Rules for using a Bush Hog or Rotary Mower. Learned the hard way.
Well Mom has tore up her mower again. She is 86 now and since my dad died nearly thirty years ago she has been determined to do everything herself. Since that mostly involves mowing I have learned many tricks on how the keep a mower going. Thought I might share them here.
As I posted on another thread the worse she has ever done was about ten years ago when she managed to get the mower hung on a rear tire. The nut holding the right hitch pin on fell off. When she turned (stand on the brake and turn the wheel) the mower came loose from the lower right link and caught on the left tire. When she got it stopped you could sit in the seat and touch the blade. The left lift arm and top link were bent double and the mower was resting ON TOP of the left tire. Blade cut thru that tire three times but never hit the rim. It took us three days to beat the mower and tractor back in shape. She was pi$$ed about having to buy a new tire.
Tools to fix a bush hog: The best tools to fix a bush hog are: 1) a large sledge hammer, 2) a 30" long pipe wrench, 3) log chain, 4) cutting torch, 5) welder, 6) can of spray paint, 7) assortment of sharp knives, 8) the thickest grease you can find.
Use the sledge hammer to beat sheet metal back in shape. The pipe wrench can be used to tighten slip clutches and bend sheet metal back in shape. The log chain can be wrapped around a tree then attached to sheet metal that can't be bent back with a sledge hammer or pipe wrench, then the tractor itself can be used to bent it back in shape (be sure to use a large tree, embarressing to put a small one over on you, ask my mom about that). If it cant be bent back with muscle or horsepower use the torch to cut it loose and the welder to weld it back. Always weld an extra piece of quarter inch on top of whatever broke or bent to reinforce it. Then use the paint to 'touch up' your repair work. The knives are used to cut things out that get wrapped around the blade. Such as plastic, wire, and that 100' of 3/4" water hose your 86 year old mother forgot to tell you she was watering her garden with. You will use the thick grease in the gearbox (forget that sissy 30-wt oil) after all the hoses, twine, wire, and plastic wrap around the shaft ruined the seal. A tube of grease in there will slow the leak to a resonable enough amount that you might only use a quart of oil a week.
General rules: 1) Never back the mower up over trees or saplings. Every time I have done this I have broke something (Where did that little wheel that was on the back this morning wander off to?). You must drive forward over the trees. 2) If you push a sapling over and it is so big that the tractor's front tires stay off the ground as you drive forward it is very doubtful that the mower can chop it up without some sort of damage. It is a good idea to back up, go to the house and get the chain saw. 3) Stumps in fields must be cut to ground level. You WILL forget about them next year but your mower won't. 4) Be sure your log chain is securely attached to the tractor when you are mowing. At BOTH ends. Having one end of a 20+ foot chain get wrapped around a bush hog blade can result in the other end jerking (expensive) parts off the tractor. 5) When making the first pass around a field surrounded by trees be sure to drive as slow as possible so you can watch for hornet nests. 6) Learn how to quickly put your tractor in high range reverse to back away from hornets nests you have nearly driven your head in to. Learn how to do this quickly with your eyes closed while praying. It is actually a good idea to make that first pass about a mowers width out from the treeline and scout for hornets from a safer distance. You never forget that one. 7) Yellow jackets build their nests in the ground. Bush hogs pi$$ them off. A safe reflex is that when you are stung by something you automatically shift into high range and leave the area as soon as possible. Never, NEVER stop. They will only follow you for a couple hundred feet. If you stop they will sting you until you start moving again and still follow you a couple hundred feet. 8) Being bored after hours mowing and watching hawks or buzzards soaring overhead can result in you driving into narrow deep ditches. 9) Usually when a two wheel drive tractor hits a deep ditch while bushhogging at a decent speed the front end will bounce over the ditch. This allows the operator time to regain control and clutch the tractor just as the back tires drop off. Some times the front wheels will be on one side of the ditch, the mower on the ground on the other side of the ditch, and the drive wheels spinning in the air not touching anything. This is a very bad condition to be in when you ask a neighbor to pull you out. You tend to get phone calls about it for days if not weeks. EVERYBODY will hear about it. 10) If you must mow on hillsides mow up and down them if possible. If it is very steep go down, circle around somehow and go down the slope again. The extra time spent is better than a rollover. If you are mowing across a hill keep your foot on the downhill side brake. If a rollover starts the front tire will come up first and you can stomp that downhill brake. Momentum will turn the tractor slightly downhill and save your butt. It must be done instantly. If this happens see above about only mowing steep hills up and down. 11) If mowing river bottom land and it has rained recently always watch the front tire that is in the unmowed grass. If it starts picking up mud you are probably already stuck, but there is a slight chance you might be able to back out of it. 12) Two wheel drive tractors with rotary mowers on the back are hard to get unstuck when the mower is resting flat on the ground even in the fully raised position. 13) It takes a cousin with a very large wrecker to pull a two wheel drive tractor out of the mud. 14) It takes a very large four wheel drive John Deere to pull a cousins wrecker and a two wheel drive tractor out of the mud. Wreckers should not be called upon to pull stuck tractors out of river bottom land. 15) If you get stuck in mud on an otherwise dry hillside there is probably a spring under you. Before you dismount the tractor remember, springs on grass covered hillsides are prime hunting grounds for many snakes who are probably more than a little agitated over you driving thru their turf. Dismount by climbing over the back of the tractor and onto the mower, then to solid ground. 16) When noises change, as in pitch, intensity, or any other way, push the clutch in and hit the brakes. Don't look first. STOP, then look. It's gonna be bad enough without dragging whatever fell off thirty or forty feet further while you take the time to look. You might even keep from running the bush hog over whatever broke off. Also lean forward as you clutch it. This presents a smaller target for whatever is being run over and thrown your way. Talked to a guy one time who had a piece of the front chain guard fall off, get hit by a blade, bounce around and take out the back glass of his cab. 17) Every time you stop, for lunch, refueling or whatever, inspect your tractor and mower and make sure all parts that were there when you left the house are still attached. 18) If you bush hog your tractor will overheat by the end of the day. I have never mowed for eight hours straight without having to stop at least once and clean out the radiator. Keep an eye on that temp guage.
You can laugh all you want but all of the above has happened to me while bushhogging around sixty acres every year for the past 30 of 40 years.
