No pics but she is pretty much done. I have about 7-8 hours in the hog and another hour in the PTO drive shaft.
I haven't sunk it into a pile of brush yet but I hope that'll change SOON!
The drive shaft wouldn't slide in and out on the shaft so I, once again, used heat and a torch to soften up the hard grease. Once I beat on it for about an hour, I put it back together with never-seize. Works slicker than snot on a door handle.
I hooked it all up, crossed my fingers and with my teeth gritted together, I eased on the PTO. She came to life and ran pretty smoothly. I could feel a slight shimmy in the tractor but I'm not sure if that isn't each blade coming around. Actually, it was smoother than I thought. I've never used a bush hog before, so I'm really not sure how it should sound and feel.
All-in-all, I think it turned out well......8-9 hours, some PB Blaster, candle wax, tools, welder, spray paint, $12 for a gasket, some gear oil and that's about it. I probably came in for under $80 not counting my time. But, I'd much rather be outside working than sitting on my rump in front of the tube or computer.
The only thing I don't understand, how come when I picked up the hog, the front wanted to come forward and hit my tires? And, it wouldn't completely pick up the hog. The rear wheel was still on the ground. Do I have some of the arms in the wrong place? Wrong pin hole? Then, when I was done, the tractor wouldn't allow me to set the hog down far enough to take the lift arms off and the top adjustment was under pressure. I had to take a pry bar to get the arms off of the lift points.
This hitch is going to take some getting use to. My 8N wasn't near this hard to put things on and off with.........
