You may have heard bush hogging called brush hogging, rotary cutting or rough cut mower; it all refers to the same thing. The term “bush hogging” originated with the company that invented the first rotary cutter, the Bush Hog®. We use the brand name to describe this type of mowing much in the way we might call performing an Internet search “Googling.”
Rotary cutters are heavy-duty mowing decks that you tow behind tractors. It’s not a clean-finish process you would use to cut a golf course or football field. It’s most effective to clear overgrown land that’s reasonably level and not strewn with large rocks or tree stumps.
Bush hogging will chew up and spit out high weeds, brush, and saplings up to 1 inch in diameter. Like a mower, it will fling debris in all directions at high speeds, so it is important to make sure people and animals are well out of projectile range and you’re not bush hogging a field next to a full parking lot or a Sunday church service.
