Bushhogging Basics

[JerryG]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Some people just use a chain instead of a solid top link, but this allows the cutter to flip way up if its front edge strikes a tall stump so it is not as safe and may damage the PTO shaft.)</font>

Not to pick on Jack, this has been said here several times over the years. But, I use a chain like this and have never had a problem and I have worked at a tractor dealership and been around farm equipment all of my life and have never seen or talked to anyone that has ever had this problem. Now to my question. Has anyone here ever had a bush hog flip up when using a chain in place of the third link or ever actually talked to anyone that has been injured from this practice?

 

[JackIL]

Well not exactly, but almost. A few years ago, an after-hours landscaper I know bought a new JD 503 Rotary Cutter to use with his JD 970. On his first paying job with the cutter he was mowing in tall grass when the center of the front edge of the deck caught on an old concrete foundation hidden in the grass. The jolt was so severe it bent the leading edge of the deck, bent the PTO shaft, and bent the mast and braces. He was using the solid top link. The deck did not strike the tractor, but must have tilted up quite a bit based on the damage done to the cutter.

I am not aware of any rotary cutter manufacturer that condones the use of a simple chain instead of a solid top link.

JackIL

 

[Soundguy]

The chain toplink is no more dangerous than using the rotary mower in a 1pt pull configuration , I.e. from a drawbar. The same hazards for the pto are involved, etc.

I have a neighbor with an old jd with no 3pt lift. He pulls a TSC branded mower like that from a swinging drawbar.

The TSC mower ( like mine ) came with assembly instructions to set it up for either 3pt or 1pt hitching...

Soundguy

 

[BB_TX]

Chris-I am thinking you are correct on the lever although it probably moves down by itself due the bumps, bounces, and vibration. Otherwise, if you kept raising the lever, and the implement kept leaking down, eventually the lever would be at maximum and the implement at minimum and you would have no way of getting it back up.
Sorry. My little engineer brain can't help but over-analyze these things. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[djradz]

Absolutely!!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I keep hearing talk about the dangers yet no one has ever had a mishap. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I agree entirely, trailer/drawbar implements have been around since the beginning of time (tractor time that is) and are proven very safe, and those implements are held with only one point. I'm not necessarily advocating a chain for a top link, because I like a swivel type instead for allowing deck "float" but I think we're overly critical of the chain top-link substitute.

 

[GaryK]

I switched to a chain top link after getting stuck in the mud with the old setup. My neighbor got his stuck the same way and put a chain on his too. I have hit some interesting things with the bush hog and I have never observed it to jump up to a point that it was dangerous...

 

[GlennT]

I have a four-foot Bush Hog and I did have it jump into the air a couple of feet or so when I hit a stump hidden in tall grass. Boy does that get your attention. Nothing was damaged, fortunately--probably because I wasn't moving very fast. I imagine a larger, heavier shredder wouldn't have hopped into the air so readily. I use a heavy piece of chain with a clevis to connect the top connector of the Bush Hog to the top of my quick hitch. The chain is attached to the quick hitch with a 3/4 inch grade 8 bolt. Overkill? Maybe, but I feel better about it.

 

[bmac]

I'd like to add another question. I live in a residendial subdivision, however my rear property line borders woods. The briars, saplings, vines and scrub are slowly encroaching on my yard. Is it any less safe to back into the overgrown area with a bushhog as opposed to driving forward? I'm only trying to reclaim a strip 10-15 feet deep. The trees deeper in woods would prevent me from driving forward.

 

[Bird]

bmac, there's nothing unusual about backing a brush hog into stuff that needs cutting. It's done frequently.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

John, (and everyone else)

Thanks for the tips. It was necessary to adjust the tail wheel to get the desired cut height. Top link was used to fine tune the angle. As you explained, I set the "stop" at the desired height and after digging the BH into the ground a few times, learned to "raise and quickly lower" at the appropriate times.

Rick