Push mower brush cutter. Important Things to Look For When Choosing an Open Front Brush Cutter

Important Things to Look For When Choosing an Open Front Brush Cutter

A skid steer brush cutter with an open front is a great choice for clearing heavy undergrowth, saplings, dense grass, and weeds.

There are many different brush cutters that make quick work of clearing overgrown brush. Skid steer brush cutters are better suited to tackle large areas of extremely tough and dense brush with minimal impact on the property. They offer superior maneuverability compared to dozers, walk-behind cutters, and pull-behind mowers.

Choosing the best brush cutter for you depends on a number of factors, which we’ll cover below. These include understanding the application, having experience, knowing the terrain, and finding a quality cutter that matches your skid steer’s flow rate.

Skid Steer Brush Cutter vs. Skid Steer Brush Hog vs. Skid Steer Brush Mower

When it comes to tools for taking on overgrown brush, it’s easy to get swept up in a bit of confusion over what things are called. Are you looking for a brush cutter, brush hog, or brush mower? For some, these terms are used interchangeably. For others, they have different meanings. It can all depend on who you’re talking with.

A skid steer brush hog is a rotary mower attachment, and they come in all different sizes. A skid steer brush cutter is also a rotary mower attachment. And a skid steer brush mower? You guessed it. It’s a rotary mower attachment.

Here at Virnig Manufacturing, we’ve named our rotary mower attachments brush cutters, but people often refer to them as brush hogs or brush mowers. We only care that you’re able to get your hands on the right tool for the job and operate it safely and efficiently.

Considerations for Matching a Cutter to Your Skid Steer

Effective mowing always requires a suitable machine. With so many options to choose from, it’s important to match the brush cutter to the overall skid steer width, the flow rate capabilities of your skid steer’s hydraulic system, and your overall operating capacity.

Cutter Width

A common question is: What attachment width should I purchase? We always tell people to purchase a brush cutter with a cut width that is wider than the tires or tracks of your skid steer. If the cut width does not cover the tracks, then you increase the risk of running over uncut debris; debris that could damage your skid steer tires.

Bigger is not always better. Selecting a brush cutter attachment that is too wide will:

• Increase weight
• Increase overall cutting surface area
• Require more power to run it effectively

And each of these factors directly impacts performance.

Skid Steer Flow Rate

You must know the flow rate of your skid steer and the minimum and maximum flow rate of the brush cutter’s motor. Flow rate is typically listed in gallons per minute (GPM).

IMPORTANT TIP: To achieve optimal performance, the brush cutter’s flow rate should fall within the min/max range of the brush cutter motor.

• If you use a Standard Flow brush mower motor in High Flow, the motor will be over-stressed. It may not fail immediately, but irreparable damage has likely occurred and will eventually cause the motor to fail.
• If you use a High Flow brush mower on a Standard Flow skid steer, you won’t get the performance you desire.

Skid Steer Operating Capacity

Another factor to consider is the operating lift capacity of your skid steer loader. Brush cutters generally weigh about 1,000 – 2,000 pounds. Always check the attachment’s recommended loader capacity to make sure your skid steer has the necessary operating capacity to effectively handle the skid steer brush mower.

When and How to Use a Brush Cutter

Open front brush cutters are not like lawnmowers. They have powerful motors, thicker blades, and are primarily used to cut down thick brush, topple small trees, and make stumps disappear.

Brush cutting provides many benefits, which include:

• Limiting future regrowth
• Expanding usable property
• Reducing brush piles, if any
• Preventing wildfires
• Leaving landscapes looking great

Buying a machine that isn’t strong enough to tackle whatever you’re clearing will be a frustrating waste of money.

If you have several acres to clear, an open front cutter on a skid steer is probably suitable. After all, nobody wants to clear four acres of brush with a walk-behind mower.

USE AN Open front brush cutter TO:

• Maintain or create new trails in the woods or around a lake
• Clear large areas for future development
• Cut down many trees in a short amount of time
• Clear weeds along fence lines
• Quickly reclaim neglected backyards

What Can I Expect From a Virnig Cutter?

We give special attention to our brush cutters to ensure that they meet performance expectations, including enhanced safety features. You can be sure you’re getting a high-quality brush cutter when you get yours from Virnig.

Quality Spindle: The spindle is the most expensive and important performance part of a skid steer brush cutter attachment. Choosing a cutter with a thick, high-quality spindle is an absolute must when making a brush cutter purchase. All of Virnig’s open front brush cutter attachments are made with thick, high-quality USA-made spindles.

Hydraulic Pressure Relief Valves: Pressure relief valves protect the motor and the loader’s hydraulic system from pressure spikes. When the blades hit a large stump or rock, the relief valves open and relieve the pressure. This protects seals and other internal components from damage due to excessive pressure. Virnig’s premium drive components include Eaton® motors with relief valves to provide optimum performance and longevity.

Heavy-Duty Flywheel: A heavy-duty flywheel is needed for handling large debris. If it is too light, the brush cutter will bog down and hurt performance. A heavier flywheel will create more inertia and provide a cleaner, more precise cut. Depending on the model, your Virnig flywheel will be between 150 and 550 lbs with a rounded edge to prevent catching on debris and causing damage.

Safety Features: A skid steer brush cutter motor that features hydraulic dynamic braking will safely stop the flywheel in about ten seconds. Without braking the flywheel will keep spinning for several minutes. The brush cutter attachment should also have a safety feature that prevents the cutter’s deck from going above the cab door. This keeps the cutter close to the ground and limits flying debris, which helps protect the operator. All of Virnig’s attachments offer these crucial safety features.

Replaceable Blades: Replaceable blades minimize downtime. Rocks, dirt, and other obstructions will dramatically increase the dulling of the blades. They will eventually need to be replaced. Virnig’s attachments come with replaceable blades so you can easily extend the life of your cutter.

Replaceable Skid Shoes: Similar to the blades above, skid shoes need replacing from time to time as well. Skid shoes increase the mower deck’s wear life and add protection. Skid shoes help the skid steer mower glide over soft, uneven terrain instead of gouging into the ground. Virnig makes maintenance easy by ensuring that ordering and replacing your skid shoes is simple.

Reinforced, Tall Push Bar: If your cutter needs to go through a lot of small trees and thick debris, then a push bar is essential. Without a push bar, the steel on the front deck may quickly deform and affect the brush mower’s performance. Virnig’s open front attachments all come with push bars that will protect your cutter and extend its longevity.

Reinforced Mower Deck: Take a close look at the steel reinforcements on the top of and under the mower deck — it has to be reinforced since it is the support structure for the entire mower. The mower deck should be constructed with thick, high-grade steel and cross members running across the entire length.

Skid Steer Brush Cutter Reviews

Sometimes the best way to evaluate a brush cutter is to see it in action. Watch how one customer used our V50 Open Front Rotary Brush Cutter to clear cedar trees and brush to create new recreational park trails.

Push mower brush cutter

For many years, folks asked me: “Don’t you have a company logo?” And we really didn’t, as I just never took the time to come up with one…we just had “Earth Tools” written out in a blocky font, and that passed for a logo.

Finally, though, I decided to put some effort into it, and I hired my sister-in-law Trina Peiffer (my wife’s twin sister) to make a line drawing of the Earth Tools sign we have here at the shop. This sign is made out of a 4-foot length of Eastern Red Cedar log; the letters are carved with a chain saw.

I made this sign about 15 years ago (below is a photo). I figured this was a logo with some “meaning”…not just some arbitrary design. Hope you like it!

HAVING TROUBLE GETTING THROUGH ON OUR MAIN NUMBER ABOVE?TRY 502-484-5550 or 0704

SUPPLY-CHAIN ISSUES

The supply chain issues / delays caused by Covid are pretty much worked out now, BUT.- we STILL get VERY busy in the late Winter Spring, and assembling/shipping wait times increase, just because of the log-jam of Tractor / Implement orders coming in all at once at the last minute. So.- DON’T wait until the last minute to order! If you want equipment for this upcoming growing season, ORDER EARLY! Keep in mind that we ship orders on a first-paid, first-shipped basis. we do NOT offer expidited assembling/shipping of tractor implement orders for an extra charge. We appreciate your business and your patience, and we work as hard as we can to get orders out as fast as possible, WITHOUT cutting corners on the proper equipment setup, prep checkout that we are famous for.

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NEW: REGIONAL DELIVERY SERVICE!!

We are now offering a “regional” delivery service for tractor implement orders within a 400-road-mile radius of our location in Owenton KY. Earth Tools’ owner’s Father-in-law (Charles) will be doing the deliveries. Charges for this service will be a bit more than for shipping by truck freight (call for a quote to your specific location), but delivery will be with a pickup truck (and trailer, if needed) that can get to most any location – unlike a semi-truck. Also, scheduling of the delivery will be more flexible, to better meet your needs. “perks” of this service are that the equipment will be FULLY assembled, and Charlie will show you basic operation of the tractor. Minimum merchandise order for this service: 6500. Call for a delivery quote!

Why are new BCS tractors BLACK or SILVER?

Beginning in late 2017, the BCS factory started a new “paint scheme” for their tractors and implements: The tractors are just painted BLACK, and the BCS-branded implements are painted SILVER. (and in 2023, the tractor bodies started coming through SILVER as well) So, on the tractors, the only blue parts are now the plastic “beauty” shrouds for the handlebars.

WHY?

Because the BCS factory in Italy produces 3 brands of walk-behind tractors on the same assembly line: BCS, Ferrari, and Pasquali (BCS purchased these other 2 companies in the 1990s…and no, this is NOT the automotive “Ferrari!”). Historically, they had different paint-lines for each tractor and implement line (Blue for BCS, Green for Ferrari, and Yellow for Pasquali)…but sometime in 2017, they decided to optimize efficiency by painting all the tractors and implements “neutral” colors and just letting the plastic shrouds and decals delineate what brand tractor it would be. Hence, non-blue BCS tractors started appearing in the USA in early 2018. (We have told BCS that we think this is a bad idea. the blue was a color most people associated with BCS, and now, if the plastic beauty shrouds are discarded or lost, there is no color for brand recognition, and that would hurt them more in the long run than the few bucks a tractor they’re saving by not having separate paint lines in their factory. We’ll see if they ever bring the Blue back. )

Bellon, Del Morino (BCS) and Zanon Brush Mowers

Their design being a miniature version of a full-size “bush-hog” on a full-size tractor, these mowers will handle heavy material and are built to take some punishment. All brands models feature blades mounted on heavy duty pivots so that blades can “fold back” when encountering a solid object such as a rock, stump, etc., and not damage the gearbox. These mowers are essentially rotary axes that will take down weeds, brush and up to 2” softwood/1.5” hardwood saplings. There is no “lift” to the blades (such as with a lawn mower), so material is not necessarily chopped up as fine as would be by a flail mower, and cut material is somewhat “windrowed” to one side of the mower due to the blade rotation. So, although these mowers are great for general-purpose brush mowing, they are not the best for cover-crop mowing. The different brands of Brush mowers we offer have a few different features, so here is an overview:

Del Morino Brand: Steel-reinforced aluminum gearbox cases; hardened steel gears and ball bearings in oil bath. Input shaft housings are designed with an oscillating swivel so that deck “floats”, or follows the contour of the ground, independent of the tractor axle. Cut material comes out under a reinforced rubber flap in the rear of mower. NOTE: BCS private-labels the Del Morino mowers, so a ‘BCS brand’ 21”, 26 or 32” brush mower is actually a Del Morino. Del Morino in under contract with BCS America for sales in the USA, so for us to purchase Del Morino mowers to fit BCS, we have to buy them through BCS America. When we buy them to fit Grillo, we can buy directly from Del Morino. This is why our for Del Morino mowers to fit Grillo are less than to fit BCS: You are paying BCS’s extra mark-up. (NOTE: BCS also offers a “30 inch ‘Combo’ mower”, which we do not stock because it does not perform well as a brush mower OR a lawn mower, and has serious design issues. For what we feel is a better option in a “crossover” mower, see our Zanon brand side-discharge Lawn Mowers in the Lawn Mower section.)

Bellon Super-Duty Brush Moweron BCS 853 Diesel tractor

Bellon Brand: This is our “Super-Duty” brush mower, due to the following features: Cast-Iron gearbox housing with hardened steel gears and ball bearings in oil bath. Input shaft housing is designed with an oscillating swivel so that deck “floats”, or follows the contour of the ground, independent of the tractor axle, and also has “leveling springs” to help offset the torque of the PTO shaft through this swivel. Cut material comes out under series of hanging chains (just like a BIG bush-hog — chains never dry-rot or need replacement!) in the rear of mower. Cutting height adjustable from 2.5 to 4” by moving the skids up or down with 4 nuts. (Although, to meet current safety standards for brush mowers, the blades must cut at 4” high. So, if you adjust for a lower cutting height, it is at your own risk!!) Blades are designed to be flipped over, for more life. Blade carrier disk even comes with 2 extra blade-mounting holes, so if you bash into enough rocks enough to deform the original set of holes, you can just move to the “spare” holes. Available in one size: 28” cutting width.

Click here for a video showing features / setup / basic maintenance of the Bellon Brush Mowers

ALL BRANDS of brush mowers we carry also have a feature which allows the input shaft angle to be adjusted to allow the deck to be parallel with the ground regardless of tractor wheel height (this is covered in the “setup” video above).

Still, using a brush mower requires minimum of 5x10x20” wheels (or larger) on tractor, for good ground clearance under the tractor engine… larger wheels are better in rough ground conditions. (Ask us for our recommendations on wheel size to best suit all your implement needs)

Del Morino (BCS) 21” Brush Mower

• Item 921.91225 (fits BCS 620. 853 [not 660 or 750]) MSRP: 1699Earth Tools Regular Sale price: 1614
• Item BM21-G (fits Grillo G85. G107) MSRP: 1300Earth Tools Regular Sale price: 1235
• Implement weights and/or PTO extension may be required for proper balance and/or wheel clearance
• Larger-than-standard wheels may be required for proper engine ground clearance
• Debris screen (for engine cooling air intake) recommended

Del Morino (BCS) 26” Brush Mower

• Item 921.91226 (fits BCS 732. 853) MSRP: 1799Earth Tools Regular Sale price: 1709
• Item BM26-G (fits Grillo G85 9hp. G110) MSRP: 1449Earth Tools Regular Sale price: 1375
• Implement weights and/or PTO extension may be required for proper balance and/or wheel clearance
• Larger-than-standard wheels may be required on some tractor models for proper engine ground clearance
• Debris screen (for engine cooling air intake) recommended
• Additional accessory required to fit BCS 660 or 750

Bellon 28” Super-Duty Brush Mower

• Item MDS700-B (fits BCS 739. 853) MSRP: 1699Earth Tools Regular Sale price: 1595
• Item MDS700-G (fits Grillo G110) MSRP: 1699Earth Tools Regular Sale price: 1595
• BCS type Requires additional accessory to fit BCS 750 or 948
• Debris screen (for engine cooling air intake) recommended
• Additional accessory required to fit BCS 660 or 750

Del Morino / BCS 32” Brush Mower

• Item 921.91229 (fits BCS 749. 948 Except for 770 779) MSRP: 1999Earth Tools Regular Sale price: 1899
• Larger-than-standard wheels may be required for proper engine ground clearance
• Debris screen (for engine cooling air intake) recommended
• Additional accessory required to fit BCS 660 or 750

EARTH TOOLS, Inc. 1525 Kays Branch Road Owenton, KY 40359

(502) 484-3988 tel. (502) 237-1026 fax.

NOTE REGARDING HOLIDAY CLOSINGS :

Annual Winter vacation: closed from Christmas Eve until the first Business Day of New Year (in 2024, re-opening Jan 2nd).

Also closed Martin Luther King day, Memorial Day, USA Independence Day (July 4th), Labor Day and the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving in Nov. (USA).

Rammy Brush Cutter 120 for ATV / UTV

This little ATV Brush Cutter from Rammy is an astoundingly capable brush cutter: it can cut trees up to 4″ in diameter! That’s insane! And it can even be converted to a finish mower without having to buy a complete, separate attachment. When we say Rammy builds quality ATV attachments, we think these two notes are a good start to proving it!

Looking for something else, but this one doesn’t quite fit the bill?Join our Mailing List for weekly updates on inventory!

RAMMY BRUSH CUTTER 120 DETAILS

The Rammy ATV Brush Cutter 120 is an agile and powerful brush cutter that is compatible with most ATVs. It can cut hay, grass, bushes, and even trees that are up to 4 inches in diameter. This makes the Brush Cutter a great tool for general yard maintenance, trail maintenance, or even creating new trails.

This machine also features a protective roller on the underside. Since the brush cutter has this protective roller, the weight of the machine is on the ground instead of your ATV while you’re clearing brush. Furthermore, it helps to keep the brush cutter blades from driving into the ground.

The Rammy ATV Brush Cutter 120 also comes standard with a side shift kit. This kit allows the brush cutter to be shifted 12.5 inches to the left or right of center.

Mounting

The Rammy Brush Cutter mounts to your ATV using its universal snowplow bracket. However, your ATV needs a winch to raise and lower the cutter between mowing and transport positions. We also recommend using about 100 lb of ballast weight on the rear rack of your ATV, to offset the added weight of the Rammy.

Additionally, you can tighten your front springs (if adjustable), as well as your front tire pressures, to help alleviate the extra weight on the suspension. If your ATV has a soft front suspension, it would benefit from having heavy duty springs or spring inserts installed.

As a side note, the ATV only supports the Rammy’s weight in transport position. While mowing the weight of the brush cutter is on the ground.

Lawn Mower Conversion Kit

There is a lawn mower conversion kit available for the Rammy Brush Cutter (kit #74131290). This consists of 3 new blade hubs with grass cutting blades, as well as a front mower deck section with caster wheels.

The brush cutter and lawn mower use the same frame, engine, and transmission, so those don’t need to be converted.

Rammy mowers are manufactured in Finland and are made with quality and efficiency in mind. As a front mount ATV brush cutter, you don’t flatten the grass, or brush, before mowing. This gives you a better and more consistent cut.

We also offer the Rammy ATV Lawn Mower and the Rammy ATV Flail Mower, which are designed to handle different jobs.

If you’d like to learn more about Rammy, you can visit their site here.

Mounting Requirements

To mount a Rammy Attachment to your ATV or UTV, you must have a winch and a plow mount. We recommend KFI mounts.

Shipping

Shipments fulfilled from Wisconsin.

Standard Flow Rotary Brush Cutter/Brush Mower | Brush Buster. Industrial Floating Brush Mower

Often imitated but never duplicated t he Brush Buster has been re-engineered adding a bottom deck re-enforcement ring. This keeps blades in line while increasing the overall strength of the deck. Our industry leading floating deck follows the contour’s of the ground and large rear roller gives you a smooth ride but aggressive cut. The top linkage bar allows for adjustments for each machine along with creating enough resistance to cut tree’s and brush which you can’t achieve with straps or the rear roller alone. The combination of rear roller, floating plate, and centered linkage gives the only truly floating deck design in the market. Built from 1/4 steel with 1/2 overlapping end plates ,making them some of the strongest brush mowers manufactured. This is the most versatile mower on the market today. Use it to cut trees, brush, and unwanted weeds and grass. Its unique automatic Float-n-Tilt system allows you to cut evenly on level surfaces, as well as the most rugged terrain.

• Unique automatic Float-n-Tilt™ system follows the contours of the ground
• Available 66, 72 and 78 cutting widths
• Pressure relief system/no shear pins here
• Cut, clear, and mulch unwanted brush, thickets, grass and trees
• Break new trails, clear ditches, construction, property sites, and other overgrown areas
• Best value: powerful, versatile, great price
• Dual-edge cutting blades can be operated in reverse for longer life
• Available with John Deere Euro Mount. ( May require Hydraulic power pack)

Testimonials

I bought this mower to take care of various dirt roads and drainage ditches that connect 157 acres of farm property in Western Oregon. The fig benefit is using the flat and tilt feature to cut weeds on the side of the drainage ditches, This has really reduced the requirement for spring weeds. Thus far, has been reliable and trouble free.

I have an older skid steer with lower hydraulic flow and was concerned about mower performance. Purchased the low-flow model and the mower works great. Tho floating deck also works very well.

I’ve had my brush mower a few months now and have used it a lot. I do weed Abatement hear in Hesperia California. Ive cut grass, sage, small trees and wild alfalfa. This mower eats it all up. I really love the float feature not really excited about the tilt stop so I disabled it. The quality of this mower is fantastic the only issues Ive had with it is it bolts coming loose due to lack of washers. lock nuts and or tread lock. I shared this feed back with them and they said theyd address this with manufacturing. Over all Im extremely happy with this mower and would but it again when the time comes.

Just got a new skid steer and Im looking for was to seeing how well it works. I used it on my old one, but it was not a problem with the brush cutter, it was more the skid steer.

I have been mowing 3ft sagebrush for two years, no problems, great service.

For the money this was the most efficient mower, I used a brush mower from another competitor and had to do a lot of adjusting and stopping, Cody at Quick Attach recommended the Brush Buster as it will “float” and shut off when you raise the deck. The 40 acres we have it sage brush, and and rock. The mower worked better than I imagined. I was able to increase my speed and work around rocky areas without stopping and starting.

I purchased this brush mower with optional wheel kit and push brace. Mower works excellent. Very heavy duty. Unbelievable what this mower will grind up. Little more expensive than other brands but well worth the extra money.

A quick note to thank you for all of the help with the brush buster skid steer mower. I was comparing different brush mower attachments for my skid steer and contacted quick attachments for a price quote. I was comparing fixed deck models because I though a floating deck model would be out of my budget. When I spoke with Paul and John and Quick Attach they produced me a quote for a floating deck mower that was within my budge. I used this mower to cut approximately 45 acres of dense vegetation at three different properties. The mower floated over the ground so well that I was able to increase my mowing speed and complete the projects quicker than expected. I would highly recommend this product to anyone in the market for a brush mower.

The wait was worth it. I just came back in from running the brush buster at our shop and I must say that I was impressed. To be honest I thought the claims were a bit exaggerated- I didnt think this thing would eat much brush but I was wrong. It sure does seem to be a fine piece of equipment and has no problems at all with handling heavy brush. It will be on the pipeline right of way tomorrow and I have no doubt that it will perform better than expected. Thanks, and I am sure we will be doing more business in the future.

A few thoughts on the Brush Buster mower that I purchased, As you know I was NOT planning to buy a mower at this time, but I ended up with one and Im glad I did. At first I was actually second guessing my purchase because the floating deck takes a little getting used to. After about an hour of operation I knew this might be the best purchase ever. This attachment can do things that none of my other equipment can do. It has made mowing my fence rows a breeze. (I can stick it right under the wire on some fences) It also works wonders on cleaning out over grown ditches as well as clearing out brush and saplings in wooded areas for food plots. The areas that I have cleared with this mower will HOPEFULLY give me the opportunity to see a Boone and Crocket Buck this Fall. Thanks for a phenomenal product and great purchasing experience.