newbie seeking advice

[eblanks]

Hello all, this is a great forum and I've already learned a lot from reading the posts. I did want to get a bit more specific information. I haven't operated a tractor since I pulled a hay wagon for my Grandad probably 15 years ago. He is gone now and my Dad is in possession of the farm. I recently purchased a Ford 3000 to do some cleanup work as the farm is growing over due to neglect. My plan is to acquire a bush hog and clean off as much as I can and continue to grow hay of some sort on the property. The southeast drought has made hay farming a pretty attractive proposition if you can get it to grow. My question is, I have heard that bush hogging can be dangerous, and the land (65 acres, low rolling foothills) has growth that ranges from tall grass, to thick briars to small sapplings to more mature sapplings. What are the cardinal safety rules to remember when bush hogging. How much bush can a bush hog hog? What I mean is how dense is too dense? How thick a sappling is too thick to try to cut? At what point do you get out the chain saw? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[greggh]

Welcome to TBN.
That depends... see how specific I am. The reason it depends is on the Bushhog. There are standard and medium and heavy duty. When you look at their specs it will tell you the thickness it can cut. Even with the heavy duty I would say nothing over 3". They all say different things but there are a lot of factors. Gear box HP size, slip clutch or shear pin, weight of mower, etc. I know that I haven't been particularly helpful, but you can't answer your question without asking some of these others. PTP horsepower of your tractor makes a difference as well. I am sure others will have better answers, but I think you need to consider these other issues.

 

[greggh]

Sorry that should have been PTO horsepower. I can't type

 

[woodhawg]

My bush hog told me when I tried something too big. It broke the shear pin on the input shaft. Learned that all saplings are not the same, some are hard and some are soft. Pines is pretty easy to push over and cut up. Hardwoods are a different story. Common hedge is bad stuff. I pretty much ruined my first bush hog clearing a pine forest. Now I get off and chainsaw anything much bigger than 1 1/2". Works for me.

 

[daTeacha]

Get the heaviest built hog you can find that's not much wider than your rear wheels and you should be okay. You could also check into hiring a neighbor to do it since converting to hay should make hogging unnecessary in the future. Spend your money on hay equipment.

 

[Soundguy]

If there is a slope.. cut up or down it.. some of em ya might only feel good cutting down. Don't take the tranny out of gear on a slope.. cuz if you start to run-away you won't get any engine braking to help out.

what tranny does your 3000 have.. the 8spd is the best tranny ford built.. IMHO... practically bullet-proof.

your 38 pto hp will let you power a 6' mower.. though you could step down to 5' if you wanted to.

Just about anything you can get the front axle over is fair game.. I try to stay at 2" green-and-flexible and under... for long mower and tractor life.

65ac is a whole lot to cut! on a 5' mower.. plan on cutting for 60+ hours!

If you have to mow that place ( other than haying ) on a continuing basis.. a larger tractor / mower may be in the cards for you... since it is not flat.. don't get a fixed deck mower.. get a v-deck or batwing.

now.. if you are haying it.. I'm guessing you are using a ? sickle bar for that 3000?

soundguy

 

[bota7800]

65ac is a whole lot to cut! on a 5' mower.. plan on cutting for 60+ hours!


soundguy

Soundguy is absolutely correct. We have 35 acres but some of it is foothill so I only have 10 - 15 acres that I try to mow with a 5' mower. I have never finished the complete area. Mowing is a boring dusty job. We have some neighbors that have a larger cab JD that they use with a much larger mower (the kind like the county uses with the 2 fold-up sections (might be called batwing - I am not sure)).

Mowing is the main reason I really want a cab with a/c. I can dream anyway.

 

[eblanks]

Thanks to all for the good advice, to answer some questions, the tractor is a 4 spd single speed axle. I have not purchased any hay making equipment as of yet, I see this as being a lengthy project to get enough land cleared and this is a sideline hobby for me so I'm in no great hurry to get it going, I'm mostly just excited to have a new "toy" to play with but I really don't want to mess it up or myself up on the first day. My Grandad worked this farm way before my time with an 8N, and a 2600 Ford, so that was what I used as a basis when I decided to get the 3000.

 

[Soundguy]

Keep in mind that a 2600 was a more advanced machine than your 3000. most X000 models were built from 65-75.. then the X600 models came out.. etc.

The plain jane 4spd is the least desireable of the 3000 tranny options.. however as durability goes.. it's right there with the 8spd.. etc.

soundguy

 

[MarkV]

I’ll just add that a rotary mower will throw things with great velocity so don’t let people or pets hang around the area you are mowing.

MarkV