8N and 6 Foot Hog

[tderrick]

My 5' bushhog finally came apart. I picked up a 6 footer cheap to get me by
until I can tear down the 5 footer.

The 6 footer, (both are Howse units) is much larger in every way... gear housing, stump jumper etc...

Is anyone out there using 6' hogs on 8N Fords. I would hate for that monster
to overwhelm my drive line...

I'm having to ask this because I think I threw a rod in my 640 Ford using the
6 footer. It seemed to have much more reciprocating mass than the 5 footer.

Do you guys think the 6 footer killed my 640 or was it just a coincidence?


It's always somthing...

 

[flusher]

My 5' bushhog finally came apart. I picked up a 6 footer cheap to get me by
until I can tear down the 5 footer.

The 6 footer, (both are Howse units) is much larger in every way... gear housing, stump jumper etc...

Is anyone out there using 6' hogs on 8N Fords. I would hate for that monster
to overwhelm my drive line...

I'm having to ask this because I think I threw a rod in my 640 Ford using the
6 footer. It seemed to have much more reciprocating mass than the 5 footer.

Do you guys think the 6 footer killed my 640 or was it just a coincidence?


It's always somthing...

You'll get the 6-ft hog spinning with the 8N, but if you don't use an overrunning clutch, you could damage the tractor's pto shaft.

My neighbor hooked up an IH 57 2-wire baler to his 8N without an OR clutch and twisted the pto shaft on the tractor into a corkscrew when he tried to stop it.

 

[tderrick]

I should probably set up both of these tractors with OR clutches...

Does anyone have a good online supplier??

 

[bg71361]

I borrowed a 6' to use on my 8n in my opinion it is a litle too big. I usually use the 5' with no issues.
Good luck,
Bill

 

[deerefan]

I borrowed a 6' to use on my 8n in my opinion it is a litle too big. I usually use the 5' with no issues.
Good luck,
Bill

To put it simply, no. It will spin it, but you get into any significant grass it will seriously bog your tractor. My 52 8N w/ a fresh motor spun a 5ft ok, but again when we got it in knee high grass it struggled. That was in 1st gear w/ sharp blades.

 

[wolc123]

I never tried to spin my Rhino SE6 with my 51 8n, but I use it to move it around and it easily lifts it. It would probably spin it ok for light duty cutting only. You would definitely need to run it in 1st gear, wide open throttle, and maybe only take half a cut or so in thicker stuff. Now that you have some experience with an 8n and a 600 series, what is your preference? Personally, I have found the n's to be a good bit more durable (sounds like you have also), but the 600's are significantly better on pto equipment because of thier live hydraulics. The lack of live pto is easily remidied on either type with an overrunning coupler and you are crazy to try and use such equipment without this $75 dollar item available at any TSC store. What was the compression problem you had with the 640 before throwing the rod? The problem with the jubilies, 600's, etc., were that they were on the front end of the learning curve with the Ford overhead valve engines. By the time they got around to the 51 and 52 8n's, they had all the bugs completely worked out of the old flathead motors, making them hard to kill and partly explaining why there is so many still going compared to the early ovehead valve tractors. Of course they also made a lot more of the flathead tractors compared to later grey-painted models.

 

[tderrick]

Now that you have some experience with an 8n and a 600 series, what is your preference? Personally, I have found the n's to be a good bit more durable (sounds like you have also), but the 600's are significantly better on pto equipment because of thier live hydraulics.

The 600 is much more comfortable to drive and the live PTO is great.

The 8N feels like your sitting on a horse. But as we all know the thing will
not die and once again I will depend upon it to get through the season until
I can dig into the 600.

Do you guys think the 6 footer pushed the engine too far and the rod let loose. I'm kicking myself for not putting on an OR clutch...

Someone tell me it was just a coincidence!

Also... I never got a chance to do any compression tests on the 600...

 

[tderrick]

I just picked up a cool OR clutch from my local CO-OP. It has a normal push
button type deal to slide it on the tractor PTO.

I hope it is as strong as the pin type. It sure is more handy to move around
between tractors...

Will let you all know if it can withstand the 6 foot hog spin. I will be taking
it real easy.

If that hog kills another tractor I'm going to drop it (the hog) in the river!!

 

[wolc123]

It is very difficult to kill an 8n (why else would most of these 50+ year old tractors still be around). Now that you got the OC (which almost completely makes up for the lack of live PTO but does nothing for the lack of live hydraulics), you should be able to get by as long as you take it slow. Too bad about the 600. If it were me, I would part it out as I was never too fond of those particular models (big step backwards in durability and power/weight ratio compared to the 8n's.) Some folks like them, and with the low hours, most of the parts should be in top condition. The rear hydraulics were particularly troublesome on them and if yours was working good, the associated parts will fetch a good buck.

 

[Soundguy]

First.. a 640 does not have live pto.. it's 4 speed tranny is virtually identical to the one in the 8n. down to the single plate dry clutch setting in front of it.. and the manual pto behind it. The 640 does have live hyds.. etc.

An average 8n will handle a 5' rough mower well.. or a 6' finish mower. I normally wouldn't use a 6' rough mower on the 8n.. if I had to.. I'd use low gear and take 5' bites.. tke as small bites and use the lowest gear needed to keep the pto rpm's up and to keep from overloading the engine ( dogging it ).. etc.

soundguy

The 600 is much more comfortable to drive and the live PTO is great.

The 8N feels like your sitting on a horse. But as we all know the thing will
not die and once again I will depend upon it to get through the season until
I can dig into the 600.

Do you guys think the 6 footer pushed the engine too far and the rod let loose. I'm kicking myself for not putting on an OR clutch...

Someone tell me it was just a coincidence!

Also... I never got a chance to do any compression tests on the 600...