How Much Slack Do You Give Your BrushHog?

[wisconsinguy]

I'm no expert on brush hogs, I don't think my little one comes any where close to hitting.

In the first pic the lower lift arms look pretty high. Is the mower pivoting on the lift arms or is it pushing or raising the link arms up into the pto. I was just wondering if the lower lift arms are moving, maybe in a float postion or something not keeping them down.

One other thought a quick hitch may move the mower aft enough so that it doesn't hit.

Phil

 

[equipman]

OkieG
I also think that you have too much pitch in the deck. When set up, you want the front a little lower (1/2") than the rear to help with discharging the cut grass. You also want a little slack in the top link to allow for mowing in swales. It looks like you are mowing pretty high, so I would suggest raising the tail wheel if you want to keep that height. Hopes this helps.
Lewis

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> In the first pic the lower lift arms look pretty high. Is the mower pivoting on the lift arms or is it pushing or raising the link arms up into the pto. I was just wondering if the lower lift arms are moving, </font>

In the first picture the lift arms are high. Slack in the toplink allows the the mower to pivot that way, but it would be laying nice and close to the ground if the tailwheel weren't blocked.

To get into position for the picture, I backed the tailwheel up against a heavy piece of steel (not visible in the picture). When the tailwheel first contacted the immoveable steel, the deck was flat and close to the ground. But, as I continued to back up a foot or so, the tailwheel stayed put, and the front of the deck raised to compensate for the tractor continuing to back up. Eventually, with enough slack in the toplink, the front of the deck contacts the PTO shaft. At that point I set the parking brake and took the picture.

The same thing happens when backing into brush, or anything that blocks the tailwheel. Driving forward, the deck would look normal, close to the ground, ready to cut. Even backing up, everything stays as it should, until the tailwheel gets stopped, then the front of the deck will raise as far as toplink slack will allow. With little slack, the front of the deck will not raise enough to touch the PTO shaft. But, with the shorter toplink you loose terrain following ability.

You see, the problem has been that I mow over some irregular terrain, including backing the deck over the sides of ditches. Extra slack in the toplink allows better terrain following in regular mowing, and better cutting further down the side of the ditch I'm backing up to. A little extra slack is good for those situations. The downside of shortening the toplink is the tailwheel can't terrain follow, it just gets pulled up into the air going across bumps and dips. With the toplink a little on the long side (the way I like it), unless I would get off the tractor and shorten the old, threaded link manually (which I never did), the PTO shaft shield was always in jeopardy of damage whenever backing up. The shield paid the price and was eventually ruined. The spinning PTO shaft wore right through the plastic.

With the hyd. toplink, a flick of the wrist and all the slack is removed...nice!! I was encouraged enough to even buy a new shield, so far so good. But, I feel like my brush hog settings could definitely use adjusting, so I started this thread looking for some help. And I appreciate the input.

OkieG

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> I also think that you have too much pitch in the deck </font>

Lewis,
I'm sorry my picture is so deceptive. The deck is not set that high. It would look normal, except I'd backed up with the tailwheel blocked so it couldn't move.

<font color="blue"> You also want a little slack in the top link to allow for mowing in swales. </font>

Exactly! Thanks for your advice.

OkieG

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> Have you read the owners manual for the bush-hog? </font>

What??!! Read the owner's manual?? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I don't ask for directions either. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Yes, I've read them. But, I think I'm getting "selective reading", just like I have "selective hearing".

OkieG

 

[normde2001]

When my rotary cutter is sitting on the ground, adjusted level and ready to go, the toplink is adjusted so that the swivel link it hooks to stands exactly vertical. It has a stop block welded to it to prevent too much forward swing as yours is doing, ( it can come forward to about 2 oclock position). With that setup the mower has plenty of up and down motion and doesn't come near hitting the driveshaft when lifting. Does your swivel link not have a stop, or is it installed backwards?

 

[3_V_Dirt_Works]

When this contact occurs your toplink is too far extended. I am not sure why you have the extendable top link. Is is so you can mow over uneven ground? My toplink was a problem for quite a while because if I adjusted it short enough to get enough lift for backing into tall vegatation it would be too long for mowing with the deck down. If this is why you have that top link try this and see if it works for you. Remove the toplink you have now with you deck set so the front edges are resting on the ground and the back is resting on the wheel. Put a chain in place of the toplink (you may have to get a little creative to get the chain to stay in place for your trial run). This allows proper lift when needed and won't pinch the toplink when mowing closer to the ground.

I welded a 1 3/4" long X 3/4" diameter pipe to the ends of a length of chain and now use this as my toplink for mowing.

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> It has a stop block welded to it to prevent too much forward swing as yours is doing, </font>
Norm,
A stop block could be a great solution. I can't visualize where to place it. My third post shows a picture of the brush hog toplink swivel. There's no stop anywhere that I can tell. Do you have a picture of yours?

OkieG

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> Put a chain in place of the toplink </font>

Yes, I've heard of using chain for a toplink. I read about it in another thread on TBN. I don't think I quite understand what protection the chain offers, as a toplink replacement.

OkieG

 

[MarkV]

OkieG, I just bought a KK rotary mower and the flexible top link on the mower has a stop block as Norm described. I don't remember seeing this on older KK mowers so it may be new. Though the instructions were not very clear KK now has you set up your adjustments so the "U" shaped flex link is vertical when mowing. There is a block welded to the bottom of the "U" that will contact a bracket and limit the amount the rear of the mower can drop. If the rear of the mower rises the flex link if free to travel past vertical until the tractor top link, from tractor to "U" bracket, reaches its limit.

It would seem that this stop on the KK mowers is to avoid the problem you are having. Of course with KK mowers the dimensions of the attachment points are so out of whack with those of small Cat 1 equipment everything is stretched to the limit just to hook up the mower. So, like so many others, I am going to have to drill, cut and weld so that I can lift the mower more that 6" off the ground to load it and the tractor on a trailer. It should be easier.

MarkV