Can one just build a bush hog?

[BTDT]

Was this your own property you were mowing? Does it have to be 3ph? Some folks used to make heavy duty mowers out of truck rear-ends, but they were drag type. You can get scrap metal at junkyard by the pound.

 

[rutwad]

If you want a 7' heavy duty cutter, you must have a good size tractor. Therefore, make sure you overrate your gearbox, Could you just repair the one you have? New gear box or whatever it may take?

 

[Renze]

Some folks used to make heavy duty mowers out of truck rear-ends, but they were drag type. You can get scrap metal at junkyard by the pound.

How do you gear up a truck rear end ? I assume, when you attach the PTO to the normal driveshaft, it reduces the speed too much. The other way around, the tractor PTO attached to the end where normally the truck wheels are, it will be too fast ???

What truck rear ends do you use, pickup truck rear ends or semitrailer truck rear ends ? Do they just weld up the sattelite gears to the diff housing to be able to drive just one wheel end of the diff ?

 

[BTDT]

The one's I have seen are drag type. The rear-end assembly still has the truck wheels on it, the part where the drive shaft attatches is where the blade goes, it is turned to face the ground, a shield is fabricated and as you drag it around the wheels make the pinion turn the blade. Kind of primitive but heavy duty.

 

[Highbeam]

Cool, blades driven by the wheels being drug. No PTO hookup needed. A high ratio rear end would spin the blades fast but you would need to be careful since if you try and stop really quickly the blades will drive the tires into the tractor.

 

[Renze]

Ahhh you mean the horse drawn Amish style mower ??? i think i misunderstood then...

 

[Soundguy]

Very easy to build an ORC into the output shaft driving the blades, so that they can freewheel when the wheels stop. I have a cub with a belly mower.. it has an orc under the pulley, so that when i clutch.. deck freewheels..

Soundguy

 

[patrick_g]

I have a 40 HP KUbota and pull a 6 ft bruch hog with a 80 HP angle drive. I routinely "EAT" trees up to 4-5 inches. I have hydraulic TNT so I tilt the deck way up and raise it to the limit and back into the tree and slowly lower the cutter down eating the tree as I go right down to the ground. Makes the little tractor shudder and jump and sometimes I have to raise the cutter to let RPM build again but nothing has been harmed in 5 years of this treatment except trees. I have busted a couple welds backing into things with too much gusto (not with deck raised up) but I will be pounding the metal back into shape and re-welding.___________________________ What seems to separate the flimsy from the HD is mostly deck thickness and the bracing. Good decks have channel or square tubing as reinforcements not flat bar. Also a slip clutch would ba way better than a shear bolt. I'n not sure how much my clutch may have slipped or if it did but everything takes a licking and keeps on ticking.______________Pat

 

[Slamfire]

I've got an old 6" Swisher pull behind thats just sittin' here goin' to rust. You are welcome to it. The stumpjumper, blades and gearbox are all ok, it's the deck that all eaten up. It needs one universal joint, and of course the shaft would have to be shortened.

 

[andrewj]

Wow.. i can't help but think a little bit of dillignece might have saved that mower.. perhaps a slip clutch.. etc.. It's not my opinion that JD mowers are particularly flimsy.

To answer.. yes.. I'm sure you could weld one up... better??? cheaper??? hmm..

Soundguy

SOUNDGUY, if you saw the land you might shift some blame away from me...I thought I was pretty hard on myself without you using the D word!! haha.

this was my land. It was cutover and had hidden stumps, logs, slash, rocks. hindsight is 2020, rent a guy with a FECON to clear it folks, save your equipment.

The JD LX6 is a light duty machine. it simply was not suitable to the land. The first problem was the welds (spot welds, not a solid bead!!!! on a JD!!!!) broke. right, they broke. the break caused the gearbox to begin to rock back and forth with every revolution, and cause further damage to blades, deck, etc.

At the time, I did not have a welder. By the time I got a welder, I was past the point of diminishing returns....

Overlapping with this was my lack of experience on using the equipment, and lack of knowledge of how to lessen the amount of mowing I would do by plowing....

I talked with a neighbor who has farmed all his life. he thinks the way to go is to weld another plate on , and to buy a new gearbox then run it till it files to pieces.