In a comment to the previous post “How Can You Not Love A Face Like This?”, MrC posed the following question:
——-
Earlier, Hal said “…as I bush-hog a field.”
Us city-folk are not so sophisticated. I don’t know what bush-hogging is, but it sure doesn’t sound like something I would do to my wife. :-)
———
Well, MrC, this is a bush hog. Actually, Bush Hog, as that is the trademark used by the Bush Hog Company to market their brand of rotary cutter (they were the inventor of this farm implement). It is also referred to as a brush hog, a rotary cutter, or a shredder.
The implement my daughter is modeling above is a Bush Hog brand 7′ diameter rotary cutter. Think of it as a lawnmower on a massive dose of steroids. It will cut through grass, weeds, brush, and saplings up to 3 1/2″ in diameter.
In this photo, my son is demonstrating the proper technique for bush-hogging. Notice the height of the grass and brush beyond the tractor? It was definitely time to cut this field. We schedule the cutting of our fields and pastures to create a habitat suitable to the needs of the varied wildlife in our midst (which will be the subject of a future post).
When you have finished bush-hogging a pasture, after a week or so it will look like this:
When you have finished bush-hogging your wife, after a week or so she might look this:
So, in conclusion, I would suggest that MrC and all the other city-slickers out there heed the following advice. DO NOT, under any circumstances, bush-hog your wife!
That’s some mighty fine bush hogging, if I do say so myself.
Words from the master bush-hogger. The growing season is now in full force. Want to come on up here and bush-hog some more fields?
LOL @ the wife picture!
With only 10 acres we’ll probably just have to hire out the brush hogging. At least in the interim. The neighbors have already offered to do it. 🙂
As for the bush/brush hogging debate, it’s like calling saying you’re using a Xerox machine to make a copy when it’s not a Xerox brand copy machine. Or calling every box of facial tissue Kleenex. 🙂
Wow. Not only do you have your own brush hog, but you have adult children who are willing to help with the work. Wonders never cease!
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on ones perspective) my adult children are out in the world doing their adult type things, so I can only count on their labors when they can arrange time to visit us out here.
Mark Twain really made an impression on me when I was younger, and so I adopted some of his tactics. Particularly, the skill Tom Sawyer displayed in convincing those around him that whitewashing the picket fence was a “fun” endeavor. When you tell someone how “fun” it is to ride around on a tractor, they all want to bush/brush hog for themselves, and there is less work for me!
If you think Bush Hogging is fun, try Brush Wolfing!
Brush Wolfing? I hadn’t heard of that activity, so I did a Google search and found …… NOTHING. And here I was, under the impression that anything could be found on the internet!
PS – I have discovered that it is not particularly easy to enter a short phrase into Google (disregarding gibberish) and have it return null results. Good work!
Is it Bush hog or Brush hog?
Judy – it’s both! Bush Hog is the registered trademark held by the Bush Hog Corporation, which markets the rotary cutter that they invented under the name Bush Hog. However, many owners of rotary cutters refer to them as brush hogs, so that seems to be an appropriate term also.
Bush Hog now makes UTV’s for farm use; other uses as well but I use mine…when it starts…on the farm. Read about it at
http://www.thistlecovefarm.blogspot.com.
bush hogs are awsome
i used mine yesterday
I have a farm and have about 400 acres to bush hog. Over a period of twenty years or so you get pretty good at it. I have three tractors ranging from 150 HP to 75HP that I use strictly for the task. Two are diesel and one gasoline. Believe it or not the gasoline seems to do the task at hand better than the diesels. I also have a five footer, 7 and a eight ft. drag along with a ten foot cutter. Although the diesels are more economical. In southeast Missouri the brush grows rapidly, and 3 1/2 saplings are plentiful. I have cut bush that was at a height of 8 feet or more. Hard on equipment and if you don’t have the right release clutch on the Hog you’ll spend more time off the tractor than on. You get pretty good at eyeballing things around you and avoiding things that can damage your equipment. Even with my ole eyes I can spot snakes and hate to pass this on but once lost my false teeth and believe it or not found them after a full day of them laying in the elements. It’s just one of lifes experiences you don’t want to do, but can proudly say done it.
Hi sir,hi. My name is John Higgins. Do you have a bush hog that is compatible with my small Hinomoto tractor model E23. 23HP.
God Bless.
Pingback: Brambles Gone Wild: How to Remove Blackberries
Pingback: Barn Modification Project | Ranch Ramblins
“Brush hog” is more popular in my state, I confirmed this via a search on Craigslist.
What if the blackberries grow on a steep hill. What can I use to get rid of them?
What if the blackberries are growing wild on a steep hill and I couldn’t get a Bush Hog up there? Anything more maneuverable I can use?