Brush hog
Also called: bush hog, rotary cutter, brush mower, brush hogging
A heavy rotary mower, usually towed behind a tractor, that cuts tall grass, weeds and light brush up to about an inch or two thick. The tool for maintaining pasture and keeping cleared land clear, not for clearing woods. Contractors charge $100–$300 an acre; rentals run $150–$300 a day.
“Bush Hog” is a brand name that became the generic term, the way “Kleenex” did. The machine is a rotary cutter with heavy swinging blades under a steel deck, driven by a tractor’s PTO — or, in walk-behind form, by its own engine. It shears through grass, weeds, briars and saplings up to roughly 1–2 inches, and it doesn’t care about rocks or stumps the way a finish mower does.
Where it fits: the last step of land clearing and the ongoing one. Once brush is cleared or mulched, brush hogging a few times a season stops saplings and briars from re-establishing from the roots. It’s also the right tool for an overgrown field that never had real trees.
Where it doesn’t: anything you’d call a tree. A brush hog bounces off a 4-inch trunk. That’s forestry mulching or a chainsaw.
Walk-behind brush mowers ($150–$300 a day to rent) are the homeowner version, good for an acre or two of tall growth.