Tractor Spin-off BUSH HOG

[grumpy356]

Down on my list of projects is to rebuild and improve my Bush Hog.

My deck is rusting out, and my dad had one done back in the 80's that was pretty beefy he had a friend in the fab business weld up.


Who here has re-built one with actual steel plate ? What did you do and what would you do different?

I'm thinking All steel, no sheetmetal, no trailing wheel.

I got about 7 project in front of this one, but it is on the list, and I'm still in the "getting my head around" it stage of the design / project.

 

[Twankie]

I don't have any advise other than get it galvanized when you are done. There are several options in the area.

 

[clodhopper]

Dunno where you are located. Around here, it is way cheaper to just pick up a used unit off craigslist than invest the time to rebuild one. But I can see if everything rusts out where you are that used options might be thin.

Why eliminate the trailing wheel? Kinda need it to set ride height and take the load off the lift arms.

 

[rockota]

Dunno where you are located. Around here, it is way cheaper to just pick up a used unit off craigslist than invest the time to rebuild one. But I can see if everything rusts out where you are that used options might be thin.

Why eliminate the trailing wheel? Kinda need it to set ride height and take the load off the lift arms.

this. seems like a waste of time/resources...

so I guess it's perfect for this place.

 

[grumpy356]

Dunno where you are located. Around here, it is way cheaper to just pick up a used unit off craigslist than invest the time to rebuild one. But I can see if everything rusts out where you are that used options might be thin.

Why eliminate the trailing wheel? Kinda need it to set ride height and take the load off the lift arms.

Trail wheel stays bent and cattywampus, and dragging, not rolling,
so .... that's part of the issue.

 

[Squatch]

Why eliminate the trailing wheel? I use the trailing wheel in tandem with my lift arms as my height adjustment.

I've got a 6' Rhino that is rusting through that I intend to rebuild this spring.

The only thing I'm going to do differently is to make the chain skirts more robust.

 

[JR4X]

Had one that was also down on the list of things i needed to rebuild the box on. It wasn’t rusted out it was just breaking apart. I was going to weld patch panels on everything. Every corner needed repaired.

Now I’m shopping for another used one to replace it. I haven’t found the cheap ones in a year you fawkers squawk about. An old beat up POS is listed for $1,000 bucks or more.

 

[clodhopper]

Trail wheel stays bent and cattywampus, and dragging, not rolling,
so .... that's part of the issue.

Learn to drive a tractor and quit smashing your mow deck on fence posts.

 

[grumpy356]

Why eliminate the trailing wheel? I use the trailing wheel in tandem with my lift arms as my height adjustment.

I've got a 6' Rhino that is rusting through that I intend to rebuild this spring.

The only thing I'm going to do differently is to make the chain skirts more robust.

Post right above this.

The trailing wheel stays ****ed up to the point I don't think it's adding anything functional. yeah, it keeps the tail up a bit when mowing, But it's not rolling most of the time, it's dragging.

I raise the deck so it doesn't touch, and it's holding the deck about right. As far as the "LOAD ON THE LIFTING ARM" .... ****, how often is the mower attached to the tractor??? ME, almost ALWAYS. How often do I lower the bush hog and engage the PTO and actually mowing? 5-10% of the time. so I'm not concerned about the load on the lifting arm 95% of the time, but I should be concerned the 5% I actually mow???


And I'm asking for advice. I'm not married to removing it, It's just my 1st thought. If the consensus is that it's worth the trouble, then It stays, I'm not arguing, I'm just trying to articulate where my thoughts are.

 

[AKnate]

Have no wheel on the skid steer one I have. It's annoying trying to guess how close it is to the dirt. Would be nice to be able to let it float and follow the ground.

My pepere had the old style tow behind that mounts to the drawbar and has wheels in the back on hydraulics on an Oliver 1855.

He got a new 3pt model, ended up going back to the clapped out old one.

 

[grumpy356]

Learn to drive a tractor and quit smashing your mow deck on fence posts.

Probably the best advice, but I'm pretty much an all around **** up, so we got that working against us. PLUS If I can push it over, It gets chopped, and my place isn't groomed pasture, it's broken branches, ****ed up plants, and rotting stumps/.

I routinely take out an acre or 2 of Chinese Tallow Tree saplings up to a a couple of inches in diameter.

 

[clodhopper]

Bush hogs or mow decks or whatever you call 'em round yer parts, are a seasonal item. Often sold in the fall for cheap. Spring time they are expensive cause sellers know people want/need them. Buy out of season for best deals.

I dont see any for sale currently local to me, but they pop up 8 - 10 times a year for less than ~$600. I bought a spare a couple years ago for $200 just for "in case". Either be a OC list watcher on Craigs and Marketplace or set up the auto search features to email you. Another source is auctions, if you like that kind of thing and play the long game.

 

[clodhopper]

Probably the best advice, but I'm pretty much an all around **** up, so we got that working against us. PLUS If I can push it over, It gets chopped, and my place isn't groomed pasture, it's broken branches, ****ed up plants, and rotting stumps/.

Then add "triangulation" and pull it with a killdozer.

 

[Krackle959]

If you want it to last stop mowing/hitting stuff with it, also get a farm grade or heavy duty one, and not the happy homeowner version. The heavy duty ones don't come up for sale often around here. Often see the cheap ones listed in the fall, beat to crap, and still asking 3/4 retail price.

 

[JR4X]

Bush hogs or mow decks or whatever you call 'em round yer parts, are a seasonal item. Often sold in the fall for cheap. Spring time they are expensive cause sellers know people want/need them. Buy out of season for best deals.

I dont see any for sale currently local to me, but they pop up 8 - 10 times a year for less than ~$600. I bought a spare a couple years ago for $200 just for "in case". Either be a OC list watcher on Craigs and Marketplace or set up the auto search features to email you. Another source is auctions, if you like that kind of thing and play the long game.

I’ve been watching Craigslist and Marketplace weekly since last August.

 

[clodhopper]

If you want it to last stop mowing/hitting stuff with it, also get a farm grade or heavy duty one, and not the happy homeowner version. The heavy duty ones don't come up for sale often around here. Often see the cheap ones listed in the fall, beat to crap, and still asking 3/4 retail price.

The "pro" type will last longer, but none will survive regular abuse and post whacking for very long.

 

[clodhopper]

I’ve been watching Craigslist and Marketplace weekly since last August.

How far are you willing to travel? There is always the cost/time to go get it vs spending more locally, so the math matters of course. What is the makeup of your area? Mostly people (farmer wanna-bes) moving in from the city or is it mostly older farmers retiring? You need the second one. If you are in the former, is there an area not too far that has the latter? Old farmers who dont need stuff often also dont know what it is worth and sell it cheaper. If you live in a predominately non-ag area, you are likey just gonna have to buy new.

If I am travelling to go get a higher dollar item (like a tractor, backhoe, swather, whatever) I will search that area and all along the way for other lower dollar items that I can pick up along the way.

 

[Squatch]

Post right above this.

The trailing wheel stays ****ed up to the point I don't think it's adding anything functional. yeah, it keeps the tail up a bit when mowing, But it's not rolling most of the time, it's dragging.

I raise the deck so it doesn't touch, and it's holding the deck about right. As far as the "LOAD ON THE LIFTING ARM" .... ****, how often is the mower attached to the tractor??? ME, almost ALWAYS. How often do I lower the bush hog and engage the PTO and actually mowing? 5-10% of the time. so I'm not concerned about the load on the lifting arm 95% of the time, but I should be concerned the 5% I actually mow???


And I'm asking for advice. I'm not married to removing it, It's just my 1st thought. If the consensus is that it's worth the trouble, then It stays, I'm not arguing, I'm just trying to articulate where my thoughts are.

I think we posted at about the same time.


Make the trailing wheel yoke stronger. On a skidsteer, you're able to adjust for trim on the fly, unless you have a hydraulic third arm, you don't have that ability on a tractor so you need the trailing wheel unless you're planning on just dragging the body of the cutter.

Ideally, you use the trailing wheel to set the height, then the lift arms to keep the cutting part of the blade slightly below level so that you're not burning diesel dragging on grass you've already cut.

You should have slack on the third arm when cutting on flat ground so that the rear of the cutter can float up if needed.

 

[JR4X]

How far are you willing to travel? There is always the cost/time to go get it vs spending more locally, so the math matters of course. What is the makeup of your area? Mostly people (farmer wanna-bes) moving in from the city or is it mostly older farmers retiring? You need the second one. If you are in the former, is there an area not too far that has the latter? Old farmers who dont need stuff often also dont know what it is worth and sell it cheaper. If you live in a predominately non-ag area, you are likey just gonna have to buy new.

If I am travelling to go get a higher dollar item (like a tractor, backhoe, swather, whatever) I will search that area and all along the way for other lower dollar items that I can pick up along the way.

This place is a weird black hole of nothingness. The only ag is animal raising and hay to feed them. And it’s 5 to 8 hours drive one way to anything of size and substance. I never make it to the east slope but that’s the only place I see with ol used hogs that are realistically priced.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Gonna keep an eye on this thread. I’ve also got an old beat up brush hog I want to fix up and refurbish this summer.

 

[clodhopper]

This place is a weird black hole of nothingness. The only ag is animal raising and hay to feed them. And it’s 5 to 8 hours drive one way to anything of size and substance. I never make it to the east slope but that’s the only place I see with ol used hogs that are realistically priced.

Yeah, you live in the desert. Closest to you, maybe Alamosa or north of Cortez. Neither would be reasonable for a brush hog. Doubtful Durango would have what you seek, but maybe.

YOU sir, may need to take a trip to the local Tractor Supply and break out the wallet.

 

[billybob_81067]

This place is a weird black hole of nothingness. The only ag is animal raising and hay to feed them. And it’s 5 to 8 hours drive one way to anything of size and substance. I never make it to the east slope but that’s the only place I see with ol used hogs that are realistically priced.

Muth Welding in Rocky Ford usually has quite a few on hand... Farmington isn't too far south of Trinidad is it? Been a while since I went that way. I remember a high-school buddy of mine and his dad used to go to Farmington quite regularly to hit up the horse racing.

 

[Jhjones84]

I rebuilt a pos tractor supply 5’er a buddy of mine gave me. Probably wasn’t worth putting the time in it but I was broke at the time and had the steel laying around. Used 2x6 box tubing for the sides and 1/8” steel for the deck.

 

[JR4X]

I rebuilt a pos tractor supply 5’er a buddy of mine gave me. Probably wasn’t worth putting the time in it but I was broke at the time and had the steel laying around. Used 2x6 box tubing for the sides and 1/8” steel for the deck.

Holy **** what happened to it? Self destruct because it’s a cheap pos?

 

[Jhjones84]

Holy **** what happened to it? Self destruct because it’s a cheap pos?

Basically. His place is pretty rocky so he used to buy a new one every year and by the end of the year there wasn’t much left. Eventually he started buying better quality used ones and they don’t self destruct.

Those county line ones from tractor supply don’t have a frame along the sides or any real support. So before long the blades end up beating the deck off them. He also got tired of replacing shear bolts and put a grade 8 in instead. I will give those cheap pos credit the gearboxes take some serious abuse.

 

[JR4X]

Basically. His place is pretty rocky so he used to buy a new one every year and by the end of the year there wasn’t much left. Eventually he started buying better quality used ones and they don’t self destruct.

Those county line ones from tractor supply don’t have a frame along the sides or any real support. So before long the blades end up beating the deck off them. He also got tired of replacing shear bolts and put a grade 8 in instead. I will give those cheap pos credit the gearboxes take some serious abuse.

That’s a 2000 dollar deck. WTF.

 

[Jhjones84]

That’s a 2000 dollar deck. WTF.

Just looked them up. They really have gone way up in price. Used to be able to pick them up for about 6-700 brand new. Insane that they’re 2k now.

 

[sdmuleman]

You might be better off just more or less making one instead of rebuilding - rebuilding takes a fair bit of work, but still leaves the original weak spots.

Keep the trailing wheel - yes you can control height without, but it's there for a reason, and most of your issue seems to be because it's cheap junk, not the wheel itself - fix it where it's stronger.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Someone here posted a picture of a "trailing wheel" and it was ****ing bomb-proof.

I wanna say it was made with giant washers of conveyor belt stacked up for the wheel. You weren't bending this one.

 

[clodhopper]

Someone here posted a picture of a "trailing wheel" and it was ****ing bomb-proof.

I wanna say it was made with giant washers of conveyor belt stacked up for the wheel. You weren't bending this one.

Not the wheel bending, the pivot point or swivel above it. Once it gets tweaked, the trailing wheel doesnt track right.

The wheels are pretty standard stacked conveyer belt type material. Non-pneumatic.