I've done a couple of videos on what features are important to look for when shopping for a brush cutter, today we're going to look at options offered and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

There are three main options on brush hogs, the first is rock protection. There's an open area on the front of most brush cutters, and there are three options as to what goes in that space to protect the operator from rocks coming forward. The first option is nothing. Many cutters actually come with no mechanism to slow down debris coming forward out from the cutter. That's because the dealer, in order to try to gain an edge on his selling price, deducted that option when he ordered the cutter. I have no rock protection on the front of my cutter and am okay with that because I mow high enough that I almost never kick up a rock. The second option is a chain guard or just "chains". That's a bunch of horizontal rows of chain suspended from a rod. Chains may not completely stop a rock from coming out, but they generally slow them down enough not to be a danger and they allow air to circulate under the cutter and give you a nice cut and they never wear out. They are the most expensive choice. The last choice is a "deflector" or a big rubber flap. That'll be a lot less costly than chains, but they can wear out after dragging over the ground for an extended period, and they don't let air to circulate. They do well in stopping debris from discharging.

The next option you'll want to look at is gearbox protection. If you hit something that doesn't move, you want something to give way in front of the gearbox so you don't tear it up and have an expensive repair. There are two options here, shear bolt and slip clutch. A shear bolt is just what it sounds like, if you hit an obstruction you break a little bolt and the blades stop before damaging the gearbox. You replace the bolt and go back to cutting. That's a nice, cheap system, that requires no maintenance, but does require a supply of replacement bolts.I. Here's a video that shows me changing the shear pin on my cutter, it's one of the easier ones to change I've seen:    • How to Install a Brush Hog Shear Pin  . The second method of gearbox protection is a slip clutch. Slip clutches work great because if you hit something they slip and let the blades to stop, when you're free of the obstruction you can go back to cutting. That option is quite a bit more expensive, and it does require "burning" the clutches in once a year or so to make sure they're still working. If you don't want to go through that process, get a shear bolt. Here's the video I did on how to burn in a slip clutch:    • Slipping a Slip Clutch  .

The last option, and it's not available on all cutters is a single or dual tail wheel, and I've been getting a bunch of questions on them lately. The advantages of a dual tail wheel set up is that it spreads the weight out and will give a consistent cut in uneven terrain, and, if you're backing up toward a tree, you can get all the way back to it without having to maneuver around a single tail wheel. Single tail wheels are, of course, cheaper. I've always owned single tail wheel equipped machines, if they were the same price I'd opt for dual tail wheels, but they're not, and I'm not wiling to pay extra for them.

Those are the major options available for a rotary cutter, I hope this explanation helps you make a good buying decision that fits your needs.

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