making two 5ft brushogs into one 10ft brushog

[markct]

well i got an idea recently, i have 2 woods 5 ft brushogs, the decks are shot on both so i had been thinking of making a new deck that was 10ft wide and mounting the 2 gearbox assemblies side by side. i would offset it a bit to one side so i could cut up close to the treelines and fences etc. i was thinking of using a heavy duty chain drive to connect the two, i would set it up with pillow blocks and a short shaft to each gearbox so i could retain the original slip clutch on each one. do they make commercialy made mowers that have 2 sets of blades in one deck? sorta like a batwing but a solid deck and 3pt mounted? i cant see why it wouldnt work? and sure would make mowing faster around here.

 

[OkieG]

<font color="blue"> do they make commercialy made mowers that have 2 sets of blades in one deck? </font>
Some consumer grade mower decks have two blades, side by side. A neighbor of mine had that kind of set-up. He noticed it left a strip of uncut grass from the clearance between the two blades.
That might not be an issue with brush hogging?
Anyway, sounds like an interesting project. Good luck!

OkieG

 

[markct]

yea i know lotsa lawn tractors have 2 blades, and after searching the web i found howse makes a 10ft two blade mower but not 3pt just towbehind. i had wondered about the blades missing some stuff in the center but i figured if they were close enough it wouldnt be bad

 

[chim]

Sounds like an interesting project. You could follow the pattern of a finish mower - have one blade slightly ahead of the other. You give up a few inches of total cutting for the cut overlap. There will likely be a "skipper" when you make a hard enough turn in the one direction. If you prefer turning left, for example, have the left blade lead so the cuts overlap on left turns(?)...............chim

 

[Gatorboy]

<font color="blue">( do they make commercialy made mowers that have 2 sets of blades in one deck? )</font>

You mean something like this Rhino TW120?

 

[timb]

I think most of not all brush hogs / rotarys over 7' are two blades (or more?). There are three gearboxes - center and two outer. And they can come in all three forms - 3 pt, semi-mount, and pull-types. Sounds like an interesting project, but it would probably be easier if you could somehow score a surplus gearbox of the right config for the middle.

Tim

 

[markct]

yea a gearbox would be ideal but im looking to go the cheap route here, and a scan of my surplus junk doesnt turn up any double shafted gearboxes capable of taking that kinda HP. i dont know what equipment other than a brushog uses a doubleshaft 1to1 ration gearbox

 

[em14]

I have a 10' Howse Rotary Cutter which I use to cut pastures and small brush. It is a 3 point hook - up using a JD 5220. The JD does quite well but needs the front weight of the FEL. I would not try this set up on the 5220 without the FEL or front weights. The Howse does a nice job of cutting!
Leo

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Does that have a big need of fairly flat ground? How does something like that handle 'occasional' hills?

 

[chim]

Even with my 5-footer, some of the "occasional hills" are getting shorter each time they see the rotary cutter..........................chim