Then he said "Don't buy a bush hog that's wider than the tractor"

[ptsg]

Meanwhile, on this side of the pond, we tend to get the brush mowers either as wide as the tractor or most of the times about 4" narrower than the tractor.

This is done for a couple reasons:

- Maneuverability. We're always in tight corners or with trees everywhere.

- We use grade 80 chain instead of blades as cutting element. While this will eat pretty much anything (grass, all kinds of brush, small trees (up to 3"), rocks, whatever it catches), it will also eat a lot more HP and demands much more from the tractor versus the blades and won't get damage like the blades would. So you can't really go much bigger, if you don't have the HP.

90% of the brush mowers here come from factory with chains (blades are optional). I'm running 1/2" Grade 80 chain, smaller mowers use 3/8" and big ones use 3/4".

Just to give an idea on the HP these things eat, I'm running a 4 ft mower on a 35HP tractor and the only time it will bog down is with very high and dense grass. Using the rule of thumb that you guys use with the 5HP per ft, that would equate to a 7 ft mower fitted with blades in the US.

 

[Jstpssng]

I run a 5' bush hog on a CUT (JD 770). Never hit a tree with it, but I have screwed up some fence lines by getting too close...

I could probably find a way to do that with a 3' mower behind a 6 foot wide tractor... :embarrassed:

 

[DieselBound]

I've clipped fences. Had little to do with the size of the cutter. Radiusing around the inside of a fence corner and having the cutter's tail wheel's axle bolt catch the fence wire... And just generally trying to mow up as close to the fence as I can w/o snagging the fence... and after numerous fence repairs is something I've got to give in and say ain't worth it My 6' rotary is wider than my NX5510: I'm eying getting a 7+' flail, with side shift so I can really stick it out there! My 5' rotary is wider than my B7800. I've likely had more issues backing into things than snagging things.

Longer operating times, which you will have with a smaller cutter over a larger one, means more time to make a mistake. Kind of like running a chainsaw; the longer you're in a cut the more exposure to risk. Also refer to operating a tractor/machinery when tired (one tends to be more in a hurry to finish).

Wider is also good when you've got ditches to work around.

I'll concur with someone who stated that working when tired is not a good idea. Anyone who claims to have never worked a tractor when tired either hasn't worked much on a tractor or is fibb'n.

If your lower link arms provide a setting for side to side flex (slight sideways float) then set with that as that'll allow a little give if you hit something on the side.

I have certified that a B7800 cannot be broken in half! (and, really, I DO mean that they cannot; I've done stuff that should have broken it if it were breakable!) I'm not going to try to certify my NX5510!

 

[JethroB]

I run a 5' bush hog on a CUT (JD 770). Never hit a tree with it, but I have screwed up some fence lines by getting too close...

With my very limited experience with an offset flail, catching the fence with the mower I think of the movie line:
Right turn Clyde.
Makes me think twice when getting too close to the edge of the pond.

 

[DieselBound]

With my very limited experience with an offset flail, catching the fence with the mower I think of the movie line:
Right turn Clyde.
Makes me think twice when getting too close to the edge of the pond.

Ha ha!

Mass seems to attract mass.

I've got some light dents in a garage door. Not from a tractor, but from looking to back out with my car with the door CLOSED! Sometimes, no matter how well screwed on for most of the time, one's head just ain't there.

That only adds to my reality that most of the worst stuff happens fore and aft rather that to the side. I was tired and using my NX5510 as a set of arms to hold up some gutters on my house. Had gutter pieces resting on forks. I twitched a bit, causing me to run the forks right through the siding! The ground take a big dip right next to the house; that and being tired made for great "hold my beer" moment (fortunately no one was there to witness!).

 

[bcp]

Front corners should be angled or rounded like the offset corner here.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...snf-racing-mower-post5804747.html#post5804747

Bruce

 

[Tx Jim]

Front corners should be angled or rounded like the offset corner here.
Bruce

Due to the fact I've driven tractor/trailer rigs hauling tractors/equipment/hay & towed many pieces of over width farm equipment on public roads including a 27' fold-up disk harrow over 200 miles I find it difficult to understand how one can't mow without hitting an obstacle hard or would desire to mow with a machine narrower than tractor wheel setting OR the need for mower to have frt corner rounded off.

 

[Jstpssng]

Due to the fact I've driven tractor/trailer rigs hauling tractors/equipment/hay & towed many pieces of over width farm equipment on public roads including a 27' fold-up disk harrow over 200 miles I find it difficult to understand how one can't mow without hitting an obstacle hard or would desire to mow with a machine narrower than tractor wheel setting OR the need for mower to have frt corner rounded off.

I think that most of us will agree with that. You also must be going along at a pretty good speed to have it happen.

Then again I have a reputation for being able to break an anvil, yet have been using a heavy old IH mower for 15 years without a problem.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Declining skills with age is one point on this subject.

The biggest problem with aging is that from time to time Mother Nature feels the need to remind us that getting old sucks, like the morning I got up and finally figured out that I was blind in my right eye. This happened at 4:00 am on a Sunday morning and I found that ophthalmologists have a real good firewall built around themselves and E.R. docs don't do eyes. Finally late morning of the following Monday a.m. I got in to see an ophthalmologist who found that I'd had a retinal artery occlusion. This is like having a stroke except it's in the eye rather than the brain and there is nothing they can do about it.

This makes it tough backing my B7800 because the ergonomics pretty much require you to back up a mower looking over your right shoulder. You have to be very careful and often don't get the quality of cut you would prefer. It also really messes up your depth perception and sense of balance.So declining skills are a part of aging but Mother Nature is a much bigger problem.

 

[FTG-05]

Sorry to hear about that!