes. table saw blade w/ carbide teeth for trees up to 4" it also works good on the rose. you have to use solid table saw blades, the ones with slots to balance them will break. I tried the cable thing on it and it didn't do well, took to much power to turn it fast enough to cut grass.
I dont think I want to be anywhere near a table saw blade screaming at 9000 rpm. I cant duck that quick any more. :D There are blades designed for the purpose.
I recommend you guys look into getting one of the OLDER model Gravely walk behinds – sometimes I think mine is a rock crusher. I have and use 2 different mower decks for mine. If I don't know what is in the underbrush, I use the bush hog deck with the heavy duty blade. When I'm cutting the 3 area yard, I use the 40" dual bladed finish deck. Right now the motor is using about ½ pint of oil per 2.5 hours of cutting – can't complain, I bought it used 13 years ago and have cleared a lot of land/woods using the brush hog deck. NOTE: It's great for introducing yourself to copperhead snakes – they shouldn't raise their pointed little heads. ;D :D ;D :D ;D :D
One of my favorite statements about Gravelys, before Ariens brought them and moved the factory out of WV, was that they were built in West Virginia for West Virginians. Don't like the newer machines. You can find the older ones for sale on Ebay all the time.
Bruce/subsailor
What are you guys brushing?? Abandoned fields with unpicked stones stewn about? :D :D Heck I hardly see a rock in the woods we are brushing with brush saws. ;D I take that back, I did mark out a site last week with alot of rocky knobs, natural rock piles, man-made rockpiles and shale. The guys are gonna be whining. ;D I always thought sites with heavy brush are best cut with saws. I have seen tractor drawn bush cutters that always get a hard green stick through the side of a tire. ::) A walk behind may not be too bad, but I'de be fearful of the broken sticks that might eject and draw some blood. I think a brush saw is cheaper to maintain. :-\ ;)
I should have labled my post "Brush Saw"
SwampDonkey , what kind of saw are you guys using ?
We have 2 Sthil FS 550's, 2 Echoes, and 1 Huskie 245 (?). I don't care for the Echoes because the wiring from the throttle and kill switch are not well protected from brush ripping the wiring. One guy with a brand new Echoe had the carborator fall all apart the first day. ::) The guy with the Huskie (used and waranteed) had the angle gear fly apart the first day and the drive shaft in the tube broke the 3rd week. ::) The guys with the Sthil's have broke a handle bar and on one they needed a new throttle cable on used machines. Some guys are just hard on stuff. The first thing you do when getting a new saw is tighten every screw and buy some decent wrenches. The ones they supply are junk. ;)
I bought a Ryobi (you will never confuse the low quality Ryobi with a Stihl - trust me) brush cutter for $159 at Home Depot. It comes with a string trimmer attachment, I replaced it with a gator because I hate the bump function stuff and cutting a piece of 0.095 12 inches long and just sticking it the cutter head works fine.
Plus, I bought the $99 10" pole saw attachment.
I use the pole saw for brush clearing, cutting down small trees, and hacking the poison ivy, oak, and whatever down from the trees so I do not have to wade into it. Then once the big stuff and overhead stuff is done, I go back over the yard or lot with the 3 blade brush cutter.
My main thing was I wanted a gas powered pole saw, a brush cutter, and string trimmer and just wanted to quickly swap attachments. The Home Depot stuff was <$300 with a roll of string. The Stihl was about 4x that (the pole saw attachment is very expensive), though the Stihl is vastly superior both in quality, balance, power, and reach.
The Stihl weighs much more with its thick walled pole, but, it feels balanced better and would not kill your hands after one hour of overhead use. Plus, it cuts a lot faster, I had someone do some trimming for me and his Stihl was way quicker then the Ryobi set up.
Here's my saw from an earlier thread.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_SpacingSaw.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_SpacingSaw2.jpg)
My saw is 3 years old. Apprently they don't use the yellow felt air filters any longer. All they have is a screen with a fine mess covering.
We've got lots of hills, lots of rocks, and about 10 acres of cleared meadow. Each year saplings spring up all over, fill the roads leading to the back 30, and encroach on the field. Too much slope to use a tractor safely, and high grass & brush make a great place for mice and the snalkes that love them. We finally bought a DR brush mower after a year of using an old Murray push mower. Murray was a local manufacturer out here that has recently gone out of business - too bad - that old push mower was a real trooper - a 4 hp B&S, it would chew down small sapplings. The DR will chew stuff up to 2.5 inch diameter without even stuttering. In particular good for the hill behind the house - was a real chore to keep that cleared. Was a bit pricey, but after hemming and hawing for a year it has paid for itself in time saved just plowing through brush and high grass.
Regards,
Pat
Linden, Tn
Thanks SwampDonkey , those are the brush saws i'm talking about .
What type of clearing are you guy's doing and how are you charging the clients ?
We are spacing hardwood, mixed, softwoods and plantations. Our provincial government funds an $8M silviculture program on private woodlots. Our forest products marketing boards administer the program and pay the contractors or woodlot owners. In our area the woodlot owner is not charged for spacing, in other areas the owner is charges up to 10 % of the cost. The owner can also get paid to space his own ground if he does the work himself. I have a crew of five.
SwampDonkey, If you use that thing all day long, I admire the heck out of you!
My brother-in-law lent me the same exact machine with the harness, helmet w/shield.
It only took an hour to kick my butt. :'(
I gotta work on my technique I guess.
Depending on the growth and terrain: You can space 1/2 acre to 1 acre per day in natural growth and 3/4 acre to 2.5 acres a day in plantation. If your just clearing you can work faster. 8 Hr days.
You are right though about technique. You can get real frustrated quick if you have a short fuse. ;D Work with the terrain, thin from the bottom of the hill work toward the top and stuff will fall behind you. Sometimes you have to direct a cut stem by hand to get it to the ground. Sometimes all it takes is a second cut for it to drop. Get a hole opened up and drop stuff into it. Just like a chain saw you can directional fell. Make sure the teeth are set and sharp. The Sthil blades that come pre-sharpened and set are not as good as the ones you have to set and sharpen yourself. Just have to work on it. ;)
Submarinesailor is absolutely right. If you don't own and old Gravely then all you have is a toy. I'm not kidding. The things are built better and stronger then any tank. They have no belts or puny tubing that needs welding. I have my granpa's old gravely with a bunch of attatchments and that baby cuts some serious grass, weeds, saplings, brush,-anything that gets in its way. It will last forever the way it is built.
Anyone that has every used an old Gravely will tell you the same thing.
I guess you could call this gas powered ::)
http://www.fecon.com/bullhog/
I saw this thing in action at Mid South Forestry Equipment Show
this weekend, and I must say very impressive :o :o :o
Tony
Try a Shindaiwa blade that has chain saw teeth for the cutters, works quite well on things to about an 1 1/2 inch diameter.
Hey,
Tony, did you notice that some of FECON's require ½ thick LEXAN between you and it? Whoa baby, that's a lot of plastic! :o :o :o
Bruce