The Best Attachments for Clearing Overgrown Summer Brush in Tennessee
7/31/2025
Overgrown brush can be a big hassle, especially when it blocks you from doing important work like gardening, farming, or preparing land for projects. For Tennessee residents, brush can be found throughout the thick forests, open fields, and along waterways that make up the diverse and rich landscape of West Tennessee.
To clear the brush out of the way and make room for the real work, you need the right equipment for the job. A solid compact utility tractor from John Deere is a good place to start, but a tractor is only as good as its attachments. There are plenty of attachments that make quick work of brush, but which ones are the best? Let’s take a closer look at great attachments for your CUTs, found at Tennessee Tractor.
Brush is a nuisance for farmers, homeowners, or property managers trying to get other work done around their property. Dense vegetation, like bramble bushes and vines, can create a mess that prevents gardens from being planted, property from looking clean, and land from being cleared for bigger jobs (like a backyard pool project to beat the summer heat!) Although sometimes brush can be welcomed to create natural property line boundaries or for hunters who are looking to provide more shelters and ideal habitats to attract deer, turkey, or other animals, it isn’t the most pleasant vegetation to deal with. That’s why it's best to clear out brush to make way for other projects.
By far, the easiest entry point into clearing brush from your land is by purchasing a compact utility tractor, or CUT. A CUT is a versatile tractor that can be outfitted with various attachments that make quick work of summer overgrowth. John Deere has numerous tractor series, like the 1 Series or 2 Series, that are the perfect size for clearing overgrowth.
The John Deere 1025R, for example, is a very popular entry-level 1 Series tractor that is compatible with many popular attachments, like rotary cutters, front-end loaders, and grapples. It packs plenty of horsepower – 23.9 horsepower and 17.2 PTO horsepower for powering attachments and implements – to tackle any brush job.
The attachments you choose for your compact tractor can really make a difference in its brush-clearing effectiveness. Let’s look at the best attachments for brush clearing in Tennessee.
A rotary cutter, sometimes locally known as a “bush hog,” is the ultimate brush-clearing and overgrowth management attachment for a compact utility tractor. Rotary cutters attach to the back of your tractor and are powered by the PTO on your tractor. Rotary cutters quickly slice and dice through overgrowth like a superpowered weedwacker, mowing down thick overgrowth and getting your land ready for the next project.
It’s important to make sure that your CUT has enough PTO to power your rotary cutter model. If you have questions about whether you have the right tractor, don’t hesitate to ask the tractor experts at your local Tennessee Tractor dealership.
Mower decks are much more similar to your traditional lawn mower or lawn tractor. These are mower blades that reside on the body of your tractor, and imitate riding lawn mowers that you may be used to operating. The benefit of a mower deck over a rotary cutter is that your mower deck is attached to the body of the tractor and can be left on your tractor when not in use. Mower decks are typically found on 1, 2, and sometimes 3 Series John Deere CUTs. You can raise or lower your deck, just like a riding mower, making it easy to chop brush down to its roots. Mower decks are not as powerful as rotary cutters, so keep that in mind when selecting them over a more powerful attachment.
Cutting blades are great for chopping up brush, but if you’re looking for a simpler solution, then a box blade might be just right. A box blade uses a single blade that is pulled behind your CUT. It is most often used for leveling ground for driveways or preparing garden beds, but they are also useful for scraping away ground brush, like weeds and vines. Box blades aren’t powered by PTO, so they’re a highly compatible attachment that can be used with any tractor that has an iMatch quick hitch or compatible hookup.
Sometimes, brush doesn’t just include vegetation like small bushes, vines, and weeds; brush can also be larger branches and logs. If the brush you’re attempting to clear includes branches, logs, stumps, and more, then you’ll need a grapple or a front-end loader to tackle the job. Grapples are attachments that are fixed to the front of your CUT and can pick up large objects to move them out of the way. They’re great for grabbing onto logs or branches and removing them from your land. A front-end loader uses a bucket to transport heavy materials away, perfect for manually loading large obstructions and moving them to another area. Both grapples and front-end loaders require a compatible hydraulic system, so check your tractor model to see its power rating.
Box blades can scrape weeds and brush off the ground, but for an attachment that can really dig in and remove brush, you’ll need a landscape rake. Landscape rakes are similar to box blades because they are pulled behind your tractor and don’t require PTO. However, unlike box blades, they use a series of metal fingers or tines to scrape the ground instead of one large blade. These individual tines dig into the ground and pull the brush out by its root, rather than just lopping off the top layer. They’re a better option for not just temporarily, but permanently removing brush from the land.
Whether you need a rotary cutter, box blade, front-end loader, or another attachment for your brush-clearing job, you can find it at Tennessee Tractor. Our experts are here to listen and help you find the best attachment for your tractor model, at the best price in the state.
We have both new and used attachments available, so call us today or visit a location across West Tennessee to explore our available inventory!