Excavator bush hog info

LT1JEEP

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Location
HARLAN, KY
I have a cat 304cr excavator 11000 pound machine and i need a bush hog or mulcher. I going to buy one and i need to be educated on them to find out which one will work best for me. I found 3 different ones the range from $3000.00 to $6000.00 or do you all know anything better?
1st one is a 36 in bush hog
2nd one is a bush hog mulcher
3rd one is a heavy duty flail style mulcher

Will be used to cut back the brush on my roads and keep the weeds and vines and limbs cleared away from my fences. I have over 70 acres of land and have over 1/2 miles of roadway to keep cut back. I have a lot of hillsides to keep under control. I can't get nobody to work to clear and maintain the property. I figured i could keep most of it under control with a bush hog on my excavator. Most of the brush size will be under 2 inches. I have a dozer for the big stuff and a loader and a wheeled skid steer that use also to move cars and the other junk i have.
 
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You wont be running a mulcher on a machine that small without hi flow. I have a 42" rotary style cutter from Construction attachments that works well. They all require a lot of flow and you will not really be able to walk the machine and cut at the same time without cutting flow to the cutter head. Look at the blue diamond brand, made in Knoxville. They have some nice looking attachments. I like my cutter and it will mow small trees, but you cannot expect a clean product. It slings large wood chucks everywhere. They are a great tool to have but it is also very slow. I cut creek banks on my farm and it can take several days to get it done. I have never used a flail type but they seem to work well, I feel they will wear out quicker than rotary blades though.
 
What do you plan to use it for? Its hard to say what you need if we don't have that information.
 
LT1JEEP said:
Updated my post with more info.
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Sounds like a good fit for bushhog style rotary brush cutter. All 3 can do the job, but the forestry mulcher is more focused on larger stuff where you are dealing with 1 at a time mulching, and the flail mower will be pushing its limits with 2" stuff. If the bush hog mulcher is a rotary cutter that also has the mulching teeth on the top and bottom, then thats a sweet setup and would be the best of both worlds, but they are $$$$. A typical rotary brush cutter will eat right through 2" stuff and cut full width in 1 pass, and still be able to handle grass and weeds pretty well.

Does your excavator have an enclosed cab? I suppose you could do it without, but stuff flies everywhere with option 1&2. The flail mower will likely be much more controlled, so thats a definite consideration if you are open cab.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Sounds like a good fit for bushhog style rotary brush cutter. All 3 can do the job, but the forestry mulcher is more focused on larger stuff where you are dealing with 1 at a time mulching, and the flail mower will be pushing its limits with 2" stuff. If the bush hog mulcher is a rotary cutter that also has the mulching teeth on the top and bottom, then thats a sweet setup and would be the best of both worlds, but they are $$$$. A typical rotary brush cutter will eat right through 2" stuff and cut full width in 1 pass, and still be able to handle grass and weeds pretty well.

Does your excavator have an enclosed cab? I suppose you could do it without, but stuff flies everywhere with option 1&2. The flail mower will likely be much more controlled, so thats a definite consideration if you are open cab.
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I was going to add with the stated use and a 6k budget Id give a hard look to a tractor and coventional bush hog.
IME they are much faster clearing roads/paths and while they lack the 90 degree picot and fence trimming, thats somethign Ive found you can honestly do once, right and not worry about again for years. Of course your mileage (and vegetation) may vary. But we spent a week with a couple hands and a pole saw and trimmed our entire fence line back to 8-10' high and havent worried about it since...and had a good bon fire at the end of the week to boot.
 
Ron is right, a side arm mower on a tractor would be wildly more efficient. You won't be able to track that machine and run the cutter at the same time and at 3ft it's going to be slow going. That being said, it wouldn't be as cool as an excavator mounted cutter either.
 
I had a tractor and bush hog it was useless because of the terrain. I probably should have put that I live on a mountain side and most of my property is mountains with roads through it. There have been a few members here that have been to my place looking for parts while wheeling in Harlan.
I have thought about mounting a sickle bar cutter to my excavator to cut with or a buck saw to trim with but the price of the buck saw is about as high as the bush hog attachment.
My cab is not enclosed but i have stretch metal to put in place for protection. Been talking to a dealer about trading up to one enclosed cab with ac and heat..
I know it will be slow cutting with a excavator but it is faster than doing it by hand.
 
LT1JEEP said:
I had a tractor and bush hog it was useless because of the terrain. I probably should have put that I live on a mountain side and most of my property is mountains with roads through it. There have been a few members here that have been to my place looking for parts while wheeling in Harlan.
I have thought about mounting a sickle bar cutter to my excavator to cut with or a buck saw to trim with but the price of the buck saw is about as high as the bush hog attachment.
My cab is not enclosed but i have mesh to put in place for protection. Been talking to a dealer about trading up to one enclosed cab with ac and heat..
I know it will be slow cutting with a excavator but it is faster than doing it by hand.
Click to expand...
might be better off finding a used 90s model 20 ton machine for 15-20k and an old used cutter for it. Could really do some work then.
 
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