1st time at my new property & 1st time ever brush-hogging - some lessons learned

[jyoutz]

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A stout 5 or 6/foot pry bar also makes it easy to shift rear implements back and forth as needed to line them up to mount.

I use a digging bar

 

[2manyrocks]

If you have a lot of smaller brush to clear, sometimes it saves time and money to hire a forestry mulcher to grind it up and be done with it.

 

[5030]

Keep your PTO stub well lubricated and when not in use cover it. Most of not all new tractors will come with a plastic pto stub cover. Put some grease in the cover prior to sliding it on. That keeps the stub lubricated for easier fitment of the driven shaft and keep the coupler on the driven shaft lubricated as well. I use spray motorcycle chain lube on mine. Never had a hydraulic top link and don't want one either and they are no good when using any slasher / brush hog, because the brush hog has to articulate when mowing uneven ground. Finally, if I were you, I'd be looking at a larger tractor. Bigger tractor = more power = quicker mow times = more leisure time.

 

[5030]

I might add that Agri-Supply www.agrisupply.com carries not only brush hogs, tiller, plows and all sorts of farm related stuff, they also carry replacement tail wheels and pivot assemblies for slashers / brush hogs in solid, segmented and tube type tires. Myself, I use the segmented never go flat type. Good prices, fast reasonable shipping and nice folks to deal with as well. Not like Messicks where you get screwed on shipping costs....lol

 

[California]

Another vote for a chain between the top of the mower, and (in my case) the Quick Hitch.

Down in the back of my orchard, the rows are terraces. Cross-mowing requires climbing or descending substantial grades between rows. A chain replacing the pivoting top connector on the mower, allows the slack needed to maintain full weight on the tractor's rear tires.

As noted above a change in grade with a too-tight link can leave the tractor hanging from only the front tires and the mower tailwheel. I first noted this with the 2wd YM240, when I slid downhill uncontrollably, partly sideways, for a couple of feet. The tractor rear tires with brakes didn't have enough weight for traction.

The chain is needed only for lifting the mower at tight turns. It's slack nearly all the time.

Careful adjustment of the 3-point lowering limit will limit scalping. I figure anything that gets scalped needed to be made more level anyway.

The chain is barely visible in this photo. It is looped over the top of the QH.

Santa for your rough ground I recommend this solution.

 

[akadave]

Using a short piece of chain rather than a fixed top link helps considerably when mowing uneven areas.

Congrats on the property. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

While I don't have many uneven places like your describing, I do in a few places. Never thought about a chain for the top link idea.

 

[ptsg]

Manufacturers should just use chains instead of those flimsy bars from the A frame to the rear of the cutter. It's better in every way and even cheaper for them.

This way, you get to keep the top link in place. If it's hydraulic, it still allows you to use it and change the angle of the cutter as needed and have it going higher to handle taller brush.

 

[deezler]

Never use a solid or hydraulic top link on a machine with a long wheelbase attachment.

I don't agree here, I frickin LOVE having my hydraulic top link installed for brush hogging.

My woods 5' cutter has it's own flexible top link linkage. But the hydraulic top link on my tractor allows me to instantly pull the cutter way up to adjust to big dips or gullies, etc. And when backing into a bush, it's so nice to be able to have a very high cutting height and attack angle before lowering down for the final pass.

 

[5030]

The other issue that is largely unseen or considered is, when you 'wad' up the mower, IOW like California's picture shows, you severely shorten the distance the driveline has between the mower gearbox and ther tractor PTO and if it's excessively tight (in other words the PTO shaft is jammed tight against the universal joints, something has to give and it's usually the back end of the tractor where the pto stub comes out. That is usually either cast aluminum or cast iron / steel and pushing on it with a pto shaft that has no room to get shorter will cause immediate failure of the PTO shaft and casting as well as internal parts that are all very expensive to repair or replace. You don't ever want to do that and not have adequate pto shaft clearance between the male and female shaft sections.