Bush hogging cuts grass, weeds and light brush with a rotary cutter, while forestry mulching grinds standing brush and small trees into mulch. Light, regular growth suits a bush hog; thick woody growth suits a mulcher.
Two machines, two jobs
People use bush hogging and brush clearing to mean the same thing, but the machines are different. Bush Hog is a brand name. The company is based in Selma, Alabama, and its name stuck to rotary cutters in general. A rotary cutter is pulled behind a tractor. Blades spin under a deck and cut what they pass over. A forestry mulcher is a heavy head, usually on a tracked carrier. A spinning drum with teeth grinds standing material into chips and leaves them on the ground. Both clear ground. They just handle very different growth. Picking the wrong one either wastes money or leaves the job half done. OPS runs both, so the choice comes down to your ground, not what we happen to own.
When a bush hog is the right call
A rotary cutter is at home on open ground that has grown up for a season or a few. Tall grass, weeds, goldenrod and light brush on a pasture, a hay field edge, a vacant lot or a road frontage. It moves quickly across open ground and leaves a mowed finish. It also suits ground that is cut on a schedule. A field mowed once or twice a year never gets ahead of a bush hog. Where it struggles is woody growth. Thick saplings, multiflora rose and dense brush slow it down, push it around and beat up the machine. Our bush hogging and brush clearing page covers the kinds of lots and fields we mow.
When forestry mulching is the right call
A mulcher earns its keep where growth has gone woody. Saplings, scrub, briars, honeysuckle and brush thick enough that you cannot walk through it. Fence rows, timber edges, old pasture gone to brush, trails and lanes that closed up. The mulcher takes standing growth down and grinds it in the same pass. Nothing gets piled, burned or hauled. The ground is left covered in mulch rather than scraped bare. It is slower per acre than mowing open grass, and the equipment costs more to run. On the right ground, though, one mulching pass does what several rounds of cutting and hauling could not. See what forestry mulching is and what it leaves behind.
What the ground looks like afterward
After a bush hog, you have cut stems and a layer of clippings. Woody stems are left as sharp stubs at mowing height, and they resprout. After a mulcher, the brush is ground into a mulch layer that sits on the soil. Stumps of small trees are ground down near the surface. The roots stay in the ground. The mulch holds moisture and slows erosion, and it breaks down over the following seasons. Neither machine removes roots. If the ground is going to be farmed, built on or dug, you need clearing or site work after that. That is a different job, covered on our land clearing page.
Using both on the same property
Plenty of properties need both. A mulcher opens the heavy ground once, and a bush hog keeps it open after that. That pattern works well on hunting ground, pasture that has been neglected, and field edges. Mulch the brushy fence row and timber edge. Then mow the open ground and the regrowth on a schedule. Regrowth on mulched ground comes up as soft new shoots, which a rotary cutter handles easily. If you let the regrowth go for several seasons, it turns woody again and you are back to needing the mulcher. James can tell you on a walk-through which parts of your ground need which machine, and what keeping it open will take.
How to decide, and what to tell us
Ask yourself a few questions. Can you walk through it? Is most of it grass and weeds, or stems you would need a saw for? Has it been cut in the last few years? If you can walk it and it is mostly soft growth, a bush hog is probably enough. If it is a wall of woody brush, you are looking at a mulcher. Most jobs are somewhere in between. Send photos and a rough idea of the area to James, or call (815) 240-9065. Mention fences, wet ground and anything buried, like old machinery or rock piles. We work across the Illinois Valley and northern Illinois, and the Iowa side of the Quad Cities.
The Short Version
- A bush hog is a tractor-pulled rotary cutter for grass, weeds and light brush on open ground.
- A forestry mulcher grinds standing woody brush and small trees and leaves mulch on the ground.
- Neither removes roots; ground that will be built on or farmed needs clearing afterward.
- Many properties use a mulcher once to open ground, then a bush hog to keep it open.
- OPS does both. Call (815) 240-9065 with photos to find out which your ground needs.
Quick Answers
Is bush hogging the same as brush clearing?
Often people mean the same thing. Bush hogging is mowing with a rotary cutter. Brush clearing can also mean mulching or removing woody brush the cutter cannot handle.
Can a bush hog cut small trees?
Light saplings, sometimes, but it is hard on the machine and leaves sharp stubs that resprout. Thick woody growth is a forestry mulching job.
Is forestry mulching more expensive than bush hogging?
The machine costs more to run, so per acre it usually is on open ground. On thick brush, mulching can save money because one pass does the work of cutting, piling and hauling.
How often should a field be bush hogged?
It depends on what you are keeping back and how fast it grows. Regular cutting keeps woody growth from taking hold. Ask James what fits your ground.
See our brush clearing service or call (815) 240-9065.