Go BottomHow many acres per hour
 | Paul Finn
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 21 Olathe, KS 
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2000-08-26 19145
I am trying to figure out how many acres I can brush hog an hour. I have a B2910 Kubota with a 5' squealer brush hog. It is pretty much weeds and pasture grasses. They range in height from 6" to 20" No heavy brush or anything and its all level terrain. What RPM's should I cut at. I am just getting in the business and need some help. Thank you.
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| Jack in IL
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-08-26 19147
Paul, PTO implements such as a rotary cutter are designed to be operated at the engine speed that produces 540 rpm at the PTO. This provides the highest blade tip speed for the cleanest cut. The engine speed for PTO operation is usually marked on the tach or you can look it up in the operators manual. To estimate acres per hour you need to estimate forward travel speed based on the gear or hydro position you can operate safely and comfortably. Then just multiply it out based on nominal cutting width (not full width) and then take about 75-80% of that to account for turns and other field efficiency losses. One way to estimate ground travel speed with a hydro is to clock the time it requires to drive a measured distance (say 400 feet) while you are mowing and then calculate the ground speed from distance and time. ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962 
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2000-08-26 19148
Paul, another way to "estimate" acres per hour is to used Zimmerer's chart that they say came from Bush Hog. Try the link below, the scroll down on the "Contents" to the "Acres per Hour". ....
Link:
Click Here
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada 
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2000-08-26 19154
The short answer is 1 to 1.5 acres per hour with a 5' 'bush hog'on average land, at average working speed, with the average number of turns & obstacles. If there is such a thing as average. Best of Luck. ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962
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2000-08-26 19159
Murf, I think you about hit the nail on the head. Zimmerer's (or maybe I should say Bush Hog's) chart shows 1.5 acres per hour at 3 mph with a 5' cutter, and add a half acre per hour for each additional 1 mph in speed. My experience would make me believe they are just a little bit optimistic. The fastest I've mowed a little 7 acre pasture was 2.6 hours and I was really pushing it in high range, and the last 30 acre pasture I mowed took me a little over 20 hours. ....
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| Alan L. Lewis
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-08-26 19160
The fastest I have mowed a 12 acre field is about 7 hours. Thats better than 1.5 acres an hour. The field had more than the average number of obstacles, and not very even. I say had, because most of the trees have since been removed by a D6, and I have a 1.5 acre pond, and a road.
My tractor is a B2710 with a 5' cutter. The RPMs for 540 on the PTO is 2600 and its marked on the tach. ....
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| Eddie Watkins
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-08-26 19161
Paul, I have a similar situation to yours. I have 6 acres of grass and weeds that I mow once a month. It takes about 3.5 to 4 hours. I am planning on leveling it some this winter because the bumpy ride slows me more than the grass. I have a 32 hp tractor with 5' brush hog. If I can get it smooth enough, I am probably going to mow it with a finish mower. Brush hogs don't cut bermuda real cleanly even at a slow speed. ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2000-08-28 19191
I think Bird mentioned that the stat.'s are a little 'optimistic', also that the 1.5 ac/hr was based on 3 mph. if you drive faster, of course you will cut faster, but you may also SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the life of your equipment. Case in point, a colleague of mine bought a brand new (heaviest model available) 'Bush Hog' from Land Pride 2 years ago, he sent it to my shop 2 weeks ago to re-weld the entire case and tower becuse it was falling apart, the operator (who delivered it) said they cut so fast you have to wear the seat-belt to not be thrown off the machine when it hits a bump!!! By contrast, we are running one that is a circa 1945 Ford, and still going strong. Most 'Rotary' mowers are designed to cut at 3.5 - 5 mph, anything faster just beats them up. If you want to calculate cut speeds the math is easy, 1) mph x 5280' in a mile, 2) times the number of feet wide your cutter is, 3)divide by 43,560 square feet in an acre. The result will be the number of acres per hour you will cut. However this is strictly a 'straight-line' calculation and does not include, turns, overlap, trees, etc, etc. Best of luck. ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962
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2000-08-28 19195
Right on, Murf. Last year my son-in-law mowed my pasture. I made the mistake of telling him it would mow as fast as his rear end could stand (I should have said as fast as MY rear end could stand because I looked out there and couldn't believe the speed he was running). When he finished, I had to re-weld the tail wheel bracket that he broke. And the tractor I have now is supposedly running 5 mph in mid-range and the time I mowed that 7 acres in 2.6 hours, I was using high-range about half the time because mid-range wasn't quite fast enough to suit me. ....
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