Brush Hog damage

[Nasty135]

Alan L,The amount of steel for this particular repair could be considered scrap buy a steel fabricating shop..I have done business with a local steel fabricator several times to the point where he recognized me. I was looking for a few small pieces of steel for a small project and I used the word scrap and gave my demensions ,He was more than helpful in getting the steel(scrap) I was looking for..But you know I will continue to buy from him for all my future projects... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Mark S.
so many Mark's here I've noticed we have use last initials

 

[normde2001]

Home Depot should have what you need , probably in 3' lengths. All you gotta do is cut to exact length and weld it on.

 

[djradz]

Alan, you can do a lot of beefing up of the runners, but I think you'd be even better served by the installation of "check chains" which will keep the front of you deck up and help is essentially ride with the rear wheels of your tractor. Not that you might not ever again 'gouge" the ground, but I can virtually gaurantee it will become a rare occasion. As long as your top link has the ability to toggle or somehow be flexible (some folks replace part of it with a chain and turnbuckle link sold at TSC) your deck will truly float along beautifully over rolling land. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Alan L.]

Well I finally got around to fixing my brush hog. Here is the picture. I hadn't welded in 33 years and some of them aren't pretty, but hopefully it'll hold. I got a piece of 3/16 strips about 48" long at Tractor Supply and used 6013 1/8 rods on a Honda EW171 DC welder/generator that I rented for $60 a day.

My next problem is that I lost my tool for changing out wheels on my angle grinder and it wasn't doing a very good job grinding although I used it to cut the steel.

I replaced a 3" section on the other side of the 'hog also. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Alan L.]

Here is the welder I used. Boy did it run good! I used mostly about 110 amps, dropped down to 80 for a place where the runner has been worn down real thin.

 

[txdon]

<font color="red"> "I changed the height of my tail-wheel, thus solving the gouging problem..." </font>

Alan, I noticed some gouging with my new Rino also during turns. I have not adjusted the tail wheel. Do you remember if you raised it or lowered it and how much? Did you also adjust the lowest draft limitation?

 

[Alan L.]

The only thing I changed was the position of the tail wheel. I believe I raised it thereby making the back end of the cutter lower. The only problem I have now is sometimes the rear end picks up on even ground, leaving the grass not cut well. Not really that often, but in a few spots.

 

[beenthere]

If the rear end picks up, then you need more slack in the top link so the rear wheel controls the height of the rear of the deck. But not enough slack that the rear of the deck can't be lifted with the 3pt arms, and not enough that the front of the deck hits the PTO shaft. Somewhere in between is the 'happy' place to be. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[OkieG]

<font color="red"> The only problem I have now is sometimes the rear end picks up on even ground, leaving the grass not cut well. Not really that often, but in a few spots. </font> .....<font color="blue"> If the rear end picks up, then you need more slack in the top link so the rear wheel controls the height of the rear of the deck. But not enough slack that the rear of the deck can't be lifted with the 3pt arms, and not enough that the front of the deck hits the PTO shaft. Somewhere in between is the 'happy' place to be.
</font>

A recent thread, How Much Slack Do You Give Your BrushHog? tries to tackle this question. 3PH height and toplink length offer a large range of possible adjustments. The "right" adjustment for one stretch of terrain can be wrong moments later as terrain changes. Of course, the 3PH is easy to adjust "on the fly", but a manual toplink makes you choose an adjustment that is OK most the time, but lifts over grass sometimes (toplink too short) or risks deck-to-PTO shaft contact (toplink too long) sometimes.

Anyway, what I learned was the the right adjustment is a dynamic thing and that anywhere in the full range of 3PH and toplink motion can be useful and right in certain situations. An hydraulic toplink is marvelous, but requires you to be alert and keep the adjustment appropriate. A manual toplink adjusted so the deck can raise toward the PTO shaft, but will not contact will allow moderately good terrain following and not risk equipment damage.

I agree with beenthere. Good work on your welding project. Happy BrushHogging!

OkieG