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.

 

[jeff9366]

It would likely be cheaper to sell the Kubota and buy a Steiner or Ventrac tractor, which are designed to have the cutter working in front.

Tractors with large rear wheels are designed to PULL. You are working against that basic design principle trying to PUSH a cutter.

It is my OPINION that you would lack traction with so much weight out front. Also, the FEL does not have triangular support which is fundamental to load bearing on the Thee Point Hitch.

Steiner and Ventrac tractors have uniform size wheels and rear engines.

 

[dragoneggs]

It would likely be cheaper to sell the Kubota and buy a Steiner or Ventrac tractor, which are designed to have the cutter working in front. Tractors with large rear wheels are designed to PULL. You are working against that basic design principle trying to PUSH a cutter. Steiner and Ventrac tractors have equal size wheels.

Very astute point, Jeff. But sorta takes the fun out of it. Seriously though, maybe you don't know how much Ron gets out of his BX. I for one, am impressed. He couldn't be without it I reckon.

 

[Fallon]

A tractor has a simple beefy axle in the back for varying a lot of weight. Up front you have a small weak, complex axle & expensive to repair axle. Also the large heavy block of iron acting as ballast called an engine is mounted opposite the rear axle. That chunk of iron also blocks your view of what is going on.

You can make a pretty effective argument that the loader is mounted on the wrong end of the tractor in 95% of tractors with them. The only benefit to mounting them there is ease of operation & operator comfort.

Pretty much all the same arguments against mounting a heavy rotary cutter up front. The only benefits would be operator comfort & not running over the grass first.

If you look at commercial mowers that aren't tractors they all have the beefy non- turning axle next to the heavy mowing deck for a reason.

 

[4570Man]

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 PTO shaft.

I think we figured out why there is no unit that mounts on a BX this way.

 

[Sodo]

Pretty much all the same arguments against mounting a heavy rotary cutter up front. The only benefits would be operator comfort & not running over the grass first.

Agreed 100% that a bush hog on the front very heavy for a BX, would be like driving around with a full FEL bucket. A lighter weight unit would help but then you have to buy a second cutter. An ideal situation is to use the cutter on the rear 3-pt most of the time and put it on the front just for the "edges". You wil have to drive slower, and be more careful. With such an arrangement, a very small tractor becomes extremely versatile in property mgt, landscaping, fire fuels reduction.

Lots of reasons to want it. Doesn't matter how long your tractor lasts if you don't use it to get your work done. A tractor should produce work, if not it''s a garage queen (which is OK too I guess). With the ROPS, there are many situations you just CANNOT access with a rear mounted cutter. If you have a small tractor theres a reason, usually maintaining a smaller plot of land (landscape) and you should then take advantage of your attachments (not allow them to take advantage of you).

Precision brush hogging is strenuous, not just 'uncomfortable', and you end up wiping stuff out that you want to keep. Your front axle can last even longer while you're laid up because looking back caused a crick in your neck.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

I've seen 4' brush hogs as low as ~350 lbs, which wouldn't be to hevy, especially since you are removing the bucket. The weight distribution is much further out there though. Would a flail mower work? They are a little more compact, putting the weight closer to the pins.

 

[aczlan]

I've seen 4' brush hogs as low as ~350 lbs, which wouldn't be to hevy, especially since you are removing the bucket. The weight distribution is much further out there though. Would a flail mower work? They are a little more compact, putting the weight closer to the pins.

A flail would need to be run "normally", so you would need to flip the gearbox or power it with hydraulics, but it could be done.

Aaron Z

 

[Wild Bill the 2nd]

I don't know that the weight would be that big of an issue. If using a standard 3-point rotary cutter I would assume you'd put the thing on backwards with the 3-piont towards the QA plate and the wheel out front. The wheel would take a lot of that forward weight. I see two big issues with it though. Turning it, as mentioned would put a good deal of stress on the front hubs and steering mechanism. Also you'd need a 1/2" lexan sheet between you and the mower. Otherwise you'd likely get impaled or bludgeoned by flying debris.

Purpose built front mount QA rotary cutters would likely be designed differently to prevent certain death.

 

[Shield Arc]

If you could find one of these used. It would be a piece of cake to mount to your FEL.
Tow-Behind Field and Brush Mowers (Brush Hogs)| DR Power Equipment


What about mounting a small engine to your brush hog?

 

[MossRoad]

Well, look at a Power Trac for example...

ALL implements are mounted on the FEL arms out front.... like the brush hog, mowers, buckets, forks, snowplows, blowers, post hole diggers, etc...

All powered implements are powered by hydraulics. No drive shafts.

For the record, the brush hog rides on its own wheels, so the weight is not constantly supported by the FEL or the front axle of the tractor. You just put the FEL in float and push it along in its own wheels. You can lift it up as high as the FEL will raise, but that brings spinning blades of death about head height with the operator, so you may want to limit how high you want to raise it.

Here's a link to a video of a Power Trac PT425 with 48" brush hog VS a rather large multi-flora rose bush. Out front brush hog works well.
PT425MultiFloraRose.WMV

The mount is made so that the deck pivots on the roll and pitch axis independently of the tractor. The FEL in float takes care of the 3rd axis. If you were going to do this on a standard tractor, you'd need something that supplies adequate hydraulic pressure and flow. My PT425 has 8GPM @ 2500psi. Can you get that from a BX25? Can you get that with an added PTO hydraulic pump? It would be interesting, for sure.

Good luck with your project. :thumbsup: