Bush Hog: The Original Brush Mower

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(Photo courtesy of Bush Hog.)

Bush Hog has been helping farmers and ranchers clear brush and crop residue for more than 65 years. You’re most likely familiar with Bush Hog’s tractor-mounted rotary cutters that make short work of saplings, thick bushes, and tall grass—any debris, really, that might ruin regular hay-cutting equipment and finish mowers. Bush Hog’s extensive lineup of ag equipment has grown over the years to include a wide selection of tillage machinery and finish mowers.

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The Model 12 featured a “stump jumper” and 3-point hitch to swing the mower up and over rocks and other big objects. (Photo courtesy of Bush Hog.)

The Model 12

It’s not an overstatement to say that Bush Hog revolutionized field clearing in 1951 with the introduction of the Model 12. This five-foot-wide rotary cutter featured a three-point lift and a “stump jumper.” No longer did farmers and ranchers need to fear hitting large rocks or hidden objects that could break blades or other rotary cutter parts, because the Model 12’s stump jumper (a round blade holder) would allow the cutter to ride over stumps and immobile debris. The Model 12 cost $320 in 1951 (that’s around $3,000 nowadays, adjusted for inflation) and was hand built out of heavy-gauge steel.

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Rotary Cutter Advancements

Bush Hog equipment mows more than 30 million acres per year, according to the company. The modern Bush Hog cutter lineup includes a Flex-Wing series designed for small tractors and rolling terrain, as well as big, multi-spindle rotary cutters for quickly clearing flat land. The multi-spindle rotary cutters are available in cutting widths from seven to 14 feet. Single-spindle rotary cutters, similar in design to the original Model 12, are available in cuttings widths from four feet to seven feet.

As of today, there are more than 1,200 new and used Bush Hog rotary mowers for sale on TractorHouse.com, making them the most popular Bush Hog products on the site. A variety of other brush-clearing Bush Hog products can be found in the Hay And Forage Equipment category, as well.

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The Flex-Wing series is ideal for chopping up debris on rolling terrain. (Photo courtesy of Bush Hog.)

The Fine Touches

For well-maintained fields and acreages, Bush Hog manufactures tractor-mounted finishing mowers, as well as riding and zero-turn-radius lawn mowers. Bush Hog’s latest product is the HDTH Turf Hog, a finishing mower with 60- to 99-inch cutting widths and adjustable cutting heights from 1.5 to 6.5 inches. The zero-turn-radius mowers are all offered in 61-inch deck widths (going all the way up to 73 inches on the HDZ series) and feature a roll bar. TractorHouse.com has both new and used Bush Hog lawn mowers for sale.

Churn & Turn

Bush Hog makes a few types of tillage implements, including subsoilers, cultivators, rotary tillers, harrows (lift disc and pull disc), pasture aerators, and all-purpose plows. The company’s expertise in cutting and tillage also gives it plenty of experience to engineer hay tools, and the Bush Hog lineup currently includes disc hay mowers, rakes, and tedders.

Of course, rotary cutters continue to be a primary focus for the company, and with their reputation for taking on and handling the toughest clearing jobs out there, it’s not hard to see why.

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The HDTH Turf Hog is a finishing mower available in cutting widths up to 99 inches. (Photo courtesy of Bush Hog.)

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