Bush Hog Speed

[WM75Guy]

Many times the tach has a mark showing where RPMs generate 540 PTO speed. This one is the red mark.

 

[LD1]

Many times the tach has a mark showing where RPMs generate 540 PTO speed. This one is the red mark.

View attachment 759671

Yup....except his yanmar has 4 different speeds the PTO can run...

 

[2manyrocks]

The OP posted in the Yanmar section and there have been some specific replies from other Yanmar owners.

Mowing - PTO speeds

When I bought my Yanmar 2310 about 2015. It came with the Howse Bush Hog and the gent told me to use it in #2 PTO position, in second gear and at 2300 engine rpm's. I have followed that setting for the most part since day one. I don't know the PTO speeds of which there are four and if I run it...

www.tractorbynet.com

I'm a little surprised there isn't a decal on the tractor showing the PTO speeds, but it may have been painted over by now.

 

[psvfd]

From my Yanmar manual.

 

[LD1]

So did we ever figure out if the bushhog is 540 or 1000?

 

[cathy liebchen]

So did we ever figure out if the bushhog is 540 or 1000i

It’s going to be 540

 

[LD1]

It’s going to be 540

And you know this how?

 

[sandman2234]

And you know this how?

I was thinking the same thing!
In my world of limited association with 1000 rpm equipment, I was under the impression that 1000 rpm equipment came with a fine spline coupler, as opposed to what we normally see in 540 rpm use.
One thing the original poster needs to realize, is that the speed of the bush hog blades is not the controlling factor when it comes to how fast he can mow the 5 acres of property. The controlling factor is simply horsepower! If you increase the speed of the blades (not a good idea to overdrive a 540 gearbox) then you will suffer in the speed at which you can travel.
I have a slightly different setup that might shed some light on this statement. I have 3 sizes of bushhogs, 6, 8 and 15 footers and I mow the same field a lot. If I pay attention to the overlap cuts, and keep them to a minimum, the overall time it takes to mow this field remains roughly the same no matter which mower I use, provided all of them are running sharp blades and I pay attention to how much overlap I have on each pass. It takes a certain amount of horsepower to cut and if you aren't using all of your horsepower, then you can speed up the tractor one gear to cover more ground (increase mph). In most cases with fields that are smooth we usually have already done that without realizing it. If you are traveling too fast to be able to stay on the tractor without bouncing off the seat, then you need a wider bushhog. Speeding up the blades will help in thick grass, but you loose by decreasing ground speed. I have trouble staying on the seat when mowing with my 6 foot bushhog, as the 65 pto hp will let me travel pretty fast and still cut well.
David from jax

 

[2manyrocks]

On paper, it's always ground speed times cutting width.

In reality, ground speed is effectively limited by the degree of roughness of terrain and cutting width is effectively limited by available PTO HP relative to how much material is being cut.

 

[LD1]

I was thinking the same thing!
In my world of limited association with 1000 rpm equipment, I was under the impression that 1000 rpm equipment came with a fine spline coupler, as opposed to what we normally see in 540 rpm use.
One thing the original poster needs to realize, is that the speed of the bush hog blades is not the controlling factor when it comes to how fast he can mow the 5 acres of property. The controlling factor is simply horsepower! If you increase the speed of the blades (not a good idea to overdrive a 540 gearbox) then you will suffer in the speed at which you can travel.
I have a slightly different setup that might shed some light on this statement. I have 3 sizes of bushhogs, 6, 8 and 15 footers and I mow the same field a lot. If I pay attention to the overlap cuts, and keep them to a minimum, the overall time it takes to mow this field remains roughly the same no matter which mower I use, provided all of them are running sharp blades and I pay attention to how much overlap I have on each pass. It takes a certain amount of horsepower to cut and if you aren't using all of your horsepower, then you can speed up the tractor one gear to cover more ground (increase mph). In most cases with fields that are smooth we usually have already done that without realizing it. If you are traveling too fast to be able to stay on the tractor without bouncing off the seat, then you need a wider bushhog. Speeding up the blades will help in thick grass, but you loose by decreasing ground speed. I have trouble staying on the seat when mowing with my 6 foot bushhog, as the 65 pto hp will let me travel pretty fast and still cut well.
David from jax

Preach it. Its what I been saying all along