
Over 60 years of proven performance!
Bush Hog, Inc. is the leading North American manufacturer of
rotary cutters, finishing mowers, landscape tools, and tractor-
mounted implements used in the agricultural market. Located in
Selma, Alabama for 60 years, Bush Hog’s products have earned
an enviable reputation for their ruggedness and durability in the
most challenging work environments. The “Bush Hog” brand is
synonymous with rotary cutters and the act of cutting itself,
having invented the brush mower over a half-century ago, and is
often used as a generic term to describe a rotary cutter or the
cutting of a field. Bush Hog’s rotary cutters and other product
lines are assembled using both robotic and well-trained hand
welders before being painted in a state-of-the-art powder coat
paint system within the firm’s 500,000 square foot
manufacturing facility. With an eye toward the future, the
Company continues to invest in key projects that will further
improve the efficiency of its operations. Bush Hog products are
sold through a network of approximately 1,800 active dealers
throughout North America supported by a team of nearly 50
sales representatives.
How it all started...
In 1951, a new device designed to clear pasture and crop residue
was being demonstrated to a group of farmers near Selma,
Alabama. Witnessing the ease at which the tractor-pulled
implement devoured heavy brush, an elderly gentleman wearing
worn overalls stepped forward and observed, “That thing eats
bushes like a hog!” And the name that became synonymous with
rotary cutters in North America was born.
The first Bush Hog was the Model 12, a five-foot wide rotary
cutter that became the “bread and butter” of the Bush Hog
Company. It was the first such device of its kind, featuring a
three-point lift and a stump jumper, with swinging blades that
would fold back if they hit rocks or other heavy objects. The
Model 12 was originally handmade at the rate of one per week in
a dirt-floor factory in Selma. It was built-to-last out of heavy
gauge steel, cost $320, and revolutionized how farmers managed
their fields.
What was life like before Bush Hog? Well, those who still
remember will tell you that if you were trying to clear pasture
land, you used hay cutting equipment and drove your tractor
around the big bushes and came back later armed with axes and
hoes (and hopefully a lot of able-bodied helpers). Clearing a
cornfield required a different strategy. Back then, most farmers
hired 30 or 40 day laborers, supplied them with hoes, and
worked from dawn to dusk until the job was done, which could
take days or even weeks, depending on the size of the field.
“I grew up driving a tractor, helping my father on our farm
near Marion Junction, Alabama. In 1957, while working in
Shipping at Bush Hog, I bought my father a Model 12. He
couldn’t believe how smooth and clean it cut. Anything you
could ride down with a tractor, it could handle. And you didn’t
have to go around anything and come back to deal with it later.
Well, needless to say he was pretty pleased. Over the years, we
added to our collection and have five Bush Hogs around the
farm that still work. They’re practically maintenance free!” —
Tom Moore, 43-Year Bush Hog Employee
In the early years, Bush Hog knew it had a winning product in
the Model 12 rotary cutter. But with limited resources, how do
you sell it? Simple. You show farmers what it will do! So Earl
Goodwin, Bush Hog’s first salesman, would slap a Model 12 on a
trailer and tow it behind his car to demonstrate it around the
country. People liked what they saw, orders came in, and word
got around. When Bush Hog demonstrated at events that also
featured competitor’s products, they arranged to go last. That
way people could see firsthand that Bush Hog could gobble up
what the others couldn’t handle. Today, Bush Hog products are
marketed through 1,800 farm equipment dealers across North
America.
Bush Hog began in a small, dirt-floor factory in Selma, Alabama.
The first paint booth was a concrete pad with a hoist and a hook.
They’d put the cutter on the hook and paint it by hand. The first
loading dock was an angled pit dug out of the earth so trucks
could back down it (although nobody thought about drainage, so
it was frequently filled with rainwater). They made one product,
the Model 12 rotary cutter, and equipment had to be moved
around by tractor. Today, Bush Hog operates a modern,
automated production facility with robotic welders that produce
17 different product lines. Bush Hog operates 42 semi-trucks and
maintains five strategically located distribution centers across
North America. And Bush Hog products mow more than
30,000,000 acres per year!
In 1976, Bush Hog decide to hold an “oldest cutter” contest. The
winners were a couple from Bastrop, Louisiana who had an
original Model 12 cutter they had bought in 1951, the first year
the Model 12 went into production. The machine had given them
25 years of faithful, dependable service. Bush Hog bought the
Model 12 from them and placed it on a pedestal in Bush hog’s
Research and Development Department with a plaque that
reads: “25 Years of Continuous Service.” It stands as a testimony
to the durability that is designed and built into every Bush Hog
product.
Bush Hog products are built-to-last and field-tested—literally! In
the early years, Bush Hog’s Research and Development
department consisted of an employee taking equipment to the
family farm and trying his best to tear it up. This process was
used to identify weak spots and areas that needed improvement
or reinforcement. He’d bring the equipment back to the shop,
the engineers would fix it up, and he’d take it back to the farm
and try to bust it up some more. If Bush Hog couldn’t bust it, it
was ready for production! It’s that kind of heritage that has led to Bush Hog’s reputation for reliability and performance customers
can count on. In fact, many Bush Hog products in use today are
more than 30 years old!


