Sharpening Bush Hog Blades

[rotordave]

I have a 60" Bushog Squealer, and I am wondering if grinding a new edge on the blades with a few quick passes of the grinder would damage them or put them out of balance. It is not covered or mentioned in the manual, and have not found it mentioned in the forums. Can any of you give me your opinion on blade sharpening or just replace them like the book says. That desnt sound too economical. Thanks- Dave

 

[ronjhall]

Dave
Here is a thread on Rotary Cutter blade sharpening. Click Here
I use a 4" grinder to touch up the blades without removing blades. Make sure you block mower up well when you reach underneath.

 

[Bird]

Dave, I didn't try searching for the previous threads on this topic, but there have been many. And, yes, many of us have sharpened brush hog blades. I always took mine off and either sharpened them on the bench grinder, or I put them in a vise and sharpened them with a 4.5" angle grinder. However, quite a few people on the forum, and a neighbor of mine, found that the bolts were so tight it was too hard to get them off, so they just sharpen them with an angle grinder without removing them. You probably won't affect the balance much, but since I took mine off, I just weighed them individually and ground them to weigh the same. And I think the "standard or normal" way to sharpen them is to leave a 1/8" blunt or flat leading edge because a brush hog shreds or shatters what it hits more than making a clean cut. You can certainly sharpen them sharper if you are just going to cut grass and weeds, but will nick the edges quicker if you start cutting heavier woody stuff.

 

[rotordave]

Thats pretty much what I thought Bird, and I gave them a going over when the unit was up on the trailer( it sticks out of the back about 2 feet) I was going to do a mow job of some tall grass & weeds, but did notice that it did get "nicked" easier after I put a semi edge on them. Thanks for the good info- Dave

 

[have_blue]

I find it not only OK, but mandatory to sharpen frequently. I have very few weeds, but a lot of thick tough grass. It takes too much horsepower to cut it with dull blades, so to save time, fuel, and wear-and-tear, I sharpen the blades to almost "sharp", and it cuts like a dream. 15 minutes invested to touch up with a disk grinder (on the machine) every time I mow is a more than worthwhile investment.

If you cut brush or dry woody weeds, it's a different story. Depending on how big the brush and weeds are, it may not even pay to sharpen. Use a low gear and bruise your way through it. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[SkyPup]

#1 thing is to be certain to block up the bush-hog with some concrete blocks or something while you are underneath it. Do NOT rely on the hydraulics of the three point hitch to hold it up after you have it rasied.

I've been sharpening ours with a grinder for the last twenty years without any problems, a 1/8" to 1/4" face on the blades is good.

 

[Gary_in_Geneva]

Concrete blocks can and will fail at the worst possible time. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Use wood cribbing instead

 

[Kevin_in_VA]

I just flip mine over with my FEL, and flip it back when I'm done.

 

[TBAR]

I suspend my from a little Over Head Crane that I built and touch it up with the 4" grinder.


TBAR

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Concrete blocks can and will fail at the worst possible time. Use wood cribbing instead )</font>

I hope he was refering to the solid pillow blocks and not the hollow cell 'cinder' blocks.

That said.. wood or jackstands are nice.. as well as solid blocks. No hollow cell stuff.

Soundguy