Bush hog job time planning means working out cutting time from a rate, then adding the time around the cut. A 6 foot cutter at 4 miles per hour and 75 percent efficiency covers 2.18 acres per hour, so a 20 acre field takes about 9.2 hours of cutting time. Travel, fuel, and breaks sit outside that figure.
Table of Contents
Start With the Job, Not With the Day
Start by naming the job in full. How many acres, in how many fields, with what growth, on what ground, and with what access? A job with one 20 acre open field is a different plan from a job with four 5 acre fields spread across a property, even when the total area is the same. The second job has more travel between fields, more setup at each field, and more turning at the ends of short passes.
Measure Each Field and Split It by Ground
Measure each field in acres. Use a map, a deed, or a previous cut, and do not guess from a drive past the field. If a field is irregular, break it into simple shapes on paper and add the areas together. Write the area of each field down, and check that the field areas add up to the job total.
Pick a Rate for Each Zone
Pick cutter width first. Width is the working width, which is the actual cut swath minus overlap, not the machine width. On rough ground, overlap often rises, so working width falls. Measure the swath you actually cover and use that figure.
The site bands are small or irregular fields at 55 to 65 percent, average fields at 70 to 75 percent, large rectangular fields at 80 to 85 percent, and ideal fields with GPS guidance at 85 to 90 percent. Note that the ideal band is 85 to 90 percent, not 88 to 90 percent. Use the average band for light grass on an average field, and use the small or irregular band for a rough overgrown field that is broken by hazards. If you are unsure, use the lower efficiency, because a plan that is a little slow is safer than a plan that promises more than the field can give.
The Formula and the Verified Rates
Acres per hour equals width in feet times speed in miles per hour times efficiency, divided by 8.25. Efficiency is written as a decimal, so 75 percent is 0.75 and 65 percent is 0.65. The constant 8.25 comes from 43560 divided by 5280. To get time from a rate, divide acres by acres per hour. That gives hours, and the part after the decimal point times 60 gives minutes. Times in this guide use the unrounded rate, and only the final value is rounded.
| Cutter width | Rate at 75 percent efficiency | Rate at 65 percent efficiency |
|---|---|---|
| 6 foot | 2.18 acres per hour | 1.89 acres per hour |
Worked Plan for a 20 Acre Field
Take a 20 acre field with a 6 foot cutter at 4 miles per hour. Suppose 12 acres are light grass at 75 percent efficiency, and 8 acres are rough pasture at 65 percent efficiency. The light zone rate is 2.18 acres per hour, so its time is 12 divided by 2.18, which equals 5.50 hours. The rough zone rate is 1.89 acres per hour, so its time is 8 divided by 1.89, which equals 4.23 hours. The total cutting time is 5.50 plus 4.23, which equals 9.73 hours, so about 9.7 hours.
Worked Plans for 10 Acres and 30 Acres
For a 6 foot cutter at 4 miles per hour, 10 acres takes 4.58 hours on light grass at 75 percent efficiency and 5.29 hours on rough pasture at 65 percent efficiency. Twenty acres takes 9.17 hours on light grass and 10.58 hours on rough pasture. Thirty acres takes 13.75 hours on light grass and 15.87 hours on rough pasture. Times are cutting time only. Use these figures as a check, then add the time around cutting for your own job.
For a different speed, work the rate out again. At the homepage speed of 4.5 miles per hour and 75 percent efficiency, a 6 foot cutter covers 2.45 acres per hour, so 20 acres takes 8.15 hours, so about 8.2 hours. Keep the two speeds separate and label which speed each time uses, because the homepage example uses 4.5 miles per hour and the brief example uses 4 miles per hour. At 3 miles per hour and 65 percent efficiency, the same cutter covers 1.42 acres per hour, so 10 acres takes 7.05 hours.
Order the Work and Plan the Route
Order the fields by ground, not only by area. Cut the light open ground first, so you learn the real rate on easy ground before you meet the rough ground. Cut the rough ground when you are fresh, and when the light is good enough to see hazards. Leave the wettest or softest ground until it is firm enough to carry the tractor without rutting, and do not plan a wet field for a day when rain is likely to make it worse.
Plan the moves between fields as well. Order the fields so travel between them is short, and so you do not drive over ground you have already cut. If a field needs a second pass in its thickest patches, plan that second pass for the same visit if time allows, or plan it as a separate visit with its own time. Do not leave a second pass unplanned and hope it fits in the same day, because it is the part of the job most likely to run over.
Add the Time Around Cutting
The formula gives cutting time only. A complete job plan adds the time around cutting, and it lists each item so it can be checked. Travel to the field, unloading, fuel stops, breaks, and time spent clearing debris all sit outside cutting time. So does time spent walking the field and marking hazards before the tractor starts, and so does time spent on a second pass in thick patches.
Check the Plan and Record the Real Time
Check the plan in three ways before you start. First, check the arithmetic. Divide acres by rate for each zone, add the zone times, and check that the zone areas add up to the total field area. A small addition error can move the total by hours on a large field.
When the job is done, record the real time. Note the cutter width, the speed you held, the efficiency you planned, the acres cut, the cutting hours used, and the time spent on travel, fuel, breaks, and a second pass. Divide acres by cutting hours to get the real rate for that field. That record is the best guide for the next job on the same ground, because it is based on your machine and your ground, not on a general rate.
Cost Planning Without a Price in This Guide
This guide plans time only, and it does not state a price. Time and cost are linked, because a longer job takes more time, but the price depends on your own rate, your travel, and your local conditions, and those figures are yours to enter, not ours to state.
Common Mistakes in Bush Hog Job Time Planning
First, planning the whole job at one rate. A job with light and rough ground needs a rate for each part. Split the field by ground, work out the time for each part, and add the times together. A single rate will be wrong for at least part of the job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I do bush hog job time planning?
A: Measure each field, walk it first, split it into zones by growth and ground, pick width, speed, and efficiency for each zone, divide each zone area by its rate, and add the zone times together. Then add travel, fuel, breaks, and any second pass time, and turn the total into days by dividing by the cutting hours per day.
Q: How long does it take to bush hog 20 acres?
A: With a 6 foot cutter at 4 miles per hour and 75 percent efficiency, 20 acres of light grass takes 9.17 hours of cutting time, so about 9.2 hours. The same 20 acres as rough pasture at 65 percent efficiency takes 10.58 hours, so about 10.6 hours. Those times do not include travel, fuel, breaks, or a second pass.
Q: How many days will a bush hog job take?
A: Divide the total cutting time by the cutting hours per day. For example, a 30 acre rough field at 1.89 acres per hour takes 15.87 hours, so about 2 days at 8 cutting hours a day, and about 2.6 days at 6 cutting hours a day. State the cutting hours you assume, because the number of days changes with them.
Q: Should I order light ground before rough ground?
A: Yes, where you can. Cut the light open ground first, so you learn the real rate on easy ground before you meet the rough ground. Cut the rough ground when you are fresh and when the light is good enough to see hazards.
Q: What time sits outside cutting time?
A: Travel to the field, unloading, fuel stops, breaks, time spent clearing debris, time spent walking the field and marking hazards, and time spent on a second pass in thick patches all sit outside cutting time. List each item and give it a time based on your last job.
Q: Where do I plan the cost of a bush hog job?
A: Use the live bush hogging cost calculator linked in this guide. It works out total hours, job price, and cost per acre from area, cutter width, terrain, and your hourly rate. This guide plans time only and does not state a price.
Plan the Rate, Then Plan the Day Around It
Bush hog job time planning is a sum, not a single rate. Measure the field, walk it, split it by ground, pick a rate for each zone, and add the zone times together. Add travel, fuel, breaks, and any second pass, order the work by ground, and leave room for what the field reveals. Use 2.18 acres per hour for light grass and 1.89 acres per hour for rough pasture with a 6 foot cutter at 4 miles per hour, and check your own plan with the Acres Per Hour Calculator before you start. For cost planning, use the live bush hogging cost calculator and read the bush hog rotary cutter productivity guide for the general productivity view behind the rate. Check the rate with the Bush Hog Acres Per Hour Calculator. That is bush hog job time planning in practice: a rate, a zone plan, and the day around the cut.
