Bush hog blades on a finish mower?

[Trev]

Probably a dumb idea, but could this work? I have a JD272 rear finish mower, and from time to time I wish I had a bush hog of some kind. Then I got to thinking (ut oh!) and said hmm, I wonder if I could put some bush hog blades on this deck and use it for light stuff.. like saplings, etc.

Thoughts??

Tks,
Bob

[Bird]

Bob, on all the finish mowers I'm familiar with, the blades are mounted with a hole in the middle and sharpened on both ends, while brush hog blades are much thicker, wider, heavier, sharpened on one end with the other end bolted to a pan or disk in the center; i.e., they're hinged so when they hit something, they can swing on that pivot bolt. There may also be some difference in the gear ratio of the boxes for the two different types of blades to have different blade tip speeds. You might also consider the fact that the finish mower costs quite a bit more than a brush hog type mower; be a shame to destroy it.

Bottom line . . . I don't think you'll succeed in doing it, but if you do, I don't want to be within 100 yards of you when you engage the PTO.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[djradz]

I thought I saw where Woods, or some other mower manufacturer, is doing something like this. I believe they had a center spindle, about 8" in diameter, and blades swung out from that. Everything else about it made it look like a regular 3 blade rear finish mower.

[Trev]

[img]/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Okay, thanks Bird! Saved me (and my neighbors!) some stress, from the sound of it!

I still like my idea of having the PTO drive a generator which in turn powers a laser beam under the mower. Hit a rock? No big deal. Just cuts the grass off nice and clean, with NO spinning metal parts.

Of course I'm sure it wouldn't work, but it's fun to think of weird things like this and then see if they could possibly be do-able. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Mosey]

You could buy a new set of blades to use for finish mowing, and then use the old ones for hacking down the light brush. Putting blades that are too heavy would probably damage the bearings and could snap the belt.

[Trev]

<font color=blue>You could buy a new set of blades to use for finish mowing, and then use the old ones for hacking down the light brush.</font color=blue>

Not a bad idea! My current blades got pretty beat up by rocks this year, and I have a new set ready to mount in the Spring. And an air wrench for quick switches between the two sets. I like it! [img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks,
Bob

[Von]

Bob, The only problem is that the finish mower blades are not thick enough and will bend when hitting something too thick. I have a bent blade from hitting a rock, and will be replacing all three next spring.

[Trev]

Hi Von,

Well, mine have hit quite a few rocks so far.. it's our number one crop on this property. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif[/img] It doesn't seem to vibrate when running, so I figure they can't be bent too far yet. I'll learn my sharpening skills on them, and then just use them for light brush and saplings.. with a new set for the lawn.

I just hope the kids don't decide to build another "fort" and forget to tell me about where they laid their "foundation"!! [img]/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[Kodiak]

I like Trev's idea of the generator and lazor cutter. But I'm thinking something a little simpler like a a tank of liquid nitrogen. Just a spritz here and there, then both the grass and the rocks get brittle and break right off. With nothing to wear out.

[em14]

A while back I saw where there was R&amp;D going on in a serious effort toward the development of laser mowers ... and why not, The group had a working prototype ...