Brush mower Vrs Finish mower

[IslandTractor]

So why not add a 2nd tail wheel ( relocate first one / use it as a template... )

Or get a mower wtih 2 tail wheels. A few mowers DO have 2 tail wheels.

What size are you using?

Soundguy

I'm using a 48" Bush Hog Squealer. Don't really want to add a second wheel and I manage the "plowing" problem by simply cutting higher (estimate about 5 inches).

For a while I thought I just did not have the 3PT attachment properly adjusted and that still might be the case but the lower arm chains are pretty tight and I cannot figure out any other adjustment other than position control to prevent the "plowing". The top link adjustment doesn't have much impact given the swing (or whatever that is called). The plowing problem usually occurs when the tractor is turning or when the rear wheel dips but once the hog starts to plow it likes to stay down and can cut a lovely 20-25 foot gouge if I am not careful. The land is semi flat but there are a number of rocks and short stumps that I drive over which can tilt the tractor enough to let the hog dig in if I am trying to cut closer than 5" or so.

 

[MrSteve]

I have a thread I started CLICK HERE (the thread Matt_W is talking about) about using a Hog to cut Finished grass, here is a pic from that thread, I'm very happy with the cut I get.

EDIT... About digging in with the mower... I think allot has to do with how high the mower is, the speed of your turn and so on. I do dig here and there, but I am not trying to have a baseball Field. For the most part I would say I would rub 4 or 5 times cutting 10 ac. My mower blades are about 6" off the ground. Also allot has to do with how the mower is made, you can see pic of my mower in the below link.
My mower... (note, mower is set much lower then the pic shows, I would say by half)
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=55092&d=1147756322

"why not add a 2nd tail wheel" I find the problem isn't the back of the mower, but the front (where it hooks up to the PTO). I really don't think a extra tail wheel would fix that problem, could be wrong. I did ask here (can't find the post) about adding wheels to the front of the mower and someone did reply with a way to do it AND had a pic of his mower with wheels added. Found the pic posted by Highbeam

 

[Soundguy]

A single wheel inthe bak allows the mower to tile side to side more. Dual tail wheels add stability. Look at a 48" KK XB unit.

Soundguy

 

[IslandTractor]

I am intrigued by the idea of putting small guide wheels on each side of the front of the mower. I wonder if I could just directly bolt them on through the side rather than even welding a set on as in Highbeam's photo. They would not touch the ground until the mower tilted and would simply prevent the leading edge from digging in and starting to plow. I'd imagine it would just need the sort of guide wheels that all the MMMs have rather than the extra big gauge tail wheel type set up (that I think Soundguy was advocating).

 

[MrSteve]

I am intrigued by the idea of putting small guide wheels on each side of the front of the mower. I wonder if I could just directly bolt them on through the side rather than even welding a set on as in Highbeam's photo. They would not touch the ground until the mower tilted and would simply prevent the leading edge from digging in and starting to plow. I'd imagine it would just need the sort of guide wheels that all the MMMs have rather than the extra big gauge tail wheel type set up (that I think Soundguy was advocating).

I was wondering if a Roller setup would work... Like a long tube going from left to right from one side to the next, like the roller you see on decks of riding mowers but on a bigger scale. Only thing I could see as a problem, would the grass have time to pop back up to be cut.

 

[IslandTractor]

I was wondering if a Roller setup would work... Like a long tube going from left to right from one side to the next, like the roller you see on decks of riding mowers but on a bigger scale. Only thing I could see as a problem, would the grass have time to pop back up to be cut.

A full width roller would potentially cause problems with stumps or other obstructions like rocks.

Two discrete little wheels such as seen on the front and rear of MMMs is what I had in mind (I don't know what the technical term is for those wheels) . They could stick down just a couple of inches below the edge of the rotary mower so they only touched ground when the mower tilted and was about to gouge the lawn.

 

[Tom_H]

The Woods RM990 is a hybrid between a rear finish mower and a brush cutter. It has a RFM style body and three cutting spindles. Each spindle has a stump jumper pan with two free pivoting blades. Supposedly it cuts with the agressiveness of a brush hog but with the quality of a finish mower. The only ? is whether it's too heavy and takes too much hp for the B7800. See it at:

http://www.woodsequipment.com/turf_grounds/commercial/rearmounts/RM990_P990.asp

 

[djradz]

A full width roller would potentially cause problems with stumps or other obstructions like rocks.

Two discrete little wheels such as seen on the front and rear of MMMs is what I had in mind (I don't know what the technical term is for those wheels) . They could stick down just a couple of inches below the edge of the rotary mower so they only touched ground when the mower tilted and was about to gouge the lawn.

I've said it many times before on TBN, and again in your case, I think you should look into "check chains". For the most part, they'll eliminate any scalping unless one of the tractor wheels falls into a hole.

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks. I must have missed your prior posts. Looks pretty simple to set up. Is there any downside with the check chains? What happens if you want to lower the mower? Do you need to get off and adjust them first?

The possible advantage of guide wheels is that they would move with the mower deck so no adjustment or hook up would be needed.

 

[jbrumberg]

IslandTRactor:

I agree with djradz. I've used check chains for years. They take strain off the 3PH hydraulics. You do have to raise your lower link arms and get off the tractor in order to adjust the chains when lowering the deck. Jay