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Smallest tractor I can brush hog with

23K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Kbeitz 
#1 ·
I am looking at getting a small tractor to mow my lawn with and I have a couple acres to brush hog. I don't want a very big tractor but I'm not sure how small I can go and still brush hog with it. Once I get the pasture under control I might just mow it all with a finish mower anyways.
 
#2 ·
With a 4' brush hog, 15 PTO horsepower is just about as small as you'd ever want to go.
I've mounted a 60" hog on SCUT with 18 PTO horsepower just for grins and giggles. I didn't cut anything major with it, so I can't speak to how it would REALLY do in heavy stuff, but starting/stopping the hog spinning with basically an electric PTO is kind of scary. That's a lot of mass to slam into motion quickly.
 
#3 ·
Tractor Supply sells a CountyLine 4' rotary cutter that is made for sub-compact (SCUT) tractors: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-rotary-cutter-sc-4-ft

It weighs 350 lbs, requires a minimum 15 PTO HP, will cut brush up to 1" thick, and has Cat 1 pins with Cat 0 spacing for SCUT hookup.

My Kioti CS2210 SCUT has 16.7 PTO HP and will lift 700 lbs on the 3PH. The CS2510 model has 19.4 PTO HP, which is better for most implements. You can add a MMM (as you wished), but have to go with the tractor brand. The MMM is not generic. The other option is a generic rear finish mower.

With a SCUT like mine, you don't have the electric PTO problem, but would still want to ease into it at lower RPM. I agree with the 4' limit and would look for the SC size cutters. Cal
 
#4 ·
I'm looking at a John Deere 650 but it says it's only like 14 and a half horsepower on the PTO I'm thinking that's going to be too small of a tractor to run a brush hog with. I was also looking at it Ford 1000 does anybody know anything about those I can't find much on them
 
#8 ·
I have a Kubota BX1880 but don't have a brush hog. However, pretty sure I've seen others remark that this model runs a 48" cutter without problems, and the PTO is rated at 13.7 HP.
 
#19 ·
I also have a Kubota BX1880. I have a Gearmore 4ft mower that weighs 420 pounds. My rear hitch easily lifts it and is rated for 680lbs. I'm assuming its made by king kutter because it has stickers on it saying to contact them for parts or questions. My dealer suggested the gearmore over a landpride because it's the same price and it's made of a thicker gauge of steel. I also got it in matching orange. If I can drive over it, it will mow it. If I can't drive over it, I can usually back over it and mow it then. It easily mows all the terrible CA scrub brush that puts the hurt on a riding mower and breaks all nylon line in existence. It's not that thick, but it is very very hard. I can mow this brush in one pass at low speed without the mower bogging down at all. It will usually only bog down briefly if it hits a mole hill. I'd say it's good for 2" thick brush since this scrub brush is easily that thick at its base. My tractor his 540 PTO at 3200 rpms but I usually mow at 2500 rpms.

Once its mowed down it could easily be maintained with a riding mower as long as it's mowed regularly. It would also give it a nice lawn like finish the brush hog won't do. My uncle uses a Walker zero turn mower on his 14,000 acre farm in Nebraska to mow his pastures. He says it's faster than 2 riding mowers with 60" decks and his 5 series John Deere with a 6ft deck, all combined mowing at the same time....


A picture of my Kubota about to tackle some brush
http://imgur.com/a/Wa5XAIj

That's a great first-hand report - thanks. As noted I have a BX1880 but only ~25 hours, mostly mowing on some pretty steep hills (thanks to 4wd). Don't know if I'll need a brush hog in the future, but good to know that it's capable of doing that. Your pic really emphasizes the point!
 
#11 ·
I have a Kubota BX1880 but don't have a brush hog. However, pretty sure I've seen others remark that this model runs a 48" cutter without problems, and the PTO is rated at 13.7 HP.
I also have a Kubota BX1880. I have a Gearmore 4ft mower that weighs 420 pounds. My rear hitch easily lifts it and is rated for 680lbs. I'm assuming its made by king kutter because it has stickers on it saying to contact them for parts or questions. My dealer suggested the gearmore over a landpride because it's the same price and it's made of a thicker gauge of steel. I also got it in matching orange. If I can drive over it, it will mow it. If I can't drive over it, I can usually back over it and mow it then. It easily mows all the terrible CA scrub brush that puts the hurt on a riding mower and breaks all nylon line in existence. It's not that thick, but it is very very hard. I can mow this brush in one pass at low speed without the mower bogging down at all. It will usually only bog down briefly if it hits a mole hill. I'd say it's good for 2" thick brush since this scrub brush is easily that thick at its base. My tractor his 540 PTO at 3200 rpms but I usually mow at 2500 rpms.

Once its mowed down it could easily be maintained with a riding mower as long as it's mowed regularly. It would also give it a nice lawn like finish the brush hog won't do. My uncle uses a Walker zero turn mower on his 14,000 acre farm in Nebraska to mow his pastures. He says it's faster than 2 riding mowers with 60" decks and his 5 series John Deere with a 6ft deck, all combined mowing at the same time....


A picture of my Kubota about to tackle some brush
http://imgur.com/a/Wa5XAIj
 
#16 ·
I ran a 5' brush hog and a 6' finish mower behind my mid 70s 2wd 25hp Kubota. They are pretty cheap and very easy to maintain.
 
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