Rotary Cutter Bush hog made by International World Agritech Co.??

[kebo]

I looked at a 5ft bush hog today that I'm thinking about buying. It was made by International World Agritech out of Ohio and the model on it was M502. I Googled that and found some threads here on tractorbynet about that company. It seems that they went out of business but International Technologies (also based in Ohio) bought out the remaining stock of parts etc, and even their phone numbers to help keep their customers business. I think that IT now supports service and parts for the equipment made by them too.

Most all of the posters spoke very highly of the bush hogs made by that now defunct company and said they were very well made but the final fit/finish (not so good paint job) was not the best. That's not really an issue with the bush hog I'm looking at. The unit looks pretty good, was told by the dealer selling it that it was about 4 yrs old. I'm going back tomorrow and the dealer is going to have it hooked up to a tractor so I can look underneath it, and then try it out to see if it vibrates any.

The unit looks fairly heavy duty and even has a slipclutch on it, which usually adds about $80-100 bucks to the value. It seems to be better made than the KK units at tractor supply. I don't really want to go up to the $1400 range to get a Bush Hog or Woods unit. Well, he is asking $500 for this one and I think it's well worth it. What do you all think? Good price? Good piece of equipment? Should I call IT and see if they will support it if I need any parts for it??


PS- Disregard the Woods 5' bush hog listed in my sig below. That was a deal that fell through and I can't figure out how to change it.

 

[bky]

I bought a used 5 ft one a few years back for around that price and yes they are heavy duty and heavy. I use mine on a l245dt (24 hp) and am thinking about selling it as it is used on hills and I have a old howse 4 ft with a bad gear box that I might replace.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

International made a very good, heavy unit...I've got the 7 ft (twin tail wheels) and the 5 ft units. Very good machines. I believe the blades are standard size and can be replaced, if necessary with commercially available blades. If it looks good underneath and the gear box has oil, you should be good to go. BobG in VA

 

[greg_g]

I had an IM500 for my 25hp tractor, then traded it for an IM602 when upgrading to a 45hp tractor. Both good sturdy units. Not pretty - but sturdy. Only issue I took with both was the unvented fill plug on the tranny. When the gear oil got hot, the air inside expanded - but had nowhere to go. On both mine, it chose to push past the lower seal. Once I replace the OE cap with a vented cap and power washed the deck, the mower deck has stayed clean ever since.

//greg//

 

[teg]

To edit a signature... Click on "My Home" above (under the green "v" in the photo), then look to the left side to Edit signature (red circle in photo).

 

[Slippy]

I have their 10' cutter. Very well made, no problems and does a pretty good job cutting.

 

[kebo]

Well, I bought the 5ft IM502 mower yesterday and paid $500 for it. Just got it hooked up today and I think it will do just fine! It seems to be a very well made unit, and heavy like some of you pointed out. It'll be growing season before long here in SC and I'm sure I'll get lots of seat time using it. Below are two pictures of it. One of the mower, and one of the slipclutch. I do have a question about the slipclutch.... How can I know it's not froze up? The disks have been exposed to the elements for who knows how long. Is there way to test it without taking it apart to make sure its not froze up?? Thanks!
Keith

Here's the slipclutch. On closer inpection, it looks a little rusty around the edges

 

[whistlepig]

I had one just like this for 25 years. I beat it to death and it never let me down. The mower body and frame work finally gave up from metal fatigue. You can only weld so much. It's not a very heavy mower in weight. The gearbox, stump jumper, and blades sure seem heavy duty enough though.

 

[Slippy]

Nice mower. You should get good use out of it. Good price too.

Make sure you have the correct oil and amount in those gear boxes and grease everything. I always grease everytime I cut. Make sure you grease that tail wheel everytime you mow.

I think there are different schools of thought on the slip clutch. In a perfect world, you should have a manual that gives the tension for the nuts on the slip clutch. I don't suspect you have that, so here is what I would do: First, losen all the bolts. Then using your fingers, tighten them until the spring starts to come in contact with the flange. Then tighten another 1 & 1/2 turns. Then try it. Usually, if the clutch starts to slip you will notice the grass not being cut, and probably noise coming from the clutch. If you run it too long it will start smoking. You want it tight enough that it will transfer the hp from your tractor to the blade, but if it hits something, the clutch should slip like a shock absorber instead of sending the shock into your drive line into the tractor. If it is not tight enough, turn it another 1/2 a turn and test again. Without the specs, it is just a guessing game.

 

[greg_g]

Kebo

The floating toplink bracket is installed backwards. The plate is suppose to go toward the tractor. For pickup/transport, you tighten the adjustable toplink so that the bracket is vertical. When you're ready to mow, you extend the toplink so that bracket is pointing to the rear at about a 45 degree angle. That permits the front of the mower to float, and avoids pulling the tail wheel up off the ground when the tractor front tires dip lower than the rears.

Unless you reversed the tractor into that photo pose, the rear spindle needs grease. When mowing, the wheel should be trailing in the opposite direction.

Assuming you didn't get the operators pamphlet with the mower, here is the slip clutch spring tension chart. Not knowing its history, I highly recommend you disassemble/clean/reassemble/adjust before using. I do mine no less than once a year - always in the spring, before first cut.

//greg//

 

[kebo]

Hey Greg, sharp eyes there buddy! You know, there's a short story behind that floating pivot bracket. You are correct that it's installed backwards in the picture! What happened was when I went to look at the bush hog, the seller had it hooked up to a tractor so I could look underneath it, and also hear it/watch it spin up. The tractor he had it hooked up to could not pick the tailwheel up more than 18" or so off the ground. That concerned me, so he let buy the mower on a conditional basis that if it didn't work out to my expectations, I could return it for a full refund.
Well, after I got it home and hooked it up to my tractor, my tractor would not pick the tailwheel up any higher than what his tractor would do. Anyway last Saturday I took a picture of it, which is the one you see a few posts up. Later on that evening, when I got on this Attachment forum, and by huge coincidence there was another poster who had posted a picture of the exact same mower!! He was wanting to know what brand it was so I replied with what I knew about it. After looking closely at his pic, I noticed the floating pivot on his mower was opposite of the one in my picture. That's when it dawned on me that mine was the one that was on wrong! To add to this, the big bolt and nut that hold it the floating pivot was only finger tight, another clue that something might be amiss!!
So, I think that after I swap it around and get my centerlink adjusted right, the tractor will pick it up as high as I need or want it too. Since my tractor is now about 60 miles from me, I won't get to find out probably until this coming weekend.

As for the spindle on the tailwheel, it's not froze up. I had just backed the tractor up right before I took that photo so that's why it's positioned the "wrong" way.

And thank your for the information on the slipclutch! I printed that out today for reference. I think I will take the clutch apart before I start using it to make sure it's ok, then adjust it to the chart you posted here. I've already checked the oil in the gearbox, which was good btw. I do plan to service all the grease fittings and the PTO shaft before I start using it though.

Thanks again! You are one more reason this forum is a great place to hang around and learn stuff!!
Keith

 

[greg_g]

One other thing - and this was a fault with both International mowers I've owned - the transmission fill plug is not vented. In the heat of the summer I kept accumulating oil and dirt around the base of the transmission. Reason? Heat expands air inside the tranny (they're only 1/2 full of gear oil). The air will compress just so much, before it starts to push gear oil through the lower seal. It comes out where the tranny housing is bolted through the deck plates.

So I replaced the OE fill plug with a vent plug (obtained from International). I fortunately caught it before the seal was irreparably compromised - cleaned up the mess on the deck - it's never leaked since.

//greg//

 

[Builder]

I think they also might've made landscape rakes. I had a 6' International brand rake with the same kinda lame red paint job. It was a tough heavy rake.

 

[foggy1111]

Hmmm...not to hijack this thread....but I have a situation on that top link that has me wondering too. I hooked up my new KK rotarty cutter to my Harbor Freight Quick Hitch, which left me with a remaining top link supplied by KK. Is this supposed to be used for something...or just an excess part for me? I "assumed" it was excess...but most times I "Assume".......(you know the rest of the story).

The below photos show the link with my cutter and the second photo shows tractor hooked to my box blade...similar to the way I was hooked to my cutter.
Note the beautiful paint supplied by KK.

 

[greg_g]

the second photo shows tractor hooked to my box blade..

Don't know how you use your boxblade, but I want mine on a rigid mount. That adapter you put in there is going to let your box rock fore and aft as the tractor rises and falls. That piece is ok for a TPH rotary cutter, but I'd never use it for a boxblade. When I mounted the BB, I used the toplink hook that came standard with the QH

//greg//

 

[foggy1111]

Good point.....never gave it another thought.....as I have just been using my box blade for ballast right now. I had so much trouble getting that HF "hook" to fit...and had resigned myself to using the link. Now I need to re-fab some bolts to allow attachment of the HF "hook" before the weather changes. Thanks for the post.

 

[Slippy]

That was very nice to get the specs for the clutch. However, I suggest with the condition of the mower, its age, you will still need to make further adjustments as the springs will have weaken over time requiring further adjustment.
Good idea on the breather plug.

 

[ZetorShaun]

I have the duel blade 10 FT model from International World Agritech Co. You are a very lucky man to have one, it will never die. I was using it to chop down trees (kinda) and I damaged it quite severely (not my fault, well, yes it was). Maybe I was just tearing through the woods hacking away not paying attention.

Anyway, the owner was something of a wild man or something, he ended up selling off International World Agritech to some employees...it is now DN equipment:

About Us
DN Equipment Parts
110 Front St.
Mt. Orab, OH 45154
877-885-4300 toll free
937-444-4300 phone
937-444-4331 fax

They are super great people. I was close by on work travel and went by to pick up my parts. I met the guy who designed my brush hog and we talked about the venting issue too.

It was hard to find them and I bought extra parts just in case, I plan on having this brush hog lifetime. They have all the parts to the World Agritech line. Chop away with it!

 

[kebo]

I have the duel blade 10 FT model from International World Agritech Co. You are a very lucky man to have one, it will never die. I was using it to chop down trees (kinda) and I damaged it quite severely (not my fault, well, yes it was). Maybe I was just tearing through the woods hacking away not paying attention.

Anyway, the owner was something of a wild man or something, he ended up selling off International World Agritech to some employees...it is now DN equipment:

About Us
DN Equipment Parts
110 Front St.
Mt. Orab, OH 45154
877-885-4300 toll free
937-444-4300 phone
937-444-4331 fax

They are super great people. I was close by on work travel and went by to pick up my parts. I met the guy who designed my brush hog and we talked about the venting issue too.

It was hard to find them and I bought extra parts just in case, I plan on having this brush hog lifetime. They have all the parts to the World Agritech line. Chop away with it!

Hey Shaun, I actually came across the site for DN Equipment during my search for info on International World Agritech but for some reason I didn't bookmark it. I think it was because at the time I didn't realize that it was essentially the same company by another name. I have it bookmarked now though!! Yep, I am very happy with the purchase of the bush hog, I think it will serve me well. Will call them from work when I get a moment to check into a vented plug for the gear box. Thanks for the info!
Keith

 

[Slippy]

The about us link posted does not work. Got any more web information?