A question I get a lot on my channel is "I'm looking at a (fill in brand of brush cutter), are they any good?" That's a really difficult question to answer because almost every major cutter company makes several different grades of them, from one that's only designed to cut grass and really small brush, to monsters that will destroy a fairly large tree, and everything in between. In this video I cover five things you need to look at to help you make a good decision when buying a brush cutter.
First, let's make sure you have a big enough tractor to operate it. In specifications of the brush hogs you're looking at, it will tell you how much horsepower is needed to pull the cutter, and always remember, that's PTO, not engine horsepower. PTO horsepower is the amount coming out of the shaft on the back after all of the parasitic loss from running everything on the tractor is subtracted. You may have a tractor with 40 engine hp, but the PTO hp will be a lot less than that, so make sure you're above the minimum there. Then you need to make sure you have a big enough FRAME SIZED tractor to pick it up. A 30 hp tractor on a small frame may get a little light on the front end when picking up a 6' cutter, especially if there's no front end loader to balance it out.
Next we need to look at what separates a light cutter from a heavy one. See what gauge of metal is used in the sides and the top of the cutter, while remembering that a lower gauge means heavier metal. If you're comparing two cutters that are the same price and one has 10 gauge steel and the other has 11 gauge, you'd likely be getting a heavier built cutter if you got the one with 10 gauge metal.
What if they're both the same gauge all around? This is no sure method, but the next thing I'd look at is which one weighs the most. It's no guarantee of quality, but all things being equal, I'd probably buy the cutter that weighed more.
If you've narrowed your decision down to a couple of cutters, at that point it's time to look at the deck design. Old cutters had lots of places for water and debris to accumulate and to cause rust, newer ones have some or all of the bracing inside, so the top of the deck is smooth. If you're not religious about cleaning the top deck, you may want to pick a cuter with a really flat deck design so wind and rain clean your deck for you.
Finally, and this is most important, go out and measure the biggest tree or brush that you want to cut. Cutters are rated on the size of material they'll cut and stay together. If you're wanting to cut 3" trees and your looking at cutters that cut up to 1" in diameter, you have a recipe for disaster. So, in comparing cutters and deciding what grade is right for you, look at the size material it's rated to cut and don't scrimp here.
The next video will look at the different options that are available on cutters. There aren't many, but knowing what they are will help you make a good decision.
SUPPORT THE TRACTOR MIKE CHANNEL: / tractormike
Visit the Tractor Mike website: asktractormike....
Subscribe to RU-vid Channel: www.youtube.com...
Visit Facebook Page: / ask-tractor-mike-31211...
Buy Stuff I Use: www.amazon.com...
Copyright 2018 Tractor Mike LLC
10 сен 2024
