Heavy Equipment Question

I am looking around for a brush hog to rent. I found a place that says they have a 30 HP tractor with a shredder on the back. Is that the same thing???

The place I need to cut is only about an acre or so and it is mostly weeds about 4 ft tall. However, there is a small patch of sapling about 1" thick and 10 ft tall I need to get down.

Will this tractor with the shredder work? Someone please explain to me. I am a city boy! LOL Also, I need to know because I am trying to avoid having to haul a brush hog/tractor 150 miles form my house, when I can rent this one a heck of a lot closer to the lease.

That should do the trick, IMO.

Its the same thing. You may have to cut it twice, but it will do the job!

same thing, and should do that job just fine!!! poor city boy...

Ok guys. Thanks.

If it bogs down on you only cut a 1/2 swath at a time.


Tbar

Might be cheaper and easier to find a local to shred it for you.

That is probably your best bet due to a shredder could leave a sapling jagged and high enough to go thru a tire in case it was run over with the tractor.

A good brush shredder will have disk type slip clutch or ratchet type clutch on it.



If it only has shear pin drive take plenty of extras.

Where's the lease at?

I've got an 8n with a brush hog/shredder on it.


Jay

Not only cheaper and easier, but also safer to you and the equipment. You aren't asking about mowing a yard

Trust me on that. I've been in the seat of a shreader/brushhog/mower since I was a kid.

randy

Dangerous occupation. Loss a friend when he plugged pick up on round bailer. Left PTO engaged and got out to clean out plug. We found him 1 to 2? hours later inside round baler and pto was still running.

I had a chunk of wood kick out of my brushhog and thought it broke my leg . took 2 weks to guit hurting . and that wa in a pasture i had mowed for years then bang . I was way more cautious after that

I've got a good friend who's grandfather was killed while doing brushhog work. The tractor went over a hole and bounced him off the seat. He went between the mower and the shredder...then under the shredder.

I agree with John2...those saplings will be sharp and jagged. You might want to pay someone to do the job so you don't have to worry about replacing a tire on a rented tractor.

Good luck!

Dang y'all. You make it sound like I am headed out on a crab boat for King Crab! LOL

I've had one close call on mine. It was with a drawbar type mower that broke a pin and hung on one of the rear tires, then tried to climb up the tire as the tractor rolled forward. I heard the pin break, by the time I turned around to see what broke I was looking at the blades on the mower coming up the rear tire towards me. I stomped the clutch, disengaged the pto, and backed up letting the mower off the rear tire. I never used that mower again. I went and got a 3point mower soon after. Much safer system.


Jay

If it's equipment you aren't 100% used to operating, it IS a big deal. Accidents can happen so quickly, even to the experienced folks. If you end up doing it yourself, please make sure someone knows where you'll be and when, so they can check on you. It doesn't mean you're incapable, it's just a good practice.

That's what I do for my little retirement job. Like the others said you can probably just look in the local paper and find someone to just come out and do it for you for probably the same price or less then what you can rent a tractor for.

Then you don't have to worry about popping shear pins, flat tires, all the dust, the heat and all that.

I will not mow anything that has those 1" saplings on it anymore. After you cut them, you now have a bunch of 1" spikes that will poke a hole in tire if you are not careful.

On those sapplings, if you have to drive over them again, it's worth the time and effort to get a saw blade on a Stihl trimmer and cut them flush with the ground. Get the 40 dollar blade that looks like a cross cut skil saw blade, it's well worth the money.

I agree with getting someone that does that all the time. I know I would rather do it for someone than loan my equipment...

Also (didn't see it mentioned yet) you can easily start a FIRE if it is DRY and there are rocks on the land.
Weeds 4ft tall + DRY + WINDY + inexperienced = Disaster.

I have run over ground hornets nests......bumble bee nests......dropped into hog holes.......got slapped in the face by tree limbs.......hit in the back of the head by flying debris......etc.

Closets call I ever had with my little tractor was one winter. I hadn't started the tractor in 6 weeks and was expecting to fight to get the diesel engine to start as it was cold as !@#$.

I walked up to the tractor.....inserted the key......adjusted the throttle......pushed the glow plug button and hit the starter. It didn't even turn a full revolution and fired off......in gear and at high idle!!!

Instant and total carnage.......I first tried to stop it then thought better of it and leaped clear as the rear tire ran over my foot.

Things learned......don't try starting it from the ground. Don't forget to check to see if it is out of gear and get the !@#$ neutral safety switch fixed !!!


Tbar

And you cannot find a high gear high enough to get away from those guys!

i was mowing the back of our place when the Big Bumble Bee's came flying out of the ground after me. Had to jump off the tractor and run for the barn. walked back out to the tractor 10 minutes later to see it trying to walk up a tree. that one was tough to explain to dad...

we shread most of one of our places, and the place is 640 acres, probably shead 550 of them every year, before wehad 2 cabbed in tractors, my gpa was in the cabbed in, and me and my bro were both in open cab tractors and it was my day to have the one that had a roof on it. well i look over where my bro was shreddin and see the tractor pushed up agains a big oak tree and my bro scufflin away... so i drive over there.. it was the biggest nastiest yellow jacket nest i had ever seen! hangin from a post oak, he was stung probably ten times... but at least the tractor didnt run him over when he hopped off.... ive been shreddin land since i was about 11yrs old.... and one thing i learned last yr is that u ALWAYS wear a seat belt if u got oone.... it sure helps when u hit a big arse bump!

Will keep all pointers in mind.

I have a local who shreds professionaly. For the money, there is no way that it makes sense for me to own my own tractor and implements. And it is pretty sobering when you see how powerful and unforgiving that equipment is. I am going to make sure to stay on top of it and have the areas that I want clear shredded 3-4 times per year so it never gets out of control.

I have some areas that have some thick ash saplings growing...I may end up spraying them and burning them next spring. But will do it with some people that know what they are doing, because at this point I don't.