How to build your own bush hog and save$$$

Gary Fowler · Mar 3, 2011

I thought I would put this on for anyone who may want to build their own rotary cutter. I wanted a super heavy 7 foot mower to use on my farm in Bismarck. It grows rocks and grass in about equal numbers and the rocks have just about made my cheap Howse into scrap metal. When you hit one with the blade, it sometimes sends it flying out in front of the tractor but mostly it just slams them into the left side. I had one hang under the stump jumper and raise a ridge on the top deck about half a circle before it came out. So anyway I wanted something with 1/4" plate. The thickest deck I saw from manufacturers has 1/4" sides and 3/16" deck and runs in the range of $2500 which is more than I wanted to spend. Not having the time to build one my self nor the parts, I found a man on Craigslist in Houston that rebuilds old worn out decks and contacted him. We agreed on a price and the material to use and the design to follow which will be a Bush hog model 307. He is using salvaged steel to keep down the cost. We will use a 90 HP gear box from Bush hog pulling a single shaft blade. I will post more photos as it progresses.

Gary Fowler · Mar 3, 2011

Some additional details on this "HOG". As said all the plate is 1/4" thick. The gear box is a bushhog 90 HP which should work ok on my 72 HP tractor. It has a slip clutch drive shaft rather than a shear bolt and will have the Cat III style double plate clevis style 3 PH rather than the side pins. It will also have a dual tail wheel to carry the 1300 pound load easier and a rachet style adjustment to raise and lower the wheels as needed. I can replace that with a hydraulic cylinder if I want, but I dont really see a need for that on a 3 PH implement.
Also for the Kubota fans, dont get excited about the orange primed undercarriage, it is going to be bush hog red when finished.
The guy who is building it is Clem Clemson [okyet1@hotmail.com] in New Caney Texas if anyone is interested. I will be saving at least $1000 bucks on this AND getting a heavier bush hog frame in the bargain And getting it built the way I want it. I would have enjoyed welding this thing up myself, but some of us have to work elsewhere and their shops go unused.

Missouri Pioneer · Jul 8, 2011

How is that home made rotary cutter coming along? (by the way, the Bush Hog 307 weighs 1701 pounds).

kebo · Jul 8, 2011

Any particular reason why you put the diamond tread plate on the bottom (blade) side as opposed to turning it over so it would be on the top side of the mower deck? I think that would have been cool, and you would probably be the only person to have a bush hog like that!!