What do I use to cut a field of tall grass and brush down enough to mow it?

Question

I want to mow the field at my home, but it is almost as tall as I am. I have a ride on lawn mower but I still have to cut it all down enough to allow the mower to navigate. I've tried a weed eater but it isnt strong enough to cut down the brush. I know that there are machine's that I can rent that will do what I want but I dont know what they are, or how to use them.

Answer 1

Sounds like you need a brush cutter. A motorized revolving blade that spins at very high speed and cuts pretty much anything that gets in it's path (except metal).

Basically it's a long pole with a motor at one end and the blade at the other - they're 6 to 8 feet long which means when held properly, they're too long to cut your feet off with. They take a bit of getting used to but once you've got the hang of it you'll be fine.

Get the people at the hire center to show you how to adjust the fittings (it either attaches to a harness or hangs from a strap across your shoulders). Also get them to demonstrate the cutting motion. For high brush like yours you need to sweep the blade from side to side, starting high then lowering towards the ground.

Watch out for any small stones - the blades rotate at about 12,000 times a minute, if they hit a small stone it will fly off like a bullet (wear strong boots). Depending what you're cutting there could be stuff flying in all directions so a safety helmet with full face shield is a good idea as are ear defenders because they're noisy things (a buzz-saw helmet will protect your face, ears and head).

Some brush cutters are badly designed in that the motor is too close to your body, once it's been running a while the casing can get very hot so a thick jacket is also a good idea. Thick trousers as well to protect your legs from flying debris.

Answer 2

Tall Grass Field

Answer 3

I was going to recommend a Jari mower or a bushhog, but I've read through half a dozen previous answers and I see a problem no one has addressed. What do you do with the tremendous volume of grass once it's down? You sure can't drive your riding mower over it. Ideal would be to have someone hay it and take away the bales, but at this time of year the hay has gone to seed and is worthless as forage.

Alternatively, you could wait until spring and burn it....

Answer 4

Hire someone with a Bush Hog on a tractor or rent a sickle bar mower. If the brush is too big you may have to go through and cut the big stuff with a chainsaw first.

Answer 5

Go and rent yourself a Brush hog its basicly a heavy duty mower

Answer 6

Maybe a scythe? Its very very old fashioned and it would be manual work but it would cut it down far enough to mowed.

Answer 7

Look through the yellow pages to find someone who does bush-hogging. Hire them to bush-hog the field, then you won't even have to worry about mowing it afterwards.

Answer 8

Hire some big strong good looking guys with machettes!!

Answer 9

Ask a farmer to cut it with his haybine (haybind). It's what we use to cut grass and then bale it.

Answer 10

if your in rural area you can contact 90% of farmer with livestock and they'll pay you for them to cut ,bale, and get it out of your unchartered land.