Brush Hog for JD 650

[baskervi]

I'm not sure if anyone will find this amusing, but being new to tractors I see there is a lot to learn. My father in law was in a serious motorcycle accident, so I've offered to help out on their ranch. I went to pick up a John Deere 650 tractor, so I inserted the key, pushed in the clutch and placed the tractor in neutral, and for the life of me I couldn't get it started. I pushed and pulled all the levers around the steering wheel, and after a good 45 minutes, I left completely frustrated. I called everyone I knew to see who had tractor experience. Someone finally led me to the PTO lever, I changed the position, and then it fired up. I drove the tractor onto the trailer and parked it, then I pulled out the key. It wouldn't stop. I did get it moved.

Now on to the question. I've been looking around and see that I need a 4' brush hog. I realize that there are different weights and grades of brush hogs, but I found a used one that appears solid, the paint is ugly, but it structurally appears to be in good shape. Can someone tell me what I need to look for? Is there a good way to check the amount of life left in the gear box? Any other gotchas? It's amazing how much the brush has overgrown in the past year, so I think this will see a lot of use this year. Would I be better off with a new brush hog? The new JDs are too expensive, so any good alternate bang-for-the-buck?

Thanks

 

[kebo]

I've had two 750's which is the same tractor as yours other than having a 3cyl 21hp engine, and being a little bit bigger. Turning off the key will not kill those engines! You must close off the throttle lever completely to shut it off. As for the used 4ft bushhog, I wouldn't worry too much about the gearbox as long as it's not leaking oil when you looked at it. Most likely, it will give you good service but I suppose you could check for excessive wear in the gears, or backlash. Some folks have been running bush hogs for 20 years or more and never do nothing more than just keeping the oil changed in them. If the deck looks good, and it spins up fine, then I would suggest you buy it if it's a good price. If it turns out you're not happy with it, you can probably resell it for most if not all of the asking price and go buy one you are happy with. Good luck! Oh yeah, welcome to TBN!