Brush Hog Setup

FxdGrMind · Aug 4, 2009

All good comments, only one thing to add.

Make sure that your lower arms are "LEVEL". if not your cut will be on the angle and it will trim lower on one side and longer on the other. Looks like C*ap... don't ask how I know.

Mikeeemo · Aug 4, 2009

Before you start, make sure your blade bolts are TIGHT and the blades swing freely. I had a lot of trouble with this (shoulders too short & bind the blade), the manufacturers make shims to increase the length of the shoulder area. It makes a difference

Ken45101 · Aug 5, 2009

Mikeeemo said:
Before you start, make sure your blade bolts are TIGHT and the blades swing freely. I had a lot of trouble with this (shoulders too short & bind the blade), the manufacturers make shims to increase the length of the shoulder area. It makes a difference

I was reading the operator's manual on a Bush Hog 2010 that I was thinking of buying. It specifies that you should check the blade bolt tightness BEFORE EACH USE for 600 ft lbs.

Sorry, but I'm not going to block up a mower and crawl under it every time I use it. I'm not even sure how you measure 600 ft lbs laying on your back under a mower.

I know Bush Hog has (had) a good reputation, but if that's their operational requirements, maybe they deserve to be bankrupt.

Ken

RickB · Aug 5, 2009

Ken45101 said:
I was reading the operator's manual on a Bush Hog 2010 that I was thinking of buying. It specifies that you should check the blade bolt tightness BEFORE EACH USE for 600 ft lbs.

Sorry, but I'm not going to block up a mower and crawl under it every time I use it. I'm not even sure how you measure 600 ft lbs laying on your back under a mower.

I know Bush Hog has (had) a good reputation, but if that's their operational requirements, maybe they deserve to be bankrupt.

Ken

Every manufacturer includes items in their operator's manuals that come from the legal department rather than the engineering department. These inclusions are easy to spot for most readers.

That said, I've not seen a Bush Hog rotary cutter built in the last 35 years that required being anywhere except above the machine to tighten the blade bolts. There is a small hole in the deck just in the right place to access the blade bolt nuts. Pretty common feature across the industry, in fact.

Mikeeemo · Aug 5, 2009

I use a 3/4 drive ratchet and the correct socket plus a 6 foot piece of pipe. I own a BROWN 472. There manual states to tighten every hour for the first 8 hours of use. So once you get the bolts tight, you can just check them every so often. If the bolts are allowed to run loose they beat out the mounting holes, then you can never keep them tight. I mow more than just fields of grass with mine so, I have found it to be to my benefit. I had a howse 500 that did not have the deck hole... I ended up destroying that mower...