which gear for bush hogging with ford 4000
- Thread starter jp town
- Start date
You kind of have to go by feel. It all depends on how high and thick the brush is. Also you have to consider how smooth the land is, having your mower bouncing around back there will surely guarantee repairs having to be made. You also want to be on the lookout for anything that might damage your equipment. All sorts of things can be hiding in tall grass and thick bush.
I would personally start off slow and get used to your equipment, assuming this is your first venture into bush hogging. Also consider the balance of going fast and getting it done and going too fast and damaging equipment.
Just my 2 cents.
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Rustyiron
Super Member
The right gear is going to be about the first 5 or 6. What matters is the density or height of what you're mowing along with the terrain.
You just need to get some "seat time" in mowing and you'll be a pro in no time.
Be sure to operate the tractor at "PTO" speed (rpms) indicated on the tachometer.
If you're as "green" with tractors as I'm guessing, drop back in for some operating guidance.
Starting out I'd say try 3rd gear and see how's the cutting going.
You just need to get some "seat time" in mowing and you'll be a pro in no time.
Be sure to operate the tractor at "PTO" speed (rpms) indicated on the tachometer.
If you're as "green" with tractors as I'm guessing, drop back in for some operating guidance.
Starting out I'd say try 3rd gear and see how's the cutting going.
Tinhack
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I run in 3-low on my 3910. PTO rpm is 540 with engine rpm at 1800. I just feel it's good speed for open areas. No dilly dallying but not so fast I can't make turns. I make wide turns anyway and cut in an obround or stadium shape as I move across the fields. I drop down to 2-low and revers-low in the brushy areas. Lots of cactus and mesquite to dodge in the back.
Edit: My speed chart says that's about 3.0-3.5mph. And I'm getting a good cut on the rotary mower. The flail too if it's not too high.
Edit: My speed chart says that's about 3.0-3.5mph. And I'm getting a good cut on the rotary mower. The flail too if it's not too high.
Last edited:
3gunr
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I have a massy 255 with the same tranny. low range 4th feels like your crawling . Jump up to high 1st and your bouncing all over the place, Better off just going slower till you know the land and find all the holes and rough spots.
ROUSTABOUT
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It's just 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Low is the first four and high is the second four. Granny has nothing to do with it. Granny gears were trucks with a 6:1 or lower first gear. The rest were normally spaced.
japody
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On both my 4000 & 5000 I mow in 6th gear on land I've mowed before. Of course, there are places where I have to slow it down. I find it very manageable.
showcattle
Gold Member
moderately thick, 4th gear, maybe dropping to 3rd in extra thick stuff. Smooth, flat, not thick stuff gets 5th.
ehcrain
Bronze Member
With my massey 240 i cut in 2nd or 3rd depending on where. One field is thinner grass and smooth, the other is thick and bumpy.
RSKY
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Mowed with a Ford 4000 and then a 4600 for fifty years. Sold the 4600 six weeks ago.
Clipping a thin pasture with no hidden ditches or thick brush and relatively flat ground would mean 6th gear. The thick brush and grass in the river bottom we mow yearly would mean dropping to 4th gear. Brother in law got stuck mowing the bottom land in 2020. He had a IH 1066 with dual tires and a 21' batwing buried down to the frame. So about five acres didn't get mowed that year. The next fall I had to go in 1st/2nd gear to mow that area. Thick brush with 1-2" diameter trees very close together put a strain on tractor and mower. That small area took most of a day instead of an hour or so. Later that day I found the ruts from where he got stuck while in 5th moving very fast. Exciting ten seconds trying to stay on bucking tractor. That is why I always keep my feet stuck under the brake and clutch pedals. Both feet bruised on top but I stayed on the tractor.
What I'm trying to tell you is that there is not one gear that you use for mowing. Different fields, different ground conditions, ditches, hills, etc. necessitate different gears being used. In that one day mowing that thick brush/trees and then a hillside I used five different gears from second to sixth.
Some general advice. You didn't give much info so I am assuming that you are new to the tractor and to mowing/bush hogging. Go slow enough that the tractor is not in a strain. I have plowed with a three bottom plow and the 4600. That pulls the tractor hard and the muffler would glow cherry red at night. As old as the tractor is I would not want to put that much strain on it mowing. Start out slow for a half hour or so in 3rd/4th gear. If the field is not too thick you may be able to go up a gear. If you are clipping sage brush off a pasture then go up to 6th. If the tractor is in a strain in 4th drop it a gear. You can tell by the sound of the engine and the rpm drop once you start.
First pass around a field I never went higher than third gear. I mowed the same fields yearly for a half century but there was always something new to avoid, dodge, or go around. Same brother in law mentioned above broke right front wheel off that 1066 hitting a narrow deep ditch he didn't know about at a fairly high speed. If the tractor hadn't had a cab he would have been on the ground in front of the tractor when the tractor stopped but he didn't. The ditch had grass growing on both sides hiding it and the rest of the field was clear.
First passes around a field scare me. When I got my little 22-hp Kioti in 2011 I would haul it to wherever I was going to mow to make the first couple passes with it. Have had people stop and make fun of me for being on the little tractor creeping around the edges with the bigger faster tractor sitting idle in the field. I tell them that it is my 'weed eater'. It has a front end loader to push fallen limbs/trees out of the way. It also has a roll bar and seatbelt. One of our farms has a steep hill going down to a gradual slope to a large drainage ditch then river bottom ground. That rich bottom ground grows fast and can hide dangers. I have found new ditches that were not there a year ago on ground I have mowed for half my life. Makes for a thrilling ride especially when one side of the tractor drops into an unknown ditch in 5th gear with a wide open throttle.
Anyway..... Start slow and then go up a gear. Much easier on the tractor and your body. Also if you haven't bought a mower yet WIDER AND SLOWER IS BETTER than getting a smaller mower and mowing faster.
Just retired and rambling.
RSKY
Clipping a thin pasture with no hidden ditches or thick brush and relatively flat ground would mean 6th gear. The thick brush and grass in the river bottom we mow yearly would mean dropping to 4th gear. Brother in law got stuck mowing the bottom land in 2020. He had a IH 1066 with dual tires and a 21' batwing buried down to the frame. So about five acres didn't get mowed that year. The next fall I had to go in 1st/2nd gear to mow that area. Thick brush with 1-2" diameter trees very close together put a strain on tractor and mower. That small area took most of a day instead of an hour or so. Later that day I found the ruts from where he got stuck while in 5th moving very fast. Exciting ten seconds trying to stay on bucking tractor. That is why I always keep my feet stuck under the brake and clutch pedals. Both feet bruised on top but I stayed on the tractor.
What I'm trying to tell you is that there is not one gear that you use for mowing. Different fields, different ground conditions, ditches, hills, etc. necessitate different gears being used. In that one day mowing that thick brush/trees and then a hillside I used five different gears from second to sixth.
Some general advice. You didn't give much info so I am assuming that you are new to the tractor and to mowing/bush hogging. Go slow enough that the tractor is not in a strain. I have plowed with a three bottom plow and the 4600. That pulls the tractor hard and the muffler would glow cherry red at night. As old as the tractor is I would not want to put that much strain on it mowing. Start out slow for a half hour or so in 3rd/4th gear. If the field is not too thick you may be able to go up a gear. If you are clipping sage brush off a pasture then go up to 6th. If the tractor is in a strain in 4th drop it a gear. You can tell by the sound of the engine and the rpm drop once you start.
First pass around a field I never went higher than third gear. I mowed the same fields yearly for a half century but there was always something new to avoid, dodge, or go around. Same brother in law mentioned above broke right front wheel off that 1066 hitting a narrow deep ditch he didn't know about at a fairly high speed. If the tractor hadn't had a cab he would have been on the ground in front of the tractor when the tractor stopped but he didn't. The ditch had grass growing on both sides hiding it and the rest of the field was clear.
First passes around a field scare me. When I got my little 22-hp Kioti in 2011 I would haul it to wherever I was going to mow to make the first couple passes with it. Have had people stop and make fun of me for being on the little tractor creeping around the edges with the bigger faster tractor sitting idle in the field. I tell them that it is my 'weed eater'. It has a front end loader to push fallen limbs/trees out of the way. It also has a roll bar and seatbelt. One of our farms has a steep hill going down to a gradual slope to a large drainage ditch then river bottom ground. That rich bottom ground grows fast and can hide dangers. I have found new ditches that were not there a year ago on ground I have mowed for half my life. Makes for a thrilling ride especially when one side of the tractor drops into an unknown ditch in 5th gear with a wide open throttle.
Anyway..... Start slow and then go up a gear. Much easier on the tractor and your body. Also if you haven't bought a mower yet WIDER AND SLOWER IS BETTER than getting a smaller mower and mowing faster.
Just retired and rambling.
RSKY