djradz
Veteran Member
I can't believe you're going to live with the swivel/toggle joint removed. Now the Brush Hog will no longer float. This is not a good situation. Two things occur, the first: When going over a hill or even a small rise in the ground the mower/cuttter rear end will lift up. Second, and what should be more of a concern, is that when reaching the bottom of a hill or any kind of a valley, as the tractor front end levels off or starts to rise, tremendous force will be put on the rear of the mower. By removing the swivel the whole setup has been made rigid. I saw this happen on an early version of the King Kutter, which back then had no swivel, when my Dad used it on his old Ford 981. The rear wheel on the cutter bent plus the mowing was very uneven because the mower always cut to close or raised up constantly. As a result we fabricated a toggle joint which looks pretty much like the one in the King Kutter photo.
I had a similar problem as you with my Woods brush hog and my TC40D, and it was relatively easy to fix. A couple of good points have already been made and the tremendously helpful sketch really shows much of it: Look at the sketch and you'll see that without major modification or buying of any new hitch components, two things will cure the problem: 1)lower the two category 1 pins of the mower/cutter, which will help keep the bottom of the mower out from the tires and also 2) shorten the tractor top link adjustment. My Woods had a second set of lower holes, but if your's doesn't, I'd just drill two about 6 inches lower than the existing ones. The top link adjustment should be such that you keep the toggle link about 2/3 of its travel toward the tractor. That way, the worst that happens is the rear of the mower raises up on going over very peaked hills, but you will rarely, hopefully never, get to where there is not enough travel in the reverse direction, or else you'll be in the same situation as not having the toggle - a rigid setup. Also, set up like this, you won't have to raise the mower too much before all the play is out of the top link and the mower won't drop as much as shown in the sketch.
If your really want a fine, almost finish mower quality with the Brush Hog, fit it also with chains(and turnbuckles for fine-tuning) which connect the lower front of the mower to somewhere near or at the top link of the tractor 3-pt. This makes the mower front end float with the tractor rear tires rather than with the lower links and ensures a perfectly constant and consistant mowing height. Woods used to furnish all it's mowers and brush hogs this way, but many people took them off thinking they were just to reduce side to side sway - wrong. If you're in it as a business, this is the way to go.
I had a similar problem as you with my Woods brush hog and my TC40D, and it was relatively easy to fix. A couple of good points have already been made and the tremendously helpful sketch really shows much of it: Look at the sketch and you'll see that without major modification or buying of any new hitch components, two things will cure the problem: 1)lower the two category 1 pins of the mower/cutter, which will help keep the bottom of the mower out from the tires and also 2) shorten the tractor top link adjustment. My Woods had a second set of lower holes, but if your's doesn't, I'd just drill two about 6 inches lower than the existing ones. The top link adjustment should be such that you keep the toggle link about 2/3 of its travel toward the tractor. That way, the worst that happens is the rear of the mower raises up on going over very peaked hills, but you will rarely, hopefully never, get to where there is not enough travel in the reverse direction, or else you'll be in the same situation as not having the toggle - a rigid setup. Also, set up like this, you won't have to raise the mower too much before all the play is out of the top link and the mower won't drop as much as shown in the sketch.
If your really want a fine, almost finish mower quality with the Brush Hog, fit it also with chains(and turnbuckles for fine-tuning) which connect the lower front of the mower to somewhere near or at the top link of the tractor 3-pt. This makes the mower front end float with the tractor rear tires rather than with the lower links and ensures a perfectly constant and consistant mowing height. Woods used to furnish all it's mowers and brush hogs this way, but many people took them off thinking they were just to reduce side to side sway - wrong. If you're in it as a business, this is the way to go.
