How do I get clean cut with Brush Hog?

[foggy1111]

I have a King Kutter 5 foot RC. It worked pretty well for a few years and I got a nice cut in my clover, rye, and general grass and brush cutting. Last year I tangled with a rock and bent the stump jumper a bit. One of the blades was hitting the deck. I turned it over....took it apart and was able to straighten things a bit....but the stump jumper pan is closer to the deck in one area than another. My cutter does not perform as it did in the past.

I think (hope) getting the pan straight and my blades back into proper alignment may bring my cutter back to better performance?? Also it's time to sharpen my blades. I gotta find some time to do the needed work. Maybe you have similar problems??

 

[skipmarcy]

In your pictures you have the cutter way too high. As said already you need to adjust it with the tailwheel pointed in the right direction to begin with. I run my cutter with the front edge rails just barely off the ground so it doesn't dig in too bad on a sharp turn and have the rear of the cutter slightly higher by maybe 2 inches or so than the front. I keep my blades sharpened well too, some guys don't want their cutter blades very sharp but I do and it works for me, I cut more grass with it than rough stuff anymore. My cutter also has a rear discharge opening with no guard or chains. Mine cuts well even at less than full 540 rpms, I usually run mine around 490 - 500 rpms because my engine does very well right there without screaming along ....

 

[DK35vince]

In your pictures you have the cutter way too high. As said already you need to adjust it with the tailwheel pointed in the right direction to begin with. I run my cutter with the front edge rails just barely off the ground so it doesn't dig in too bad on a sharp turn and have the rear of the cutter slightly higher by maybe 2 inches or so than the front. I keep my blades sharpened well too, some guys don't want their cutter blades very sharp but I do and it works for me,

I agree, it looks set to high for a good cut.
Sharpen the blades and lower the cutter, front and rear.

 

[pawpann]

The old brush hog had a big round fly wheel type stump jumper. The new brush hog has a plate type.

It was open in the front and rear. See attached pictures.
View attachment 274323View attachment 274324View attachment 274325

I,m in the process of rebuilding a Dorsey brush hog and would appreciate any info you can give me on it. Mine is identical to the pictures you posted. Thanks

 

[Gary Fowler]

Just for grins, try raising the whole deck up or down and see if it makes a difference. I've got a feeling you may be cutting too high. You may have to lower the tail wheel. Having the front of the deck 3"s lower than the rear won't hurt either.
I still don't understand your pto speed. Are you saying you san run the PTO speed and the tractor speed independantly? No matter what, you want that pto speed at 540 or more, for me that works out to about 2,000 RPM. Adjust the tractor speed with the gears. You may want to go down a gear. Is your pto live or independant?
If it's set up right there's no reason you shouldn't get a nice cut.

I raised the rear today one bolt hole and will try it tomorrow. I now have a bigger difference between the front and the back. Looks high to me. I already lowered the rear a lot from what came from the dealer. There was only 1 hole lower to go in the rearbefroe I raised it today. I would love to hear from someone running a 54" Heritiagge as to their settings.

View attachment 274301View attachment 274302

As far the the PTO I am runing at 540. My mention of the throttle was only so I do not stall out. I have stalled with lower throttle settings.

Sorry for the slow replies but I work out of state so I only get to run the tractor on weekends.

From your photos, it looks like the front blade tip will be 6" of the ground which is way too high. Lower the front to just before the skids drag the ground which will be about 3" cut which is about minimum set for a bushhog. Tailwheel doesn't need to be higher than the front unless you have a clogging problem. Raising rear of BH higher allows it to shed the cuttings better when cutting tall weeds and grass but doesn't need to be more than 2" higher in any mowing situation and if in grass less than 12" high, it could work well when front and rear are level as it then allows more blade cutting action to occur both front and rear so the cuttings are cut finer.
When cutting grass which is the hardest to cut, you need full throttle at least to the tach PTO setting for better cut. Weeds are much easier to cut and if you have the power, you can reduce throttle a bit but not more than 200-300 RPM below 540 PTO speed mark on your tach.
I don't think there is anything wrong with your bush hog other than blades may need sharpening to a fine edge. You need a fine edge on BH (just like a lawn mower blade)to cut the grass clean. If cutting saplings, you don't want a shear cut from a very sharp blade so the blade can have a blunt edge so it shatters the sapling so it doesn't leave a punji stake sticking up

OVERVIEW: Check your blades and sharpen if needed, drop the front till the skids are almost touching, drop the rear to not more than an inch higher than rear or level if the clippings still clear from under the deck OK, keep the RPM at or above the 540 PTO marked position on your tachometer and keep your speed to not more than a fast walk (4-5 MPH)

 

[jim44]

It sounds to me like you're not running anywhere close to 540 rpm if you're running the engine just fast enough to avoid stalling. The correct engine rpm to get 540 pto should be marked on your tach. Mine is up around 2500 engine rpm, and I sure don't have to worry about stalling at that speed.

 

[SPYDERLK]

... : ... Tricycle tractor. Bushog width fits inside rear track. Good blade speed.
larry

 

[TXMF135]

There are two types of blades available

 

[Marveltone]

I raised the rear today one bolt hole and will try it tomorrow. I now have a bigger difference between the front and the back. Looks high to me. I already lowered the rear a lot from what came from the dealer. There was only 1 hole lower to go in the rearbefroe I raised it today. I would love to hear from someone running a 54" Heritiagge as to their settings.

I run a Heritage 54 behind my Ford 1510. I generally set it so the skids are just barely off the ground with the front approximately 1" lower than the rear. The quality of the cut depends on what I'm cutting. If I'm cutting 3-6 foot grass, of course it looks rough. There's no way around it. If, on the other hand, I'm maintaining my trails, they rarely get over 8" and never over 12", and they look great after I mow... almost finish quality. My blades are quite dull, battered and beaten because I do quite a bit of brush cutting with it and like to shatter the stems, rather than creating sharpened stakes. The only thing I'd like to change would be tossing the rubber skirts and installing the chains instead, as the rubber tends to collect and clump tall grass clippings. But that's another project for another time.

Joe

 

[Gary Fowler]

Looks like you cut and pasted something that someone else wrote as that is not my comment pasted above. I think that is a paste from the OP that I responded to in one of my posts.