Mowing 5ft. rotary mower

rccoyote · May 13, 2003

I was wandering if someone could help me out. I just purchased a 5ft. brush hog made by Servis Equipment, Dallas TX.(what it says on the serial# plate). It is the "Chico" model.
Is this a light duty, medium??? Also was wandering about the proper method for adjustment. As I've got it hooked up,(1820D) I can only get it to mow at about 2 or 3 inches. I've got to be doing something wrong. I think these things should be able to mow at a much higher height. I am using a solid adjustable top link from tractor supply. The wheel beem seems to be set at its lowest bolt hole(highest mowing) adjustment. Not sure what the age on this pup is but it's several years old. Has some rust holes that have been patched with plates welded to the top deck. I know Buck at EFC does not reccomend a 5ft. brush hog behind an 1820D (asked in an earlier post) but the price was rite. $200. I was also wandering about backing up with the PTO engaged. Is this O.K. to do?I apologise for the newbie questions, but this is my first brush hog. I actually got it hooked up and mowed about 2 acres of 1ft. to 1&1/2ft. tall grass. It was excedeingly slow because i was cutting at the aformentioned 2 inch height adjustment, but it seemed to cut really well, and engine rpm never droped below 2000, except 2 or three times in some really thick wet stuff. I think my mowing progress would speed up if I could get some help on figuring out how to adjust for a taller cut. Thanks rccoyote

Bird · May 13, 2003

Don't know anything about that mower, but if you had a picture, I'll bet we could tell you to adjust it. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif You might find Servis Equipment Company History interesting reading.

rccoyote · May 13, 2003

Thanks for the link Bird. That was some interesting reading. I had no idea I had purchased a Rhino brush hog! Makes the $200 dollars i gave for it seem really well spent! I tried attaching a pic i took with the digital cam but TBN kept telling me that my post could only be 10000 or something. Not exactly sure how to reduce the size of the jpeg. I'll work on it though. rccoyote

normde2001 · May 13, 2003

Are you lifting the front of the cutter to level or higher with the 3ph and locking it in with the stop bolt?

rccoyote · May 13, 2003

Yep...got it level and got the stop bolt set. It's at about 2 inches. I was reading thru all the back posts just befor I bought it and someone says that a slight rise in the front puts less strain on the pto. Not sure if thats true or not but even with the hydraulics raised any more than they are now I start lifting the rear wheel off the ground. I have the connecting links in the last hole on the lower arms. Is that the correct hole? Or should I be using the hole in the arm closer to the tractor?(usually where I put it for the tiller) rccoyote

rccoyote · May 14, 2003

Here is an attempt at a pic of my setup.

rccoyote · May 14, 2003

Another angle. (Thank goodness for MGI)

Bird · May 14, 2003

Good pictures. If you want to raise the front end of the mower to cut higher without picking up the back wheel, you need to adjust your top link (lengthen it). Now if you had as good a picture of the back end, we could see why it isn't set high enough to suit you. You undoubtedly know that adjusting the height at the rear wheel can seem just a little backward; i.e., with the mower lifted, you lower the rear wheel so when you let it down to the ground it holds the mower higher.

Tractors4u · May 14, 2003

It looks like the verticals on your lift arms are set too far to the rear. The lower lift arms should have 2 holes on each arm that the verticals can be pinned to. Move the verticals to the holes closer to the tractor. That should give you more lift.

gbirky · May 14, 2003

Bird's got it right. Your top link is adjusted to its shortest position. You need to lengthen it to allow the front of the mower to go higher before taking up the slack in that chain that eventually lifts the rear of the mower.

Keep in mind that you want to try to keep the rear of the mower a little higher than the front when mowing. If the rear is lower, then you cut the grass twice - once at the front of the mower, and then again at the rear, because the grass is still tall enough to encounter the blades at the back of the mower.