Mowing County Line 6' brush mower

cabooselatrec · Jan 9, 2013

Purchased a new County Line 6' brush mower. I am having problems dissassembling the plastic guard that covers the mower gearbox. This prevents me from installing the retaining ring on the driveshaft and would make installation of the shear pin very difficult. There were no specific instructions sent with the mower for this item. The larger portion of the guard has a locking mechanism that should rotate to line up with slots but I can't get the slots to line up. In either case the outer diameter of the shaft side is larger than the inner diameter of larger portion of the guard which would prevent it from being slid back over the shaft guard. The technical assistant at Country Line did not know how to do it either. I am considering cutting a hole or slot in the outer guard to allow access; this would be covered with Gorilla tape when the mower is operated. Any suggestions?

cabooselatrec · Jan 9, 2013

I spoke to another tech person at Behlen and they indicated that it is extremely difficult and sent a specific instruction sheet. It was not in their operation manual. Hmmm. Hope there's no other surprises.

kco · Jan 9, 2013

Do you mean the PTO guard? If so you can trim a bit away if it is too long to access the shear bolt.

lakngulf · Jan 9, 2013

kco said:
Do you mean the PTO guard? If so you can trim a bit away if it is too long to access the shear bolt.

That is what I did.

bumperm · Feb 9, 2014

I just bought the 5' version and didn't get any destructions with it either. Even though it's pretty much dirt simple, they still ought to include the paperwork. They attach a little weather proof plastic holded to carry the safety info with the mower and there's nothing to put in it!

Mower looks good for the money, though wish they'd provide front and rear guards. Guess I'll buy some chain, cut it into short lengths and weld 'em to some flat bar stock.

And a question: Back 30 years ago I bought a Bush Hog "Squealer", it used a chain from the top link attach to the rear of the deck instead of the flat steel straps they are mostly using now. The chain had a major advantage in that it allowed one to back the mower up a fairly steep incline. A bungee was used to take up the slack in the chain so it wouldn't get caught on the gear box. So how come they don't make them with a chain anymore - - is there a downside I'm not considering?

bumper

RG1 · Feb 9, 2014

bumperm said:
I just bought the 5' version and didn't get any destructions with it either. Even though it's pretty much dirt simple, they still ought to include the paperwork. They attach a little weather proof plastic holded to carry the safety info with the mower and there's nothing to put in it!

Mower looks good for the money, though wish they'd provide front and rear guards. Guess I'll buy some chain, cut it into short lengths and weld 'em to some flat bar stock.

And a question: Back 30 years ago I bought a Bush Hog "Squealer", it used a chain from the top link attach to the rear of the deck instead of the flat steel straps they are mostly using now. The chain had a major advantage in that it allowed one to back the mower up a fairly steep incline. A bungee was used to take up the slack in the chain so it wouldn't get caught on the gear box. So how come they don't make them with a chain anymore - - is there a downside I'm not considering?

bumper

Because basically, two flat pieces of steel are cheaper to use than two lengths of chain. The chain is a good idea, the flat steel stock, not so much. All anyone needs to do is look at used bushhogs to see the steel bars are almost always bent up.