Bush Hog on Front of BX

[Tractor Seabee]

Has anyone figured a way to use the front PTO on a BX to power a Bush Hog adapted to mount on the FEL arms minus the bucket. With the Bota FEL QC system the mounting bracket is not difficult to fabricate. Looks like a 5:1 speed reducer will be needed somewhere in the PTO hook-up. Ideas anyone?

Ron

 

[farm boy00]

Has anyone figured a way to use the front PTO on a BX to power a Bush Hog adapted to mount on the FEL arms minus the bucket. With the Bota FEL QC system the mounting bracket is not difficult to fabricate. Looks like a 5:1 speed reducer will be needed somewhere in the PTO hook-up. Ideas anyone?

Ron

You could do hydraulic pump/motor. You would just need to add another hydro system

 

[Sodo]

I like the idea of a mower on the front, for more precision brush-hogging. And you can stuff it under bushes/trees. Plus you can get the weeds before your tires mash them down. It seems feasible, and I wonder why there's no adapters already on the market.

They put them on the front on skidsteers. Would a small tractor have trouble maintaining the height above ground (in front)?

I'd be surprised if you could get enough power to run a bush hog with hydraulics (on a BX). Not sure what 'size' this pump&motor would have to be but my 4 foot brush hog used a large portion of the mechanical PTO hp available. How much Horsepower do skidsteers have?

I'm interested though!

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

Anything that connects to the mid PTO will have its own subframe mounts. If it were mounted to the loader arms and you lifted it there goes your driveshaft. So loader mounting would leave hydraulics as the only way to power the thing. Looks like you can get some smaller units, 42, 48, 60 inch that require 8-10 GPM minimum flow. http://www.wikco.com/bw.html

That is higher than what a BX 25 can put out but If you really wanted to you could have an aux hydraulic system that runs off of the rear PTO. Where there is a will there is a way.

 

[Sodo]

Anything that connects to the mid PTO ,,,,, If it were mounted to the loader arms and you lifted it there goes your driveshaft.

Driveshaft would need sufficient overlap to accommodate FEL height adjustments. Would need a chain or something to limit the height the FEL could rise.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Thanks guys for all the ideas so far. I already deleted the hydro pump option as not enough power and the cost of a whole system; 6.2 GPM at 2000 PSI creates between 7-8 HP depending on losses where the PTO puts out 17 HP, and my mower requires a minimum of 15 HP to drive it. I also considered the shaft length related to lifting the unit; just need to limit the height to the shaft extension capability with the full down position as the short length. The Kubota front snow blower is driven by that PTO shaft; that is what started my quest to adapt some of those shaft pieces to this effort. I will be at the dealers in a couple weeks and intend to explore what pieces may help on the idea process.

Keep the ideas coming as I am in the planning stage only, we may be on to something here yet that we can all share. Like Sodo says there is a distinct advantage to having the cutter out front.

Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Thanks guys for all the ideas so far. I already deleted the hydro pump option as not enough power and the cost of a whole system; 6.2 GPM at 2000 PSI creates between 7-8 HP depending on losses where the PTO puts out 17 HP, and my mower requires a minimum of 15 HP to drive it. I also considered the shaft length related to lifting the unit; just need to limit the height to the shaft extension capability with the full down position as the short length. The Kubota front snow blower is driven by that PTO shaft; that is what started my quest to adapt some of those shaft pieces to this effort. I will be at the dealers in a couple weeks and intend to explore what pieces may help on the idea process.

Keep the ideas coming as I am in the planning stage only, we may be on to something here yet that we can all share. Like Sodo says there is a distinct advantage to having the cutter out front.

Ron

 

[quicksandfarmer]

If you look at the Surplus Center website they have PTO hydraulic pumps:
Surplus Center

and hydraulic motors with a PTO shaft output:
Surplus Center

Both are rated in cubic inches, which is the volume of hydraulic fluid moved per revolution. If the cubic inches on the pump are matched to the motor the motor will turn at PTO speed, essentially a remote PTO.

The 3.6 inch pump is rated at 11.9 HP and the 5.7 inch pump is rated at 18.1 HP, that's probably about the range you want. If you have a PTO at 1000 RPM you can get a 3.6 inch pump rated at 22.6 HP for the same money as the 11.9 HP. If you use it with a motor around 6.6 inches it will reduce the speed down to 540 RPM.

That plus a 3-point quick attach and you should be almost done.

 

[Sodo]

Interesting idea. I think the front PTO is 2500 rpm - can you run a pump that fast?

 

[dragoneggs]

Wow Ron, ambitious but I love the idea. Keep us posted on your quest! I definitely see the beauty in such a set up.