Mowing Mower on FEL

[Farmerford]

DAP, jmc, SkogenMe, and NorthGa (and perhaps others) asked me to post some info on my FEL mounted mower.

I mounted a Bush Hog 48" squealer on a Kubota B2400 FEL first and then upgraded to a Kubota L4330 when the B2400 proved too small to fully utilize the mower. The hydraulic motor is a Char-Lynn 4.9 cu in/rev that turns about 600 rpm @ 11gpm flow. It connects directly to the input shaft on the Bush Hog gear box with a chain coupling. I built a platform for the motor right in front of the gearbox and used shims under the motor mount feet to line up the motor and gearbox shafts with a dial indicator.

The pump is a Prince 5.7 cu in/rev unit that puts out 11.2 gpm at 540 pto rpm (about 18 hp before losses). I built a three point hitch platform that holds a 15 gallon baffeled reservoir, return line filter, relief valve, and the Prnce pump. I mounted the pump on the tph platform and drive it with a short driveshaft from the pto to make it easier to hook and unhook than if it hung directly on the pto shaft.

The Bush Hog points toward the front (ie, open end in the direction of cut, just like on the tph) and I replaced the single caster tailwheel with two fixed wheels, one on each side at the rear of the mower.

I use it for clearing heavy brush on about 80 acres of Georgia rolling land. It is most effective on pines up to about 3" dia and hardwood to about 2". I raise the mower up to about 5' off the ground, angled with the curl on the FEL so that the tractor is masked from the blade by the housing, and lower it slowly into the brush. To control the lowering speed I installed a Prince pressure compensated flow control in the FEL lower circuit (base end of the lift cylinders) which is controlled by an additional handle on the FEL control station. If the trees are typical (say 2" pines), I let it drop fairly slowly. If they are 1" and smaller it can drop pretty fast.

I also converted my FEL joystick to a two handle system because, in this particular application, it is easier to control when the raise/lower and curl/dump are on truly separate handles. The flow control in the curl circuit makes it a three handle system that sounds awkward, but it makes the mower much easier to use.

I added two carbide tipped stump grinder teeth to the undersides of each of the two standard Bush Hog blades, one at the very end and another a few inches in. The teeth barely brush the ground when the Bush Hog is resting on the skids/wheels. The stump grinder teeth cut the stumps off clean at ground level, so the surface is absolutely smooth when I am finished. The stump grinder teeth also help break the tree trunks and branches up into very small pieces. Although it is slow, when I finish a spot it is very clean: no limbs, leaves, or stumps. Everything has been turned into wood chips and scattered. That way we can start mowing with a mid-mount mower on the B2400 and keep it clean thereafter.

I ususally mount my Vermeer PTO chipper on another tractor and keep it close by. Trees larger than the Bush Hog can comfortably handle are cut down and chipped. And the stumps on even the larger trees can be cut to ground level with the chipper teeth on the Bush Hog.

So, when we finish the ground is clean and level, free of stumps, with just the litter of chips, leaves, etc. It is not as slow as I may have indicated, but it certainly is a far cry from charging through the woods with the Bush Hog out front at the same speed you would mow the pasture. In the same vein, it is also a far cry from cutting that stuff down with a Husqvarna brush cutter, pulling it out of the briars and vines, and hauling it to a chipper or burning it. And, although there are a few fist sized pieces of wood flying through the air once in a while, I am convinced that I am more likely to cut off a foot with the Husky brush cutter than I am to get brain damage from a wood splinter.

The B2400 would have been adequate if I had made the mower and pump platform lighter. That could easily be done, so I think the mower could be adapted to a 20 hp up tractor if it were built a little differently.

If anyone is interested in the details, I have (somewhere) a written description with part numbers, etc. I put together for a friend is building one. I will be glad to find and post it if anyone wants it.

 

[mocassincreekranch]

I have wanted to do this for years but dont have the learn'in to do what you did. Great job.

 

[rback33]

Wow. That is some set up. There is no way I would run that with out safety glasses though. Don't know if yer assistant in the one pic was runnin it or not, but I noticed no glasses....

 

[schmism]

ya id have to build a screen that attached to the FEL mounts to somewhat sheild me.

ive you've ever seen an ASV with mulcher head.....

 

[SkogenMe]

Thanks much for the description and pictures. Impressive setup! Having a PTO powered hydraulic pack certainly opens up a bunch of skidsteer high flow attachment ideas......Hmmm
thanks

 

[vallyfarm]

Near genious. Adding those carbide teeth must make a world of difference. Hats off to you and you're set up. Mike

 

[oliver28472]

You're the best new member ever. Great job!

 

[jmc]

Farmerford,

Thanks for the extra pictures. You must have quite a shop.

I had assumed that BH blades were hardened. How was it to drill (and tap?) them for the teeth? Do the teeth interfer with using the BH for routine weeds, like balling up or leaving an uneven cut?

Thanks,

John

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon FarmerFord,
Very interesting setup and some great ideas ! Thanks for taking the time to post all those pics and the detailed explanation to go with it !

 

[dmccarty]

Thanks much for the description and pictures. Impressive setup! Having a PTO powered hydraulic pack certainly opens up a bunch of skidsteer high flow attachment ideas......Hmmm

After the Farm Show set me up drooling for skid steer attachments I looked at what I would have to do the tractor. The Prince PTO hydraulic pump, tank, and I think a universal attachment to hook up the skid steer attachments had me well over $1000. The skid steer mowers to do what he is doing where starting at around $4,000.

I pretty much stopped dreaming at that point and pulled myself back to reality.

FarmerFord has me dreaming again....

Later,
Dan

 

[Farmerford]

Thanks for all the comments. If any of you decide to take on the project I will be happy to tell you all the things I would do differently on the second try.

Note that the mower was designed specifically for the Kubota B2400HST with 18 pto hp, so the hydraulic pump is adequate to transmit about 18 hp. Had I known I might upgrade to a larger tractor, I might have chosen a larger pump that produces substantially more flow, and therefore transmits more horsepower.

However, to keep the mower input rpm at 540 (when the pto was also turning 540 rpm) I would have to have used a larger motor and therefore more horsepower would be transmitted to the gearbox. Although the Squealer gearbox is "rated" (whatever that means) for 40 hp, the present setup seems to me to put about as much load on the mower as it needs. So if I had gone to the larger system I would have reduced the maximum system pressure by adjusting the relief valve to keep the horsepower input to the mower to around 15-20.

I will try to answer your specific comments.

rback33 is right, safety glasses are advisable, and the one picture without them was my daughter just playing with the controls. She was not cutting.

schmism's point about the screen makes sense, but in actual use nothing comes back at the operator because it is deflected down to the ground . Very few pieces even strike the radiator guard. That surprised me, because I expected shrapnel to fly in all directions, but it does not. After a year of use, it has never thrown anything even close to the operator. Knock on wood.

jmc: the blades are 40-44 Rockwell C. I know that because about 40 years ago I was the plant manager/chief engineer for a local iron works that made (and still makes) OEM blades for Bush Hog, Woods, Servis, and lots of others. The blades drilled pretty easily with a 5/8" carbide "spade" bit and lots of cutting fluid. I did not tap the holes for bolts. The bolts pass through the blade and are held by a plate and hex nuts on the upper side. I torque the bolts to 250 foot pounds and then discard them after each use. Unless I hit a rock, the carbide teeth last for at least 30-40 hours.

I don't use the setup for routine mowing. I thought I could when I designed it, but when the FEL is put into float to let it follow the contour, the mower wants to lever back under the tractor and push the front end up (just like the bucket does in float). I plan to add two more guage wheels at the front and they may help it move along more easily.

If I were doing routine mowing, I think the stump grinder teeth would leave a pretty scraggly cut, and I would probably keep a second set of blades without the teeth on them.

dmccarty, I think you can get everything except the mower for $2,000 or less. I looked at the skid steer attachments at the time I planned this mower and they were all too heavy and required too much power for the Kubota B2400. There may be lighter and smaller ones availabe now. The LA 853 loader on the L4330 is rated for 2400 pounds at the pivot pins, and although the mower weighs only about 500 pounds, it is still a pretty good load when working on hillsides, around ditches where the ground is soft, and in other tight spots. Part of that is because the mower sticks out so far in front. I think it would take a much larger tractor than the L4330 (more weight, larger tires; the 39 pto hp of the L4330 is more than adequate) to carry the skid steer mowers I looked at. But in their defense they can cut much heavier brush than mine can. We wanted to save all the trees we could, so most of the clearing I do is to get rid of the thickets of small (1-3") pines and 1-2" hardwoods, together will all the briars and vines that grow up in them.

Thanks again for the nice comments.

 

[DAP]

Thanks for running this FarmerFord ... very interesting setup

 

[flusher]

Thanks for all the comments. If any of you decide to take on the project I will be happy to tell you all the things I would do differently on the second try.

.

OK, I agree. It's a nice job.

But, IMHO, your setup is as dangerous as ****. The last thing I want is a brush hog spinning at 600 rpm hanging on an FEL at eye level with nothing between my face/chest and flying debris.

You've been lucky so far. At the very least I would recommend that you install an expanded metal screen between the hog and the driver's seat. Why risk an accident. I don't think that tilting the hog gives adequate protection.

I have one attached to the ROPS on my B7510HST that I install when I run my 4-ft KK hog on the 3pt.

Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[dynasim]

Flusher,

While I agree this could be dangerous if used inappropriately, if used appropriately, this is much better than rear-mounted cutters. The operator never has to turn around to see what is going on, and does not have diverted attention.

There is a reason that this sort of thing is not sold commercially, and it is that it can be idiot-proofed. However, non-idiot proof tools can be safely and significantly more useful in trained hands than less risky ones.

Farmerford,

This is a great concept, and well done! My suggestions for improvements on a further iteration would be as follows:

Make the loader attachment closer to the deck so that the loader can be lower during operation to improve both visibility and stability.

Move the deck closer to the tractor by mounting the QA further forward on the deck. This would also improve the visibility and stability, as well as lessening the lateral movement during turns.

Thanks for sharing
Chris

 

[flusher]

Flusher,

While I agree this could be dangerous if used inappropriately, if used appropriately, this is much better than rear-mounted cutters. The operator never has to turn around to see what is going on, and does not have diverted attention.

By the time he sees what's going on, he could have a piece of wood in his chest.

The minimum protection I would install is an expanded metal screen attached to the FEL arms with hose clamps.

This FEL/hog configuration, IMHO, is better suited to a skid steer machine that has an enclosed cage with built in ROPS.

 

[Farmerford]

Flusher: The blades are actually spinning at 1,037 rpm because of the 1.92:1 overdrive ratio in the gear box. Intuitively it does seem dangerous, but in practice that has not proven true since I started using it in 2005. The expanded metal screen radiator guard I made for the front of the tractor extends far enough to mask virtually all of the mower width. Things look different from the tractor seat than from the ground.

Of course it does produce the flying debris of all rotary mowers so I don't mow when anyone is close by.

Chris: Thanks for looking so carefully. You caught two of my design errors. As I mentioned earlier, I built the mower for a B2400HST, which is much smaller than the L4330. The FEL on the B2400 did not stick out nearly as far in front and, in fact, the Squealer would almost touch the radiator guard when it was lifted.

When I changed to the L4330 I took the easy approach of using the same attachment points on the mower. Furthermore, the LA853 loader, according to the dealer, sticks out unusually far even on the L4330. He recommended the smaller of the two FEL's available for the L4330 because it does not stick out so far, but I chose the larger one.

Unfortunately, it is somewhat complicated to shift the mower back toward the tractor because the cross bar on the quick attach (between the pivot arms) hits the gear box. And as built now it would hit the hydraulic motor on the "front" of the gearbox. I would have to rotate the gearbox 180 degrees to put the hydraulic motor on the rear of the mower. Then I should be able to move the mounts to the new "front" of the gearbox with the cross piece just touching the gearbox.

The seemingly excess height occurred because I hoped to be able to shift the mower to the side for mowing outside the wheel tracks. The two 4" x 4" x 3/8" cross tubes that connect the quick attach to the mower deck are connected to each other with bolts through evenly spaced tabs so that, in theory, I could unbolt the tubes from each other and reconnect them with the lower tube (and attached mower) offset to one side or the other from the upper tube that is attached to the FEL. After I build it, it became obvious that this was impractical for two reasons: 1. the little B2400 could not handle that much weight off to the side, and 2. the rear of the mower would no longer be masked by the front of the tractor and the radiator guard and it would be pointed back toward the operator which would cause the hazards flusher talks about. Therefore I would eliminate both tubes on the next try and just bolt the QA brackets to hardpoints on the mower deck, which would lower the affair by 8".

Since I can't mow off to the side very well with this design, I plan to build a 5' sickle bar mower to substitute for the Squealer when mowing off to the side in the grass and light brush along fencelines, etc. I have located a source for the heavy ag type sections, knives, knife heads, and guards for a 5' sickle mower that should handle brush up to about 1" diameter. I will have to build the cutterbar from cold rolled bar stock, but I don't think it will be too difficult. I think I can drive the knife with a pittman arm using an eccentric mounted on the shaft of a hydraulic motor that is rated for a substantial radial load and use my existing powerpack to power it.

 

[daTeacha]

The outfit that mows some of our ditches here uses a side mounted mower on a hydraulic arm. I estimate it to be at least 72 inches in diameter. The thing eats trees several inches thick, trims branches off as needed, etc. It can be extended several feet out to the side of the tractor, lifted up or down, and angled to match the contour. The same guys have a flail type mower that also hangs off the side of the tractors when all they will be mowing is normal grass, multiflora, and small saplings.

Used properly, neither of these seemingly dangerous items has been involved in any injury causing accident for many years. The flail came close one time when some idiot left a 20 lb. propane cylinder buried in the tall grass in a ditch and it was hit. Fortunately, it was empty. The operator never knew he hit it, but I found the cylinder with a substantial hole in it.

Steiner sells a lot of tractors with front mounted finish mowers that can be lifted several inches off the ground. The things work very well when making nature trails or mowing under pines and other trees with low hanging branches.

 

[jmc]

Since I can't mow off to the side very well with this design, I plan to build a 5' sickle bar mower to substitute for the Squealer when mowing off to the side in the grass and light brush along fencelines, etc. I have located a source for the heavy ag type sections, knives, knife heads, and guards for a 5' sickle mower that should handle brush up to about 1" diameter. I will have to build the cutterbar from cold rolled bar stock, but I don't think it will be too difficult. I think I can drive the knife with a pittman arm using an eccentric mounted on the shaft of a hydraulic motor that is rated for a substantial radial load and use my existing powerpack to power it.

Farmerford,

Once you build this side cutter, you'll be able to sell tickets to this crowd!

John

 

[MossRoad]

But, IMHO, your setup is as dangerous as ****. The last thing I want is a brush hog spinning at 600 rpm hanging on an FEL at eye level with nothing between my face/chest and flying debris.

You've been lucky so far. At the very least I would recommend that you install an expanded metal screen between the hog and the driver's seat. Why risk an accident. I don't think that tilting the hog gives adequate protection.

I have one attached to the ROPS on my B7510HST that I install when I run my 4-ft KK hog on the 3pt.

Just my $0.02 worth.

I agree. We have a Power Trac PT425 with a 48" brush hog mounted on the FEL arms. (see the following videos).

The thing is a beast and does a great job. I rarely lift it more than a few inches off the ground. I have tossed a blade twice when hitting hidden rocks. The blade is several pounds on my little 48" hog and it flew about 20-30 feet before imbedding itself into the ground. I figure if I can't push it over and cut it at ground level, it shouldn't be cut with that tool. I'll get the saw and take it down safely.

http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425DeepWeeds1.WMV
http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425DeepWeeds2.WMV
http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425FieldClearing.WMV
http://www.mossroad.com/PT425Videos/PT425MultiFloraRose.WMV

 

[MossRoad]

Farmerford,
Very nice job. You have discovered what all Power Trac owners already know...

Implements belong up front where you can see them!

Brush hogs up front on the FEL arms have a great advantage over brush hogs out back. First, you can see what you are doing. Second, the stuff is cut down before your tractor has to drive through it, saving your tires and anything that may be hanging under your tractor.