brush hogging problems

[Farmwithjunk]

I,m Curious Farmwithjunk , you Mention Grinding Blades . MY BH just look kind of like flat maybe a little Rounded Edges , Has Since it was new . It Cuts Fine From Tall to almost Like a Finish cut . Are You Saying it Would be Better if They Were Ground ?

I Only Mow about 12 Acres About once a Week or so in The Rainy season , Less in Times Like right now . Any Chance You Could Explain it or Posablly Post some Pics of how You do it ( Grinding or Sharpening ) ?

I Also have a Finish Mower that I Keep the Blades sharp on . Just Stumped on the BH , Thanks for any Info. Bob

If they're cutting to your satisfaction now, most likely you won't see significant improvement with a sharpening. Bush hog blades (as they come originally) are ground to handle rough use in brush, heavy weeds, ect. We grind them for a number of reasons, not lease of which is wear and tear from hitting rocks, scalping into dirt, buried "treasures" hidden in the weeds, ect. That sort of abuse damages the edge. Also, we mow literally HUNDREDS of acres a week. By mowing 12 acres, and let's say you mow WEEKLY for half the year, you're mowing roughly 300 acres a YEAR. My batwing mowers often cut more than that in a single week. The blades see much more use AND abuse.

If we're cutting clean "grass" only, the blades get just a tick more of an edge than normally seen on a bush hog. Usually about 1/16" blunt edge with approx the same taper as original. In MOST conditions, the blades are touched up to as close to original contour as possible. Mowing highway right-of-ways, we grind to a 1/8th" blunt edge. That withstands just a bit more abuse. Never know what'll pop up next in the weeds. We can't use any sort of finish mower in conditions like that. Blades and the mower itself would never stand up to the torture.

Bush hog blades are intended for a slighly blunt edge. That works adaquately in tall grass and weeds, and is without question the best route when cutting brush and saplings. The slight blunted edge tears it's way through what it's cutting. A clean cut in brush and small trees will leave sharp staubs that will ruin a tire. The blunt edge shatters the woody plants, leaving a less harmful result. As well, the blunt edge is a bit less proned to dents and dings.

I do not remove blades to sharpen UNLESS they're significantly damaged. We just raise the mower, put jack stands under it for saftey reasons, then climb under with a 4-1/2" mini-grinder and go at it.

It may be a while before I'd have the opportunity to take pictures. Don't carry the camera with me. (It's at home) tractors/mowers are all in the field.

 

[cowboy357]

Yes I Thought I Had Read that You Mowed alot , Thats Why I Asked . No Big Deal on the Pics , Unless You Have time someday .

Over the Past Several Years I Have Improved the Land very Well , removing Most Items that can hurt the Blades , Including the around 8 Acres that Was Used for Crops , As I,ve decided to Just topseed it with Grass seed & Hopefully it Will choke out the Hay & any weeds that Might Pop up . Allthough I,m not Planning on Irigating it So Not sure if it will work or Not .

Would You have any Suggestions on Type of seed to Plant . Its Fairlly flat Ground, Semi Sandy soil . The River Runs Through the Back of Our Property So I Could Pump from there to Water it to at Least get it a Good start . I,m Hoping soon I can Just use My 6 foot finish mower on it & Just store the BH for when needed by the River bank as I,m also digging a small Pond using around an acre of the 8 Field acres .

But ThankYou Sir for the info Provided .
& I Apologise to the OP , for the Interuption.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I could make some suggestions based on my knowledge of conditions around here, but I'd suggest contacting your local county Ag extention office for specific "localized" opinions. In general, we use turf type fescues and perrenial rye mixes for cover here. If it's pasture or a forage crop planting, there are better choices.

 

[cowboy357]

NP , ThankYou again FWJ . Everything else is Kentucky 31 Fescue So I,ll Go with that & see What happens as I Allready have about 400 pounds of it , . Thanks Bob .

 

[Baby Grand]

Yearly...Yearly... I remove mine every 3 mowing's sharpen blades apply
never-seize to the bolts and put the blades back on. Mows great... grass looks good, weeds look good, and blade bolts are always easy to remove.

Jeff

I think Jeff may have hit on a possible cure for the OP's roughness. If the blades get deflected due to debis collecting under the deck or "Foreign objects" and can't straighten back out because the pivots are not pivoting then the whole thing will start to vibrate. I was having this problem too, but did as Jeff suggested - removed the blades (big socket/5' pipe on breaker bar) and slathered never-seize on the pins and mating faces of the blades. No more vibes.
Jim

 

[djradz]

I,m Curious Farmwithjunk , you Mention Grinding Blades . MY BH just look kind of like flat maybe a little Rounded Edges , Has Since it was new . It Cuts Fine From Tall to almost Like a Finish cut . Are You Saying it Would be Better if They Were Ground ?

I Only Mow about 12 Acres About once a Week or so in The Rainy season , Less in Times Like right now . Any Chance You Could Explain it or Posablly Post some Pics of how You do it ( Grinding or Sharpening ) ?

I Also have a Finish Mower that I Keep the Blades sharp on . Just Stumped on the BH , Thanks for any Info. Bob

Take a look at new blades for any brush hog/rotary cutter. They're relatively sharp. Unless you are cutting extremely rocky land, or require dull blades because you'd rather wack apart small trees and brush, rather than cutting through it, I'd recommend keeping the blades near that new-bought shape. Especially when cutting grass and weeds, you'll find the drag on the deck, and ultimately the tractor, is much less with moderately sharp blades. Many folks here use a 4"to 4-1/2" hand-held disk grinder, but I've found a 7" or 9" hand-held works even faster and I save the smaller grinder for my RFM blades.

 

[sandman2234]

Quote:
Also, for the record, Orchardgrass is a species of grass, not grass in an orchard.

FWJ,
I think I may have been the one to make that mistake, as I didn't have a clue that it was a species, versus a little bit of tall grass under some trees. We don't generally have that around here, but we do have a lot of orchards.

Djradz,
There is no doubt that a 9" grinder will outcut a little 4.5" one, but most of us use the little one up under the bush hog while it is elevated(and secured). I don't think I would want to try to control a seven or nine inch grinder with a couple of horsepower up underneath my bush hog where there is limited space. If you have the room to operate a larger grinder, then you must a lot more space under there then I do. I do use a 7" grinder on a friends blades because he takes them off and brings them over for me to touch up. My blades never come off until they need replacing.
David from jax

 

[greenmule]

Way outta my league,huh junk man?,you got a real high opinion of your old self don't you on this internet anyways.You brought up the books and things,go back and read.

Anyways,since we were talking about this height thing,went out and raised my hog up to highest postion [on rear tail wheel] bolt holes don't line up good at this postion but was able to put one in there just so's I could measure.

At the height I need to have it in front to keep it from digging in bad,[4 1/2 inches],the rear was 7 1/2,looked real funny.

With next highest setting[the one I been using], 4 1/2 in front makes it maybe 4 3/4 in back.

At 3 1/2 in front its 4 1/2 in rear,like said, any thing lower than about 4-5 inches,front digs in dirt on some of my dips,and since I use a chain you can't have much of that going on.

But it cuts good ,so who cares.

Maybe some other brands have a more finer way to adjust height on rear?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Way outta my league,huh junk man?,you got a real high opinion of your old self don't you on this internet anyways.You brought up the books and things,go back and read.

Anyways,since we were talking about this height thing,went out and raised my hog up to highest postion [on rear tail wheel] bolt holes don't line up good at this postion but was able to put one in there just so's I could measure.

At the height I need to have it in front to keep it from digging in bad,[4 1/2 inches],the rear was 7 1/2,looked real funny.

With next highest setting[the one I been using], 4 1/2 in front makes it maybe 4 3/4 in back.

At 3 1/2 in front its 4 1/2 in rear,like said, any thing lower than about 4-5 inches,front digs in dirt on some of my dips,and since I use a chain you can't have much of that going on.

But it cuts good ,so who cares.

Maybe some other brands have a more finer way to adjust height on rear?

Your reading comprehension skills are equally as poor as your manners, which are that of a 4 year old.

The simple fact that you (A) can't understand (B) are incapable of dealing with the simplest of mechanical issues isn't too hard to see.


Maybe you should try reading the post's in correct order instead of in reverse order. The first ever mention of a "book" was from your somewhat confused post #8. I never even said the first thing about a "book" until you falsely accused me of bringing that up. Not sure where or why you'd cook up some nonsense like that, but based on the fact that 99% of what you say is pure nonsense, I can see it happening. I spoke specifically of an owners manual and/or tech service bulletins from mower manufacturers, not some imaginary "book" you've pulled out of thin air.

At this point I'm done with you. As you SHOULD see, there is a number of people agreeing with what I'm saying and NO ONE coming to your aid. HAve you ever taken into consideration that you might not be right and the rest of the world might not be wrong? I didn't think so......

I'm reminded of the old addage "A wise man doesn't argue with a fool, as the casual observer might not be able to tell the difference". Go on with your ranting about your beloved KK toy mower. I'm through wasting my time on you. If you feel so inclined as to continue embarrasing yourself by displaying your lack of understanding of the subject, have at it.

And yes, you are even farther out of your league than I first thought.

 

[Heavyduty]

Farmwithjunk, what brand batwings do you run? If you don't mind.

 

[greenmule]

Well I'm glad your done with me,I was getting worried.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Farmwithjunk, what brand batwings do you run? If you don't mind.

Bush Hog 2715L's. I've got 5 of 'em now and will probably be adding a couple more very soon.

 

[Heavyduty]

Bush Hog 2715L's. I've got 5 of 'em now and will probably be adding a couple more very soon.

On the east coast, I see alot of Alamo's and JD HX-CX 15 and 20's. With the economy, DOT contracts are on hold and the state DOT has takin over. I reckon that's why the grass is 2 feet high.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

On the east coast, I see alot of Alamo's and JD HX-CX 15 and 20's. With the economy, DOT contracts are on hold and the state DOT has takin over. I reckon that's why the grass is 2 feet high.

A lot of Alamo/Shulte/Rhino's here too. JD's batwings are a little suspect as are Woods. Just not quite heavy duty enough for sustained commercial applications. Deere has issues with deck hinges and Woods has problems with gear box and drive shafts from what I'm hearing. I've been working with a factory rep from Bush Hog over the last 2 years. I get to demo a number of mowers each summer.

In Kentucky, we've scaled back from 4 cuts per year to 3 on many roads, and from 4 to 2 on others due to state budget cuts. I do mostly county roads and fortunately live in a county that isn't too seriously effected (yet) Our grass is 2' tall, but on account of a month and a half of nearly continuous rain.

 

[ComputerGuy]

Wow, who would have thought that questions about rotary mowers would generate such a spirited debate?

I was glad to get the tip about not mowing "flat" -- something not very intuitive to a city boy. I just bought a new Modern Competitior 5' mower (to replace a worn down Howse unit) and I am still "learning the ropes".

The manual that came with the Modern cautioned against putting much of a sharp edge on the blades -- they said that a leading edge thickness of 1/16 inch was good. At the risk of igniting more controversy -- does this sound reasonable?

 

[tommu56]

Before today I had never brush hoged before. Just bought a used 6ft bush hog. I didn't really know how to set everything up just tried to get the deck level. I wa cutting about waist high weeds and grass and it would do fine for a while then the deck would start shaking violently. I would stop and it would keep doing that for a few seconds then be fine for a while and start shaking again. Any ideas dull blades, adjustment problems, rpm, any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I didn't read the whole thread but

Make sure the pto is up to speed (540) a lot of people think you can mow at idle it works better at rated speed and gear down the tractor to minimize the lugging

Take a 1/2 width cut if its loading tractor down (assuming the governor is working)

If its doing it in turns it might be pto shaft joints. if assembled wrong they (joints) can be out of time.

Check the level of oil in gear box too if you haven't yet.
tom

 

[jinman]

The manual that came with the Modern cautioned against putting much of a sharp edge on the blades -- they said that a leading edge thickness of 1/16 inch was good. At the risk of igniting more controversy -- does this sound reasonable?

This is my opinion only, but I think it depends on the environment where you will use the cutter. If you use it to cut "lawn" like areas, then you could probably sharpen the blades down to a knife edge and be just fine. However, if you cut in rough areas with a few rocks, high-center type rough dirt mounds, small trees and small stumps, and any unknown obstacles, then 1/16" edge sounds fine. It will do you no good to sharpen down to a knife edge and then wipe that edge out in the first hour of operation. You'll be back to that 1/16" edge in no time flat anyhow. If you constantly try to keep the very sharp edge in rough conditions, you will probably just grind away your blades from sharpening so many times. I probably oversharpen my blades, but I typically only sharpen once per year. At the end of the year, my edges are more like 1/4" than 1/16".

 

[AchingBack]

Would someone mind posting a picture of the grinder you use for sharpening brush hog blades while mounted to the cutter? Thanks, I need to buy something to dress mine.

 

[Heavyduty]

Would someone mind posting a picture of the grinder you use for sharpening brush hog blades while mounted to the cutter? Thanks, I need to buy something to dress mine.

Sorry, no pics but the grider I use is a small, 110v, uses 4"-6" grinding stones, and easly handled in one hand. It's made by dewalt and I got from Lowes.

 

[jinman]

Would someone mind posting a picture of the grinder you use for sharpening brush hog blades while mounted to the cutter? Thanks, I need to buy something to dress mine.

Here is a link to the Makita angle grinder I use to shrpen my blades. I take my cutter off and use my FEL to lean it up against a tree. It makes the job much easier and gives me a chance to do a really good inspection on the underside of the cutter. The Makita grinder is so lightweight that you can hold the blade with one hand and the grinder with the other. You don't need to block the blades so they don't move. I do caution you that you should wear gloves. This year, I was in a hurry and didn't bother putting on my gloves. The grinder slipped off the blade once and I ground a dime-size chunk of skin off my left wrist from the momentary contact with the grinder. If I had put my gloves on, that area would have been covered and I probably wouldn't even have noticed it.

Makita Grinder at Northern Tool