Rotary Cutter Driveline for Bush Hog (Rotary Cutter)?

[chazzy]

Newbie (me) is getting a BobCat CT230 and a 60" Bush Hog RZ160 rotary cutter as one of the attachments. So, here are some newbie questions:
> How is power transferred from splined PTO shaft to the Bush Hog?
> I am thinking it has to be some kind of telescoping 2-piece drive shafts with 2 U-joints. If not, what kind of is it?
> Does bush hog come with the driveline, or is it something I have to purchase it separately?
> Is there any optiong I should get with a bush hog, such as chain curtain or ?
> Would it be a good idea to get extra set of blades (I will be using it maybe once a month at the most to mow 5 acre brushes/weeds that are shorte than a foot)?

Thank you in advance.

 

[MarkV]

Chazzy there is a splined telescoping shaft that will come with the mower. It connects to the PTO out put on the tractor to transfer the power to the gear box on the mower. Because this is coming as a package from the dealer, have them check the length of the PTO shaft for your combination. There are times you will buy a PTO powered attachment and have to cut the shaft to length for a given application.

There is an option available for the PTO shaft also, a slip clutch. All of them come protected with a shear bolt that is designed to protect the tractor if the mower were to be stopped by an immovable object. The bolt shears and you replace it. With a slip clutch there are a group of disks that will slip after reaching a given amount of resistance. Personally, for what you describe mowing, unless you have a lot of rock and stump I would just get the standard shear bolt set up.

Chain guards are a good thing if you mow in populated areas. Rotary mowers, bush hogs, will throw objects on occasion and the chains are there to deflect items thrown. If you are pretty much in the wide open and don't let the kids run around while your mowing you will be fine.

I'm on my original blades still after 5 years. I'll hit them with a grinder once a year but there still doing fine. A rotary mower does not use a sharp blade like a finish mower and will last a long time.

MarkV

 

[Sprocket]

Chazzy, I agree with MarkV and I have a CT225/rz160 combo and no driveline mods were needed. The upper linkage that allows the unit to move up and down with the terrain was installed upside down on mine limiting the travel (its worth checking) also adjust your 3pt toplink so that when the mower is in mowing position the linkage on the bush hog can move upward and downward to articulate with the ground. also set the 3pt up so it won't hit the tires as it swings side to side. This will all make sense as you hook it up.