Brush hog advice

[Hollow]

Even if it is a cheaper unit, for $200 I can afford to beat it up a little.:thumbsup:

King Kutter does make some econo mowers, but the good thing about that is they are cheap to fix if you want to invest the money to repair it. Stump pans are about $100, gear boxes are about $120 to $150. I think a new one goes for $800 now.

 

[stevewatr]

TSC currently sells a line called Countyline, apparently the rotary cutter they sell now under that name is mage by King Kutter, but another guy on another thread said his tiller he bought a few years ago was made by Farm Force.

Worst thing is, woke up to 2" snow this morning, our first accumulative snow of the winter, ruining my plans to get some work in.

 

[stevewatr]

Looked at a couple of used hogs today. Was offered a John Deere 606 for $400. Photo looked good, so I drove over an hour to see it. It had a strange slip clutch set up, and the shaft on the gear box had a lot more splines on it. He had a drive shaft for it, and the end of the shaft to go to the PTO had the standard splines. He had a newer looking JD 513 with slip clutch, but wanted $650 for it. Also had a beat up JD 5' with shear bolt for $400, and an old blue King Kutter towable unit. Almost pulled the trigger on the 6 footer, but chickened out.

 

[stickfarm]

I used an old belt from a round baler as a guard on mine; has work great for years.

 

[stevewatr]

Well I did it! Bought a cutter. took some persistance on my part, then an almost 2 hour drive, and another hour to load it, ( chain fall hung from a tree branch deal), then drove around for the past couple days with it in the back of the pickup because it was too heavy to unload. Today my neighbor came down with his FEL, and helped me get it on the ground. It is a Bush Hog model 305. Called the company with the serial number, and they said the number seemed odd, the guy I spoke to even said it may have been a prototype. It is a 5 footer with a slip clutch, and it is heavy. The last specs on the 305 said 825 lbs., but the BH guy said the earlier ones had more steel/weight. Found a parts breakdown online for several variations of the 305, mine appears to be a 305R, even though the tag does not have an R after the 305. mine has side skirts that can be unbolted. I'll try and post picks soon, and expect to have lots of questions, like, what size top link do I need? How do I determine this measurement?

 

[RoyJackson]

...what size top link do I need? How do I determine this measurement?

You mean the hole size? Just measure the upper attachment hole size (or the pin, if you have one). Category 1, 2 and 3 Three Point Hitches have standard sizes...worst case I can foresee is your tractor is Category 1 and the cutter is Category 2. If so, you may need some bushings for the cutter top connection and lower links.
If the length of the upper link...try the one that came with your tractor. As long as you have enough adjustment (I'm assuming you have the threaded type of upper link) that allows the tail wheel of the cutter to set on the ground, you should be fine.

 

[stevewatr]

Hi Roy,
My tractor was missing the top link when I bought it. Length is what I was wondering about. TSC has them, but they sell 2. One is extra long Cat 1, one is not. I assume the regular one, adjustable from 21 to 31" is what I need.

 

[greg_g]

Hi Roy,
My tractor was missing the top link when I bought it. Length is what I was wondering about. TSC has them, but they sell 2. One is extra long Cat 1, one is not. I assume the regular one, adjustable from 21 to 31" is what I need.

Those Indian toplinks are inexpensive. Before I went to a hydraulic toplink, I had an Indian toplink for every implement. It stayed with the implement, rather than with the tractor. When I backed the tractor up to the implement, the toplink was still adjusted to the length that it was when it was dismounted.

Inexpensive solution to the aggravation of attempting the "one-size-fits-all" approach. A correctly sized HTL however, now there's the proper solution.

//greg//

 

[RoyJackson]

Hi Roy,
My tractor was missing the top link when I bought it. Length is what I was wondering about. TSC has them, but they sell 2. One is extra long Cat 1, one is not. I assume the regular one, adjustable from 21 to 31" is what I need.

I think the standard length would do fine...

 

[ruffdog]

I bought a new Buhler 6 foot cutter last year for my TC33D. The store was switching over to selling king kutters and the Buhler was discontinued so I got it for $700. I had been using the neighbors old 5 ft mower and my 6 ft belly mower.

I don't use the upper link so the total weight is not an issue. The heavier duty Buhler has much more weight to swing than the smaller cutter so I have to watch what I'm doing more. I have the 72" belly mower sticking out the side so I thought I might as well get the same size cutter to use. I grew up using a 5 ft woods dixie cutter on the back of a ford 8n and 801.

I notice that the 6 ft has a higher tip speed so it cuts cleaner than the 5 ft cutter. The cutters take less HP to run than the finish belly mower so I can travel faster. I tried out the Buhler by backing it over a small pile of 2" soft maple branches and it blew them apart like they were balsa wood. OH YEAH!!!
The cutter can handle the taller grass easier than the belly mower so I don't have to mow near as much.