Bucket on while bus hogging?

[LHS Inc]

I'll be transporting my JD 3520 With FEL and Frontier RC 1060 on my 18 foot trailer on Tuesday for a bushhogging job.

With the bucket attached the whole unit will fit on the trailer with the wheel of the cutter hanging over the front about 1.5-2 ft.
It doesnt cause a problem while turning I just like to have everything inside the trailer.

Bucket off I can fit the whole unit inside the trailer.

My question is do I need the bucket on for ballist and stability or am I ok without it.

I tend to think I would need it on but this is my first job away from home with the RC. There is a slope on the property that I need to really study before I venture out. The whole area is on a commercial property and the slope comes of the parking lot and then flattens out.

I wouldn't give this slope a second thought with the JD 4010 but I know these CUT's are tippy so I'm being extra careful.

I'm cutting the lawn there tomorrow and I think I'll go back there on the mower and check it out and get a feel for it.

Thanks

 

[LHS Inc]

Title should be bushhogging not bus hogging.

 

[teg]

Re: Bucket on while bushhogging?

Personally, if this is a new job, I would do what you can to have the bucket on. The bucket could be kept low to hit objects before the cutter does. If there is a wet area, you can use the curl to get unstuck. Can you put the bucket in the back of the truck?

 

[vtsnowedin]

Title should be bushhogging not bus hogging.

Yup those buses full of pigs will be wizzed that we aren't taking about all the fun they are having.

 

[whistlepig]

If you are mowing a slope your tractor will be a lot less top heavy with the loader off. Loader mounts are above the axle.

 

[skipmarcy]

Just personal preference but I keep my bucket on for several reasons. One - it helps offset the weight of my cutter on the back and takes a little of the bounce out when cutting at speed, two - in unfamiliar territory I'll roll the bucket back all the way and lower it pretty close to the ground to find potentially hazardous items before I run over them, three - you've got a handy place to throw those potentially hazardous items/rocks etc. if you so desire to rid the place of them as you go. I also find that with the bucket low to the ground it helps a little with the center of gravity when doing inclines on my tractor, especially helpful when using 4 wheel drive with that extra weight on the front wheels too. Now the bucket could be a hinderance to you if you're not used to cutting close to things with it on, especially in new territory and it does cut your visibility slightly so it may not suit you to have it on. You'll just have to weight the options and go for it !!

 

[Wacky]

^^ what he said.

 

[vtsnowedin]

If you are mowing a slope your tractor will be a lot less top heavy with the loader off. Loader mounts are above the axle.

I don't know if this is the whole story. Where the loader attaches to the tractor is not as important as where the bucket and any load in the bucket is positioned. The attachment point is just the fulcrum point for the load of the loader bucket and arms. Lower the bucket down and the tractors COG moves forward and down. raise it up high and the COG moves higher and to the rear. Running with a loader bucket just above the ground should add net weight to the front of the tractor and give it a COG (center of gravity) that is lower and forward of where it would be with the loader off the machine.

 

[JoeL4330]

as above...and, I believe design puts the "fulcrum" at the CG

 

[whistlepig]

I don't know if this is the whole story. Where the loader attaches to the tractor is not as important as where the bucket and any load in the bucket is positioned. The attachment point is just the fulcrum point for the load of the loader bucket and arms. Lower the bucket down and the tractors COG moves forward and down. raise it up high and the COG moves higher and to the rear. Running with a loader bucket just above the ground should add net weight to the front of the tractor and give it a COG (center of gravity) that is lower and forward of where it would be with the loader off the machine.

With all due respect it just doesn't work that way. Fulcrum point has nothing to do with it. Weight above the axle is weight above the axle.

 

[vtsnowedin]

With all due respect it just doesn't work that way. Fulcrum point has nothing to do with it. Weight above the axle is weight above the axle.

Yes but when the bucket is held near the ground that weight is below the axle. It is where the weight is, not the atttacment point , that matters.

 

[wcampbell47]

Definitely for all the reasons listed by skipmarcy!

 

[LHS Inc]

Thanks for all the replies so far. The area to be cut is new to me but not to being cut as it has been done in the past but by someone else.

I will still take it slow and watch out for any obstacles. I like the idea of running the bucket low to detect anything in my path that I shouldn't run over.

One thing I didn't try on the trailer was to drop the bucket in front of me and move ahead a little further. I can always leave the loader arms up slightly while in transport. I'm going to measure just how much room there is from the front of the tire and the bucket as it sits attached. I'll give it a try tonite when I load up.

 

[boggen]

vote is keep the bucket on. more so in unfamiliar territory. bucket can make for a good detector for stuff out in front of you in tall weeds that you can not see through. granted you will most likely push what ever is in front of you over and down into dirt. but it can save your "radiator", tires possibly, underneath tractor from large branch suddenly veering up into tractor as you roll over it. to not cutting stuff up with rotatory cutter.

the rotatory cutter should have slip clutch that has been adjusted and set correctly (more so if it has been setting for some time, double check slip clutch) or at min a shear bolt. and hopefully some sort of "stump jumper blade setup underneath it. so if you do hit something with rotatory cutter it does not harm the cutter.

if you do take bucket off, keep the "arms" of the FEL on for front counter weight, for the bush hog. or if you take entire FEL off, put some suit case weights or like on the front.

i think legally you can have something hanging out the back a couple feet. but do not quote me, regs/laws change to much from area to area.

suggest making sure you chain/strap the tractor down, the FEL down, and rotatory cutter down to the trailer. it kinda of a pain to add extra chains / straps. but hit a few bumps or make some sharp turns or what not, or something rarely happening, and you could be in some big trouble.

 

[LHS Inc]

vote is keep the bucket on. more so in unfamiliar territory. bucket can make for a good detector for stuff out in front of you in tall weeds that you can not see through. granted you will most likely push what ever is in front of you over and down into dirt. but it can save your "radiator", tires possibly, underneath tractor from large branch suddenly veering up into tractor as you roll over it. to not cutting stuff up with rotatory cutter.

the rotatory cutter should have slip clutch that has been adjusted and set correctly (more so if it has been setting for some time, double check slip clutch) or at min a shear bolt. and hopefully some sort of "stump jumper blade setup underneath it. so if you do hit something with rotatory cutter it does not harm the cutter.

if you do take bucket off, keep the "arms" of the FEL on for front counter weight, for the bush hog. or if you take entire FEL off, put some suit case weights or like on the front.

i think legally you can have something hanging out the back a couple feet. but do not quote me, regs/laws change to much from area to area.

suggest making sure you chain/strap the tractor down, the FEL down, and rotatory cutter down to the trailer. it kinda of a pain to add extra chains / straps. but hit a few bumps or make some sharp turns or what not, or something rarely happening, and you could be in some big trouble.

Good advice. I did check the slip clutch this year and its been kept in the shed so its good to go. It has a stump jumper so thats good too.

Thanks for the reminder on strapping down the cutter.

If I can remember to bring the camera I'll take some before and after pics of the cutting and some of the machine,

 

[MESSMAKER]

I never take the loader off to bushog. I would not consider it. It comes in handy in more ways than I can say.

 

[TripleR]

I am not familiar with your tractor, but sometimes I mow without the bucket, without the FEL and sometimes with FEL and bucket. It just depends on the tractor and terrain.

The most stable setup I ever used was our Massey Ferguson 375 without the FEL.

There is a really old and very long thread on this discussing COG etc., I don't know that there ever was agreement.

 

[jmc]

If mowing wide open spaces, I like to keep the bucket on for balance and using it for contingencies as other posters have mentioned. But if there are obstacles to trim around, I can get much closer on the initial pass with the entire loader removed- an easy job with a Kubota L753 loader.

I don't know what your tow rig is but what you seem to be describing about towing with the bucket on or off is also affecting the tractor's center of gravity location ahead of the trailer's rear axle. If you keep the bucket on and the tractor rearward to fit the trailer, your tongue weight may be too low and you go down the road like a jointed rapala. Or worse, down the road ok until you get up to a certain speed, hit some bumps, or get passed by a semi. (Don't ask...)

John

 

[teg]

a follow up on my other post... I've mowed with and without the front end loader and I prefer without. More available power (900 lbs less weight), easier maneuverability, and (yes) a feeling of being more stable. Just a feeling, not taking sides on the COG, just feels less tippy. This is for areas that I've mowed before.

 

[Degolyerent]

I like to leave the front loader on when I am mowing in real high grass where you cannot see the obstacles but when I am mowing slopes the tractor is a lot more stable with it off, locked in 4wd. I mow a lot of retention ponds and I always remove it for that type of mowing