Best Brush Cutters for Skid Steers
Posted on: December 19, 2023
Blue Diamond® Attachments offers some of the best brush cutters for skid steers in the industry. Our design includes innovative improvements to increase the brush cutter's durability and cut quality. We've focused on offering a brush cutter that can take down both brush and grass with equal effort.
Direct Drive Built to Work for Skid Steer Brush Cutters
The abilities of a skid steer made the original industry brush cutter design inadequate. Early designs were based on tractor brush cutters and used right-angle gear boxes, shear pins, and clutch plates. But operators quickly learned that these gear box designs were simply not durable enough to attach to a skid steer that could reach areas not previously cut.
Blue Diamond® tackled this problem head on with our innovative direct drive system. We reduced torque loss and increased mass in the main drive spindle with a custom-designed direct drive.
Our custom-designed direct drive reduces torque loss and increases mass in the main drive spindle. The direct drive has a three and a half inch forged, single piece shaft that is covered by a lifetime warranty! With a three-inch diameter, our forged drive spindle is the largest in the industry and further increases the durability of the drive unit.
Torque that Keeps Your Brush Cutter Going
Many brush cutter manufacturers boast a high tip speed as their flagship specification. However, don't be fooled by these claims! Skid steers only have a set amount of hydraulic flow and cutters really need to have high torque that increases power instead of just focusing on speed.
Torque becomes even more important when cutting in high thick grass or brush that can wrap around the blades and bog down the cutter. We opted to increase our motor size and drop the blade tip speed to increase torque so you can power through with less downtime!
Blades Designed for Brush and Grass
Early brush cutters only had two blades. But now, the best models have three or even four blades that result in finer mulch with much less clumping. Blue Diamond® skid steer brush cutters have at least three blades in a drop-down style. Our Extreme Duty, Severe Duty, and 72" models have four blades while our Heavy Duty and 60" models have 3 blades.
Did you know that our Severe Duty Series 2 model features a 1" thick serrated blade carrier that weighs 500 pounds! With this massive increase in stored energy and torque, our Severe Duty model cuts brush up to 10 inches! Read more about the importance of blade carriers in this article from Skid Steers Direct!
Many brush cutters feature straight or sandwiched blades that are housed inside the blade carrier. The blade carrier is then lower than the blades themselves. This is fine for cutting brush, but when you want to cut grass, this creates problems.
With drop down blades, the cutting edge of the blade is further away from the deck which then cuts grass while standing instead of while bent over. Cut grass then flows out from under the deck instead of bunching up and slowing you down!
Additionally, all our blades are double sided so you can reverse the motor direction and extend the life of your blades times two.
Deck Height That Keeps Grass Standing
Another key to help grass stay standing while being cut is having sufficient deck height. This deck to blade distance is what allows for a proper cut that keeps material from bogging the cutter down. All our skid steer brush cutters feature a clearance of at lease nine inches.
Chain Curtains: Safety Without Sacrificing Quality
Safety is always important when using attachments that can throw material. Some cutters feature a deck at the rear that goes all the way to the ground. This design can trap cut material under the deck and slow performance. On our closed front brush cutters, we've opted for chain curtains instead.
Chain curtains supply a barrier that minimizes flying debris while still allowing cut material to flow from under the deck. Stop pulling material along with you and keep your performance at maximum while staying safe!