New BCS Setup
- Thread starter Supaflys
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Code54
Elite Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2005
- Messages
- 4,408
- Location
- Putnam Co. West Virginia
- Tractor
- Kubota MX5100, Kubota BX25D,1957 Farmall Cub Lo-Boy Kubota KX91-3, BCS 853
You will love it - 100x better than an ordinary tiller.
This how the garden looked during its better years
After a five years of just weed wacking and roto tilling the weed pressure got to be insane. So this year we went fallow during the summer to solarize and will keep it under better control using the new gardening techniques we can employ with BCS
After a five years of just weed wacking and roto tilling the weed pressure got to be insane. So this year we went fallow during the summer to solarize and will keep it under better control using the new gardening techniques we can employ with BCS
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plumberroy
Silver Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2012
- Messages
- 104
- Location
- Cincinnati oh
- Tractor
- grillo 85D w/tiller and zanon mower deck. Gravely Professional 12
Congratulations on the new walk behind my Grillo will out till any troybuilt ever made. BCS tillers are based on the Grillo design
milkman
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2001
- Messages
- 3,625
- Tractor
- BX2200, BCS 735
Really nice outfit, will last for years. Two days ago, I went to the shed and drained the old gas and put in fresh gas in my 1987 BCS 735, it started on the second pull. It hasn't been used in two or three years since I gave up gardening.
So I have used three of the BCS attachments thus far.
30" Rollerblade Flail Mower: A+ This thing is a beast and really devours and shreds everything it pushes over. Negatives? It can be a pain to hitch and unhitch due to alignment. Pry bar helps with stuck un mounts and making sure PTO spokes are prealigned helps with mounting. Was able to find things that were lost in turf like an old rubber hose and a utility cable tv run that should have been buried and are now disconnected with force.
30" BCS Power Harrow: B- Produces a very nice seed bed and the depth lever is easy to use. Negatives: The roller has two hex set screws to keep it centered that are not holding well even after tightening. When it slides out of alignment the roller binds on the side nuts of the frame and the roller drags. Also when being moved or cleaned on its side, two of the top covers are seeping oil. I think I am going to have to find some nylon spacers and/or some bolts with a smaller head diameter so this is not reoccurring issue.
Dozer Blade: A+ Reshaped and compressed a compost and brush pile with it. Good fun, effective, and would be even better in dualie wheel config. I got the box blade kit but I have not drilled the holes for it yet. Will need some time with the drill press.
30" Rollerblade Flail Mower: A+ This thing is a beast and really devours and shreds everything it pushes over. Negatives? It can be a pain to hitch and unhitch due to alignment. Pry bar helps with stuck un mounts and making sure PTO spokes are prealigned helps with mounting. Was able to find things that were lost in turf like an old rubber hose and a utility cable tv run that should have been buried and are now disconnected with force.
30" BCS Power Harrow: B- Produces a very nice seed bed and the depth lever is easy to use. Negatives: The roller has two hex set screws to keep it centered that are not holding well even after tightening. When it slides out of alignment the roller binds on the side nuts of the frame and the roller drags. Also when being moved or cleaned on its side, two of the top covers are seeping oil. I think I am going to have to find some nylon spacers and/or some bolts with a smaller head diameter so this is not reoccurring issue.
Dozer Blade: A+ Reshaped and compressed a compost and brush pile with it. Good fun, effective, and would be even better in dualie wheel config. I got the box blade kit but I have not drilled the holes for it yet. Will need some time with the drill press.
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leonz
Super Member
Hello Supaflys,
You can solve the set screw issue with a little work. Remove the set screws one at time and take a sharp small drill bit and drill a small dimple in the hole.
After that you can lock the set screws in place with a little blue Loctite.
I can sympathize with the with you about garden hoses they are just plain vicious once disturbed and leave nasty bite marks.
Try the trick with drilling a dimple in the shaft and the set screw will stay there after you use some blue Loctite on the threads.
You can solve the set screw issue with a little work. Remove the set screws one at time and take a sharp small drill bit and drill a small dimple in the hole.
After that you can lock the set screws in place with a little blue Loctite.
I can sympathize with the with you about garden hoses they are just plain vicious once disturbed and leave nasty bite marks.
Try the trick with drilling a dimple in the shaft and the set screw will stay there after you use some blue Loctite on the threads.
Thank you for the idea! The dimpling seems to have held on harrow yesterday evening. I half wondered if the factory already dimpled the shaft, but due to the hidden nature of the shaft and the side to side play it would be very difficult to find without disassembly. I marked the current roller to shaft rotation and spacing incase of a future slippage makes a realignment to find the dimples and retighten necessary. I will give the 30" BCS Power Harrow a second chance to love. It is very easy to lift and do a 180 turn at the end of the row, even without a bumper weight, and with that integrated quick hitch it keeps the center mass tight. The old horse tiller use to make a real mess of at the end of the rows while pivoting and I was always a bit on edge of it getting wild on me near a fence without something like the power safe clutch to halt it quickly.
5030
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2003
- Messages
- 28,967
- Location
- SE Michigan in the middle of nowhere
- Tractor
- Kubota M9000 HDCC3 M9000 HDC
I'd like to have one myself but an older one with a diesel, not gas. Far as weeds, what Roundup is for. I use Roundup (Glyphosate) every spring about 3 weeks before I plant. No weeds to speak of.
jrpeterson05
Member
The 749's PowerSafe clutch and that fact it can use all the same implements as the 853. Previously I have had some slow moving disasters with the older tiller's inertia after releasing the safety and the pain to get going again when the engine dies. When the PowerSafe is released the PTO and tractor immediately stop without killing the engine or dropping out of gear or disengaging PTO. You can go move that rock, rope, whatever and reengage PowerSafe and you are back off and running again in seconds. My only regret is not getting the bigger tires for when i am working a large hilled and deeply furrowed row like my potatoes. The bottom of the engine plate drags on top of bed and sometimes gets it stuck. It needs a bit more clearance that bigger tires would give.
Hi Supaflys 
Welcome to this great forum, and congratulations on your new BCS 749 :thumbsup:
Some of the features of the PowerSafe clutch that you mention, are exactly some of the nice features that I have learned to appreciate during my 9 years working with the BCS 740. I use my tractor mostly for mowing, and whether I have to stop for a few seconds on a grade, or have to empty the bag on my lawn mower, I also find the "breaking feature" very convenient. It works a bit like the "Auto Hold" function on my car. - It is like an automatic handbrake that engages as soon as one lets go of the left handlebar - but only if the tractor is in gear though!!!
Working on slopes up to 20 degrees (36 %), I have had a few "near misses", when I was changing between forward and reverse, and the reverse lever by accident - or clumsiness on my part - got stuck in neutral, halfway between the two. In that case gravity takes control, just as if you would select neutral with the normal gear lever. To minimise the risk that this unpleasant and scary experience will happen again, I try to plan my working pattern so that I will only change direction when on level ground, or when standing perpendicular to a slope. The same goes for changing gear of course, as the tractor will be in neutral for a split second between gears at best, or won't select the new gear at all! In the latter case one will realise that gravity is real, and that it is a mighty opponent for an old man like me :thumbdown:
As you have seen in other threads already perhaps, I and other members are recommending large diameter wheels for most jobs. I sadly didn't know this great forum as I decided to get my BCS 740 back in 2011, so I got it with the small standard 5x10x20'' wheels. On paper, the larger 6.5x12x23'' wheels might seem like an insignificant increase in wheel size, but the extra 3'' wheel diameter will almost double the ground clearance under the engine! See #1 in the thread "Zanon ZCR 800 lawn mower".
Have fun with your new "toy" :thumbsup:
Best regards
Jens
Welcome to this great forum, and congratulations on your new BCS 749 :thumbsup:
Some of the features of the PowerSafe clutch that you mention, are exactly some of the nice features that I have learned to appreciate during my 9 years working with the BCS 740. I use my tractor mostly for mowing, and whether I have to stop for a few seconds on a grade, or have to empty the bag on my lawn mower, I also find the "breaking feature" very convenient. It works a bit like the "Auto Hold" function on my car. - It is like an automatic handbrake that engages as soon as one lets go of the left handlebar - but only if the tractor is in gear though!!!
Working on slopes up to 20 degrees (36 %), I have had a few "near misses", when I was changing between forward and reverse, and the reverse lever by accident - or clumsiness on my part - got stuck in neutral, halfway between the two. In that case gravity takes control, just as if you would select neutral with the normal gear lever. To minimise the risk that this unpleasant and scary experience will happen again, I try to plan my working pattern so that I will only change direction when on level ground, or when standing perpendicular to a slope. The same goes for changing gear of course, as the tractor will be in neutral for a split second between gears at best, or won't select the new gear at all! In the latter case one will realise that gravity is real, and that it is a mighty opponent for an old man like me :thumbdown:
As you have seen in other threads already perhaps, I and other members are recommending large diameter wheels for most jobs. I sadly didn't know this great forum as I decided to get my BCS 740 back in 2011, so I got it with the small standard 5x10x20'' wheels. On paper, the larger 6.5x12x23'' wheels might seem like an insignificant increase in wheel size, but the extra 3'' wheel diameter will almost double the ground clearance under the engine! See #1 in the thread "Zanon ZCR 800 lawn mower".
Have fun with your new "toy" :thumbsup:
Best regards
Jens
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