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bush hog based homemade brush chipper/mulcher.

Started by Thehardway, March 04, 2014, 11:59:49 AM

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Thehardway

I am amazed at the price used chipper/ mulchers bring.  I can't bring myself to pay it. 

So here is my idea.  If a guy fabricated a plate steel chute for his bush hog and then cut a hole about 6" square in the top of his bush hog deck he could then feed brush and sticks down in it and turn them into mulch/chips.  Seems like it would be good for cleaning up around the farm, tree tops and dead falls etc.  This would be ideal for maintainign fence rows etc.  make a bracket to hold the chainsaw handy and mow and clear brush at the same time. It would already be on the tractor so easily transported.

Trick would be to make it so it can't hurt your arm as you drop the sticks in.  Would probably need to reinforce the edges of the cutout with some angle iron.  Chute need not be too long. 

This would not be a competitor with the big vermeer etc. chippers, more a competitor to the overpriced DR style stuff.  Not chipping up logs here.

What do you all think?  Any better home brew solutions?  I've got a lot of old dead pine tops to clean up and spring burning ban is putting a crimp in my schedule.
Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

DeepCreek

So, you are going to stand exactly where when dropping stuff into those spinning blades?   :o

pineywoods

Sounds like a perfectly good way to tear a blade off the shaft. I wouldn't want to be anywhere within half a mile when that happens.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

thecfarm

I remember a post about a member that limbed a tree out,take a picture and than run his bush hog through the limbs. Than took another picture. I can't remember how many times he run the bush hog over the limbs. Maybe he backed over the brush? I forgot. But it did seem to work pretty good. Kinda the same idea as what you want to do.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

LeeB

You ever got hit in the back of the head by a stick of wood coming out from under a bush hog? last time I did it bout near knocked me out. Thanks but no thanks. :o
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

47sawdust

SO.......how was it you came by your handle,anyway!
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

Thehardway

Hmmm...

Seems like some you have had some bad experiences with bush hogs.   I understand your skepticism.  In this case you would be standing on top of the bush hog deck and dropping small limbs down a steel chute through the deck near the end of the flail blades. There is no way you would be in the path of any flying objects.

Blades on bush hog are designed to swing, not shear off, if they contact anything larger than they can cut in a single pass but even if they did they would not be coming at you.

Might want to put a piece of catwalk grating on the deck just as a precaution against anything penetrating the deck.  The bush hog would essentially be doing the same thing it is designed to do from the bottom up only from the top down.

As you are on top the steel deck you are protected from any debris shot out from underneath.  It may be best to angle the chute some so that the brush is not cut at a 90 degree angle but closer to a 60 degree?
Also a sheild / guard on PTO shaft to avoid entanglement issue would be a plus.   A spring loaded trap door in the chute could be used as an anti kickback device.



 

Here is a rough sketch looking at the rear of the bushhog.

Running bush hog over the limbs is not very effective as they are not good at picking up and cutting things that are already laying down although it does work.
Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

DeepCreek

If you stand on the deck, you are still too close to reciprocating objects that might catch a pant leg or something else. Thos guards aren't foolproof. You also have to step on and off the deck while the PTO is engaged and (I assume) the throttle is at PTO speed. 

A basic safety rule is never have a human being in the direct rotational plane of an operating brush mower. I have been hit by flying wood myself and it hurt like hell. I have also seen a five pound chunk of rock take out the rear window of a pickup. Fortunately, it was parked at the time. Also fortunately, it wasn't my truck or tractor that was involved.

Any time you are stuffing limbs or what have you down a chute into moving machinery, things can go wrong. Objects may hang up for some reason and not drop until the unit is bumped or shifts from something like the operator getting off. That alone should make you rethink this one. Also, consider that regular chippers have "suck 'em in" toothed rollers which pull the wood into the machine. That pretty much prevents stuff from coming flying back out.

Your proposal would have you or someone else dropping wood directly onto high speed moving blades with a near 50% chance of having it come flying back up at warp speed. Any body part over that chute is going to be at serious risk.

On the other hand, if you go through with this, you may get to directly experience what it feels like for a squirrel to be barked by a real good shot.

Please don't do this. It's a virtual sure thing that you or someone helping you will bleed or worse if you do.
   

Corley5

Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Red Good

Post pics if you can , but I would really rethink this again . I cut a lot of big branches when brush hogging and small standing stuff and you could not make me do what your talking about doing . Jmho . Red
Stihl 211C saw
Massey 135 deisel tractor with a front loader
Can Am 800 max quad
2001 Chev S10 pick me up
Home made log arch

Wellmud

I'm thinking you better have careflight on standby, that would be all kinds of dangerous.
Woodmizer LT35 manual, Kubota L3130, Farmi 351, Stihl 029 super, 3 Logrite canthooks

Bandmill Bandit

The modification that you propose has nothing to do with doing it the "Hard Way". Id call to darn cheap to do it properly in spite of 100% probability of serious injury or death to some one.

The machine you propose to modify is NOT designed to be top fed. When you get it done I will for sure nominate you for a Darwin Award as you will definitely qualify. (provided that you have not yet produced any offspring) 
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

Red Good

And it just occured to me that your blades are sharpened to cut from above not be fed from above . Red
Stihl 211C saw
Massey 135 deisel tractor with a front loader
Can Am 800 max quad
2001 Chev S10 pick me up
Home made log arch

Thehardway

OK guys, I guess you have talked me out of it, although I am disappointed at the lacking spirit of adventure or as some might say stupidity? :o

I am sure there is a way to do this safely, and now that the idea is out of the bag, I will wait for someone to produce the kit and charge a fortune for it.   I guess it is better to live another day wanting than to die trying.   

I really don't see how it is any more dangerous than operating a hydraulic arm, vertical bush hog like they use for clearing limbs on right of ways, or a homemade stump grinder. Those are a bit more scary to me.   I'm sure the guy that invented the chainsaw was nominated for a Darwin as well, it has certainly hurt enough people in its day.   I think you guys might be picturing bigger stuff than what I am.  Oh well.   Thanks for saving my life 8)
Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

47sawdust

I think we have your best interest in mind as well as your personal safety.If you are looking for a low cost chipper some have used old silage blowers with success.It might be worth a look.

Keep the ideas coming,the Wright brothers were probably referred to as the Wrong brothers by more than a few skeptics.
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

Bandmill Bandit

Quote from: Thehardway on March 05, 2014, 10:30:08 AM
   I'm sure the guy that invented the chainsaw was nominated for a Darwin as well, it has certainly hurt enough people in its day.   8)

To qualify for a Darwin award you have to be Dead (from the use of the "invention") AND more importantly you CANNOT have produced any offspring.

Chain saw inventor doesn't qualify. I have no problem with you building a chipper/shredder BUT start from scratch and build like a chipper/shredder is built. DONT use and Heavy duty lawn mower.

I bought an old Ghel Forage harvester 30 years ago and retro fitted it with a chute to handle  brush. Need about a 100 HP on the front of it but it would chew 4 in stuff on the slowest setting and it made real good land scape mulch. I dont think I spent more then 500 bucks as i got the forage harvester at an auction sale for 50 bucks. I had to replace some parts and build the infeed chute. 500 bucks is probably a high estimate. Had no worries about harming some one when built properly, all guards in place and an alert operator.       
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

Thehardway

The silage shredder/blower would be a great idea IF I had a big tractor or engine to run it but I don't.  I only have  an 18HP kubota diesel.  My bush hog is only a 4' bushhog.
I could get a rear mount 3pt chipper but they are pricey and then I'm still switching back and forth on the implements which is a pain.

I think maybe I'm on the right train but the wrong track. I need another approach.  Like a hopper you put the brush in while the bush hog is not running that has some hydraulic feed rollers that can be actuated from the proper operator position out of harms way and feed speed could be controlled.  This makes use of the bush hog flails and gear drive investment and the convenience of not having to change implements

I have offspring so I definitely am out of the running for a Darwin.  LOL

BTW, I have seen guys on Youtube who made mulcher/chippers out of  21" push lawnmowers by cutting a hole in the top of the deck.  They look much more dangerous than my proposal but you never know.  I see some issues with them...

What would be great is a small version of one of these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYKg0gbRFns

But these look very dangerous in my opinion and I would not park my truck too close.  I would want a debris screen over that cab too!  My bushog is kiddy play compared to this...




Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

Ljohnsaw

WOW!  Now that is a serious machine!  Geez - scary tool!
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

Raider Bill

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Al_Smith

Most likely even if it did work it would be temporary at best before you tore the gear box out of it .Besides all that what it would do is pulverize it wouldn't really chip like a brush chipper .

I'm trying to visualize what a racket something like that would make .I know they are pretty noisey just mowing down saplings .Makes a 30 HP tractor grunt too .

shinnlinger

There was a guy on FarmShow who did exactly what you proposed and it worked out well as long as he didn't try to go too big, 3" or so.  And he just cut a hole in the top of his hog.  A chute seems safe enough to me!

If we were neighbors we might be dead by now, but it would have been fun and memorable!
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

Holmes

   My wood chipper has knives and close tolerances.  A bush hogs blades are usually dull and not designed to be chipping wood, edge on bottom not the top.   I will drop my bush hog on a pile of brush and back into a pile of brush. Hand feeding from the top seems like it will give the rotary blade more leverage against a person than can be handled.
Think like a farmer.

Rockn H

I've backed into brush and thickets and eased the bush hog down, but always just burned a brush pile.    This post got me thinking about a video I saw of a homemade firewood chipper.  When I tried to find it, I found a bunch of these homemade lawnmower chippers..... never been this worried about limbs. lol

http://youtu.be/XYq2ZnpZZUk

YellowHammer

Pretty much everyone I know that uses a bush hog style rotary cutter has a horror story of either them or someone they know either having a close call, getting whacked, wound up, amputated, or otherwise maimed for life.  Sometimes they were playing by the safety rules when they got hurt, sometimes not.  I personally know of two professional farmers who have been wound up in PTO drive lines, and one of them can still walk.  These machines play for keeps, is a brush pile worth it?

There's a big graphic safety decal on a Vemeer chipper truck I see around town that always gets my attention. I'm not sure if it was made by the company, or was custom artwork. It's got a cartoon picture of a guy feeding branches, reaching past the shredder safety guard, getting tangled up and pulled in, twisted and shredded.  It says in big bold letters:
"DONT GO PAST THIS POINT
DONT DO IT
DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT"
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

POC

Heck, my BH already HAS a hole, factory made, in the deck.  I think it is to allow ease of access to the bolts that hold the blades to the disk.
I believe with a heavy enough chute, you might not get killed.  ;D

I have been hit by rocks, sticks and misc. other debris from the BH. Not fun.
And that's all I have to say about that,
Patrick

goose63

I have a 60 inch bush hog that thing will toss a 3pound rock 50 yards what's it going to do to you when some thing goes wrong.
I put a quick hitch on my tractor takes bought 3 minutes to change form hog or tiller or what ever.
I think you are just asking to get hurt trip to ER may cost more than the chipper its up to you
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

Bandmill Bandit

Yes those area  very effective and scary machine. Purpose built with all the guards and structural integrity of a tank. You will notice that the boom of the Hoe has 100 metre area risk zone warning sign on a unit designed for the job. And that cab will have all the required safety equipment in place to protect the operator.

With the bush hog you are doing 2 things that make it a mater on when not weather there will be an accident.

The rotor/blades are designed to create a vacuum below the blade and a high pressure zone above with deck providing containment long enough to SAFELY discharge processed material to the sides and or rear where there are usually chains to restrict flying debris.

When you cut that hole in the top of the Deck you will reduce the pressure above the rotor AND give the pressure an alternate and UNSAFE exit that will work exactly opposite of the desired result. It will be like paddling a canoe up stream all the time. same with the lawn mower mods which are even more dangerous because they have just enough power to make people think the wont hurt you. 

It will also compromise the effectiveness of the bush hog to do what it is designed to do.

I have seen several of the lawn mods at the local dump and know of at least 3 accidents where such attempts at home made chippers  have caused serious injury (including the loss of an eye and half of a mouth full of teeth) 

I have enough experience with this type of equipment to know when to stick to the designs that the engineers have come up with. AND I know that other on this forum have a lot more experience than I do. I would not hesitate to do a home build from scratch my self and it would look and operate exactly like the one my neighbour has that mounts on his 3 point
hitch.

http://www.vermeercanada.com/new-equipment/tree_care/brush_chippers/bc700xl

That one has all the saftey feature built in and you will notice the operator is still skittish around it.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Brush-Master-4-in-15-HP-420-cc-Commercial-Duty-Chipper-Shredder-CH4/100672609

That one is a 1000 bucks and it works real well. Another neighbour has on just up the road.         
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

Thehardway

I am pleasantly surprised that a few of my adventurous kindred spirits have the fortitude to admit they don't see this as an overtly dangerous modification and might be willing to try it in the face of all the naysayers. 

I think if nothing else, this post proves that one of the most feared implements around is the bush hog, properly operated or not.

That said, let's put danger in its proper perspective.  Who has not had a close call with a machine that was previously regarded as perfectly safe? A hand mixer, drill motor, electric knife, bench grinder, table saw, angle grinder or my personal favorite a wire brush on a power tool of any kind. What happened before ROPS on tractors, seatbealts and airbags in cars and chain brakes on chainsaws?

Moreover, the alternative to bush hogging, namely fire, is much more dangerous and has claimed many more lives through the centuries, not to mention loss of property and permanent disfigurement and disability than all dangerous machines combined.

Although I see the huge potential for a mishap here, I really don't see it as dangerous as some others may.  In my particular situation, it is much less dangerous than burning the dead pine litter or living where it is left as fuel for an unplanned fire.  I have already battled several brush fires and to be honest, I like my chances with the bush hog better, at least they are on my own terms. I personally see it as no more dangerous than driving an old John Deere tricycle tractor down a hill.  Mind you it isn;t something I look forward too or would enjoy.  It make my pucker string draw up pretty tight and I have to be on my toes.

Let's approach this from a different direction.  Let's admit this is horribly dangerous and is an unintended modification to a bush hog.  Let's assume this is a small bushhog being run at low rpm on a low HP tractor and the max dia. that will be placed in it is 2".  Anything over 2" is useable for firewood/kindling and will be cut and gathered.

Let's assume that no one expects you personally to put a stick in it as you have already said you aren't that stupid, what would it take in your mind to make this modification work with reasonable satisfactory result?  Would a remote start be a game changer?  Would a fully enclosed PTO shaft guard make the difference, would a expanded steel approach ramp?  How about closing off the rear discharge with a steel plate and dropping machine all the way down to the ground to avoid any possibilty of flying debris escape/contact?

I think it is much more beneficial to look at this from a "what would it take to make it safe"  approach than to just tell a guy he is a fool and it can't be done.  I think there are more people dead because they tried to do something they were told couldn't be done instead of going through the list of what it would take to do it right or safe and then being able to look at the cost, time, and risk and make a decision on their own about proceeding.

I can tell my 12 yr old it is impossible to put his hand on a stove burner and all it does is make him determined to find a way to do it.  He will likely put on an oven mitt and promptly catch it on fire.  I could instead tell him that if he really finds it neccessary to put his hand on the stove burner, it could be done for a very short duration safely, by putting on my welding glove. (YES, I am equating myself to a 12 year old) 

Perhaps the most interesting discovery so far is that the guy who claims the motto;
"If you ain't livin on the edge you are takin up way to much room. "
Is the most cautionary one against my experiment.  It makes me wonder if he already tried this and is embarrassed to admit it.  (just kiddin')  I respect all opinions even if they aren't what I wanted to hear.  I will approach this from the view that I will only do it if it can be made safer than springtime fire in a slash pine cutover. 8)

Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

mad murdock

The biggest problem about using a bush hog to "chip" or "shred" brush is the blades themselves.  a chipper has knives, an bushog does not.  If you dont modify the blades in some way to make them function more like knives, it will add to the danger factor and will perform poorly.  I would not waste my time trying to reinvent the wheel.  I would rather build a new wheel from scratch.  FWIW. Stay safe, whatever you do. ;)
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

Bandmill Bandit

Quote from: Thehardway on March 06, 2014, 11:50:41 AM

Perhaps the most interesting discovery so far is that the guy who claims the motto;
"If you ain't livin on the edge you are takin up way to much room. "
Is the most cautionary one against my experiment.  It makes me wonder if he already tried this and is embarrassed to admit it.  (just kiddin')  I respect all opinions even if they aren't what I wanted to hear.  I will approach this from the view that I will only do it if it can be made safer than springtime fire in a slash pine cutover. 8)

There is a saying that only the good die young. Don't know why I am still alive and a lot of people that know me wonder as well. I won a bet I didn't know I was apart of till I was 35. At my 35th birthday party I was handed a gallon jar of cash.

The note on the jar was very simple.

Happy 35th! You're ALIVE! THANKYOU for proving us all wrong!

That bet was a result of arrogant stupidity AND "Living on the edge".

Fortunately I lived long enough to learn the difference between the 2 and that education started pretty early from an uncle who could not stand the sight of a safety guard on any of the farm equipment.

The result of that alone should have cost me my life, or at best a leg, a hand Etc.

Nothing like standing on the draw bar of a Cockshutt 1850 buck naked (cept for boxers) with what were my coveralls wrapped around the PTO coupler to the hydraulic pump. Scared Spittless? YUP! Injured? NOT a scratch! Miracle? Any one who saw it happen and there were more than a few say that a Miracle is the only reason I survived that one. And that one wasn't even my fault even if it was arrogant stupidity on the part of a relative from which I took away a very important lesson about what living on the edge ISNT.

1976 Regional snowmobile finals!
800 CC Kawasaki triple mounted in a striped and modified Arctic Cat 1974 EXT factory race version of that sled.

Top speed was unknown no one had the guts to drive the old pickup down a 2 mile stretch of high way fast enough for me to find out and no one else would even get on the sled. At 90 ish MPH on the the old truck I was still pulling away at a good clip.

The trick with this missile was to keep the skis on the ground enough to get through the corners AND stay in front so I could win and do that 3 times. Through 2 qualifiers and a final.

Arrogant? YUP!! Stupid? YUP! a thousand times.
Living on the edge?  ooohhh YEA!! What a rush.

For the record; I have tried stupider stuff than the lawn mower to chipper conversion but not since I was about 15. That was 43 years ago.

Built a "Browns Gas" cannon out of a 12 foot chunk of 3inch id drill stem. even had it rifled and made 12 inch lead alloy projectiles. No one needs to know the result of that even though it was spectacular. First 2 shots missed the target and made pretty good sized craters. 3rd shot permanently drove home the knowledge that this was not a TOY. The result was a shock to say the least. This one doesn't even qualify as stupid or dangerous. It is way past that.

Living on the edge and stupid aren't that far apart. The results often are the same.

The difference is one way your a hero! The other way your just a dumb schmuck that is very likely eligible for a Darwin award.
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

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