We started with a 5' brushhog on a tractor (MF 1533). Kept the brush hog pretty high, more-or-less like you see in that picture, because we didn't really know what was in there, and backed the tractor in. As a general rule, it's best to start clearing undergowth in the "winter" when the deciduous plants don't have leaves on them, 'cause that increases visibility by a lot. You really don't want to hit big rocks, big stumps, or stuff like that with your brush hog if you can avoid it. However, we started this area in May, when things were already well on the way to leafing out. We also got a DR walk-behind brush mower, which lets you get in tighter. What I was doing this past week is mainly clearing deadfall branches and such, so I could hit the entire area with the zero-turn mower, and the pic was taken after I'd run the mower through most of it.
Yeah, the little sticks that are laying flat don't bother me; I just wanna be able to cruise through there with the regular mower every 4-6 weeks during the growing season to keep the undergrowth from coming back. There's another area on the other side of the house that we cleared last winter and it's starting to look more-or-less like a lawn. There are also two really big logs laying in there (not in the frame of that picture) that we still need to drag out of there and cut up.
