Bushog Adjustments help needed

[JWR]

This is exactly right. I don't know where the idea came from that without a flexible link a brush hog will self-destruct at the first little dip in the terrain. I back mine up some very steep banks, there is enough flex in the whole "system" that the rear wheels are on the hill before the brush hog even comes close to binding up. It's the way it was made, as are thousands that have been made over the last 4 decades.
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There can easily be misunderstanding in these discussions of course. MMagis said "I don't know where the idea came from that without a flexible link a brush hog will self-destruct at the first little dip in the terrain." There is definitely a 2 part need for a non-rigid connection between your top link and the rigid upper structure parts of your bush hog. Part 1 is that if the top link is solidly connected to the hog and has no "play" to allow it to move forward and backward with terrain, you will bend something or create some form of damage. All hogs that I know of come standard with "hinged link" connection to the top link for that reason. (see attached photo.) Often a "U" as some posters mentioned. Easiest way to picture the problem is crossing a gully with the tractor front wheels and the hog rear wheel high while the tractor rear wheels are down in the gully as you cross it. In that case the top linkage had better be able to shorten several inches or you'll bend something/do damage. Part 2 of the issue is when the tractor front wheels and the bush hog rear wheel are both low while the tractor rear wheels are high. Picture going up over a hump or rise where this will happen. In this part 2 case, unless the top linkage can extend several inches your hog will come up off the ground as you go over the hump. No damage, just undesired failure of the hog the remain down on the ground. I attached a picture of a typical hog where the top linkage shows fairly well. View attachment 444429 I think you can see that the top link attach point can change distance to the rear of the hog by several inches (pivoting at the middle one of the 3 bright bolts shown.) Many "old farmers" prefer to just use a chain for connection to the top link because a chain allows the overall linkage to change length by several inches and yet allows you to pick up the hog if you raise the 3pt lift high enough. Maybe MMagis always operates his hog on fairly even terrain with no ditches, gullys, and rises. The more varied your terrain the more length change you need to allow to avoid damage in Part 1 cases and and keep the hog on the ground in Part 2 cases.

 

[LD1]

Bushhogs had ridgid connections for years. No damage will occur if the bushhog is built properly. If its not, usually it's the straps that go from toplink to deck that bend.

My bushhog 306 is ridgid. I have mowed every type of uneven terrain and load on and off of trailer and cross ditches while mowing. Ain't damaged or bent anything yet

 

[MMagis]

My old Ford bushhog is rigid also. I promise, there's absolutely nothing even about the terrain around here. I don't have 200 square feet of flat ground in my yard, let alone the rest of the farm. If it was more important, I'd take some pictures. But it's very unlikely it's something I think about later. Not sure why some are so emphatic that something MUST a particular way, even some of use have proof that it doesn't. We don't have any reason to make it up.

 

[JWR]

Well, it does not have to be a particular way (there's probably many ways to produce that necessary change in length) but the distance between the rear of the hog and the top link end on your tractor has to be able to change by several inches going over up and down terrain, gullys, etc. There's no way around that. As LD1 said, on some of them there's a lot of bending going on in the straps from the top link to the deck. I guess that's OK. "No damage if the bushhog is built properly." I don't know what that means. Maybe a picture would help.

 

[MMagis]

All the movement it needs comes from both ends of the top link. It doesn’t take much.
A lot of light duty and/or cheaper bushhogs, and any other attachments, are made fairly cheap and honestly, the geometry of the “frame” simply isn’t correct. It allows things to bind and bend, hence the reason so many think you need chains or flexible links. I think it’s similar to the 3pt discs made these days. The people designing them don’t use the proper geometry and use heavy square tubing to make up for a poor design. Now you have a lot of folks that think a good 3pt disc needs to be made of square tubing. But take a look at the ones made back in the 50s and 60s, when 3pt discs were a serious piece of equipment. All angle steel, because they understood how to build them properly.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Not going to damage the tractor. IF the metal straps are weak, they will bend. IF they are stout, the whole bushhog will raise/float up. Lots and lots of bushhogs out there this very same way.

This is exactly right. I don稚 know where the idea came from that without a flexible link a brush hog will self-destruct at the first little dip in the terrain. I back mine up some very steep banks, there is enough flex in the whole 都ystem that the rear wheels are on the hill before the brush hog even comes close to binding up. It痴 the way it was made, as are thousands that have been made over the last 4 decades.
To the original poster, it looks to me you?*e trying to use a brush hog to do the job of a finish mower. If you need to drop the cutter that low, plan on digging in the dirt occasionally. If a brush hog worked well that way, there would be no such thing as a finish mower.

There can easily be misunderstanding in these discussions of course. MMagis said "I don't know where the idea came from that without a flexible link a brush hog will self-destruct at the first little dip in the terrain." There is definitely a 2 part need for a non-rigid connection between your top link and the rigid upper structure parts of your bush hog. Part 1 is that if the top link is solidly connected to the hog and has no "play" to allow it to move forward and backward with terrain, you will bend something or create some form of damage. All hogs that I know of come standard with "hinged link" connection to the top link for that reason. (see attached photo.) Often a "U" as some posters mentioned. Easiest way to picture the problem is crossing a gully with the tractor front wheels and the hog rear wheel high while the tractor rear wheels are down in the gully as you cross it. In that case the top linkage had better be able to shorten several inches or you'll bend something/do damage. Part 2 of the issue is when the tractor front wheels and the bush hog rear wheel are both low while the tractor rear wheels are high. Picture going up over a hump or rise where this will happen. In this part 2 case, unless the top linkage can extend several inches your hog will come up off the ground as you go over the hump. No damage, just undesired failure of the hog the remain down on the ground. I attached a picture of a typical hog where the top linkage shows fairly well. View attachment 444429 I think you can see that the top link attach point can change distance to the rear of the hog by several inches (pivoting at the middle one of the 3 bright bolts shown.) Many "old farmers" prefer to just use a chain for connection to the top link because a chain allows the overall linkage to change length by several inches and yet allows you to pick up the hog if you raise the 3pt lift high enough. Maybe MMagis always operates his hog on fairly even terrain with no ditches, gullys, and rises. The more varied your terrain the more length change you need to allow to avoid damage in Part 1 cases and and keep the hog on the ground in Part 2 cases.

Bushhogs had ridgid connections for years. No damage will occur if the bushhog is built properly. If its not, usually it's the straps that go from toplink to deck that bend.

My bushhog 306 is ridgid. I have mowed every type of uneven terrain and load on and off of trailer and cross ditches while mowing. Ain't damaged or bent anything yet

Due to general incompleteness in statements noone has given a clear picture of float of the bushog. ... MMagis mentions it as "flex in the entire system". - The word is travel.
- JWR is most descriptive but is wrong by omission in "part 1". - The 3ph lift arms are not held down and rise/float to accommodate the bushog being pushed upward. With rigid top connection the whole 3pt parallelogram rises. Damage is possible, but only guaranteed when all travel allowed by the 3ph is surpassed. Then usually the top brace/straps of the bushog, or the top link itself will buckle before any damage to the tractor.

The lost motion toplink float situation provided on most bushogs today is well represented in JWR posting.

 

[MMagis]

The 3ph lift arms are not held down and rise/float to accommodate the bushog being pushed upward. With rigid top connection the whole 3pt parallelogram rises.

This statement best explains it. There is no down pressure on most modern 3 point hitch arms, therefor it would take a really serious angle before any sort of damage could occur. Some pivoting/movement (travel, if that sounds better to you)occurs at the two pins attaching the top link, and when that’s not enough the entire “system” moves up as one.

 

[SPYDERLK]

This statement best explains it. There is no down pressure on most modern 3 point hitch arms, therefor it would take a really serious angle before any sort of damage could occur. Some pivoting/movement (travel, if that sounds better to you)occurs at the two pins attaching the top link, and when thats not enough the entire system moves up as one.

This sounds like play in the joints. You could call that flex, but it takes an assumption for the reader to interpret surely.

Thats travel.:thumbsup: The tractor presents a design limit to this.

Like you say; the two are additive.

 

[LD1]

When I cross a dip in the ground, the tailwheel tries to push up.

My cutter has 2x2x1/4 angle for the "straps". They don't bend or flex. The force is transfered through the toplink, whick also cannot move. Result is the whole cutter raises up.

Think about every other implement that don't have a flex hitch. Like a fear blade for example. Ever have one " jump" over a rock while grading? How was it able to do that without a flex hitch? Or crossing a swale with a box blade on the ground dragging.dirt?