Faster Way to Mow with a Brush Hog / Brush Cutter and a Compact Tractor

Mowing is a way of life in the country! Here's a video explaining brush hog setup for mowing: https://youtu.be/sXV5CgRs3nk Products in our Amazon store used in this video (costs nothing extra to use these links!). You don't have to buy these specific items to support our channel....just use a link below to get to Amazon then make any purchase: HUK Wicking Fishing Shirt: amzn.to/3QgtvMk Columbia Neck Gaiter: amzn.to/3aY33Hh Peltor 30db Hearing Protection: amzn.to/3aSziYa Solomon Quest Hiking boots: amzn.to/3mFeW7x Rode Wireless GO II microphones: amzn.to/3trABE3 Ubeesize Camera Tripod: amzn.to/3xl6uiN

I had acreage to mow and I found by starting in the centre of my field an mowing in a circle saved me a ton of time and made the job quicker.

I've got a few acres to mow and I use my late father's Massey-Ferguson 240 and a 6 foot brush hog. It takes me 3 hours or so to cut. I would really like a new Farmall to cut with but for now I am blessed to have the dependable MF. Thanks for the video.

The only informative video of this nature I have found on YouTube, I'm keen to give it a go.

Great video! I have a big John Deere with s 90" land pride and thought today that there has to be a more efficient way of doing this. I have roughly 120 acres. Thank you for showing and explaining this.

I use a 5 foot bush hog as well but when I make the 20 or 30 foot parallel pass in the other direction I go to the first pass and cut parallel to first pass then back parallel to second pass. So I travel the same distance on the end, every time, and when I finish the block it is twice as big as the part left between the first two parallel passes. My end pass is always the same 20 or 30 feet but I've now cut a 40 or 60 wide patch of the field. then I just move another 20 to 30 feet over and do it again. I didn't come up with this method but it's how I do it every time. And like you, I just sight something on the other side and mow straight to it. The field just looks pretty after mowing this way.

I run in straight lines as much as possible. With a hydrostatic drive turning around and going straight back again is very fast. Like the zero turn mower guys do. Make a 3 point turn around instead of a wide U turn. Now with manual gears and clutch tractor it’s much more time consuming but with hydro a 3pt turn around is very quick

Great infor! That style is excellect for botb level and sloped properties. I maintain a couple my fields using a 45hp jd with a 7' cutter though this year i need something easy on my knees and back so i went shopping for new cab tractor with better suspenion seat. Well long story short i accepted a dealer challenge that a 72' hyperdrive rear-discharged zero turn hustler with a 36hp engine would out cut and out ride my setup now, man was i wrong! It mowed 12" mixed johnson and rye with ease and in 1/2 the fuel and time! At least i can say im proud owner of a hustler

I have a kubota 45hp tractor 4wd and front end loader with a 6' woods bushhog. My biggest field is 10 acres, and is in my backyard. I try to keep it mown close, as it used for a golf driving range and plinking. I set the bushhog 1" lower in the front for best efficiency, and the discharge is on the left side, dictating a clockwise pattern. I will sharpen those blades this year. Thanks for that pointer.

I’ve got one for you. In my pasture that’s couple acres or so I make three or four passes around the perimeter and overtime. I’ve learned where the center is. I mow the center and I start making a left-hand turn concentric circles like a spiral get all the way out to the end I club off the corners and you’re done Mower is always mowing.

As a contract mower, I use a mower that is open at the back. That way I do a few laps to open up the paddock, and then instead of doing sections, I go backwards and forwards working my way across the paddock. My tractor is Kubota hyd shuttle, so same speed forwards and backwards. You should try it, cause I didnt beleive how fast it was until I tried it. I did like your video by the way.

When you section, the next pass thru the middle should be a bit further away. So both the edge and the center are moving the same direction, and the distance as you turn stays constant. No problem failing to make the turns.

The way you cut is the same way Zamboni clean ice at hockey rinks.

Some good information! Going around the field and giving yourself some edges to turn in is what we call “opening a field”. Get all of the edges and hard to maneuver areas cleaned up; give yourself and the machine enough area to turn around without needing it to do work. Spend a little time here, the rest of the field goes smooth. As you said, spending the most time going in straight lines gives the mower the most time doing its job, cutting. If it’s swinging back and forth, maneuvering, the blades arent always in contact with the material, making it less efficient. I think sectioning off the field into smaller sections is a good idea also as it allows you to maintain your speed (not slowing to back up, make a tight turn, or getting lined up correctly); the small amount of time spent driving over previously cut material is offset by never having to stop. Sectioning also gives you a sense of accomplishment because when you look at it, the cut sections get bigger and bigger as you go…. Some fields may take hours/days before you see the other side for that feeling. Also, making your driving direction match with the discharge direction of the mower is also more efficient, as you said. If the mower is cutting previously cut material, it’s slowing blades down, bogging down the tractor, or clogging up the uncut material, leaving a poor cut. Always discharge to the cut side if possible. Great video, thanks for sharing your experience…… but really, end the end, do you want to be so efficient that you dont get enough tractor time? I think the answer is no!

Call me crazy, but I like "plushing" the stripes with a brush hog like they do with a lawnmower. It makes the field more decorative for the view as we look out the window on our property. It has the feeling of symmetrical crop rows in the field. It also seems to last a long time when undisturbed. Unfortunately, doing it requires mowing each pass in opposite directions so the grass is leaning one way and then the other. That can be tricky with a tractor because normally you would need to back up and turn back to your rows. I found that it is more efficient doing it similar to what you are doing. You cut a straight path down the middle of the field and alternate two directions on each side. Then as the cutting widens you can do it with turns rather than stopping and backing up. It is still less efficient... but it trades some extra time for a more decorative look.

Trust me when I say that you have almost zero slope but it’s good that you’re considering soil conservation. Not only is this an efficient way of mowing, if you mow from the middle out it helps preserve wildlife, especially fawns. It gives them the chance to flush or be pushed out to the wooed or un cut area rather than be pushed in to where the only cover they have is that last few strips you have to mow making the chance of getting run over much greater

Im gonna try this next time I cut my field..I definitely get the mouse ears and triangles 😅😅

I have '56 Farmall 200 3-wheeler , I pull a 5' Woods sling-blade. My fields are long and narrow, so I do pivots on the ends.

My parents have a large back yard and I mowed their yard that way in sections.

I like to mow in a circle from the center of the field outwards. This way I can keep moving forward until the mowed circle reaches the sides. Then I knock out the corners in a back & forth pattern. There is a limit to the efficiency in this pattern. A very large area like 10+ acres I doubt it saves much time over mowing in parallel lines.