Bushog Adjustments help needed

TractorHelp101 · Oct 11, 2015

Hi
I am a long ago member, I've forgotten my log in information so I had to start another new account.
What I need help with is making the adjustment for my 3 point hitch to get bush hog to float correctly and not dig into ground either in front or rear. What I have done is raise the front of cutter to maybe 3 inches high, set 3 point lever to that point.

I've adjusted the middle bar to what to me seems to be lowering the back end to make rear wheel keep solid contact with ground.
I've tinkered with this for couple of hours today until it frustrated me so much I just left pasture and went home....

The rear wheel just goes crazy flipping from left to right or sideways, it never runs straight as it should.

For more information to you all I attached a short video(I hope)of the problem I am having.
All suggestions and advice will be more than appreciated.
If the files doesnot attach I can e-mail it to you to view.
Thanks

Sig.

bumperm · Oct 11, 2015

As a general rule, you want the front of the deck about 1" lower than the rear. So you'll need to adjust the rear accordingly with the height adjustment on the rear wheel with the top link loose. Do this set up on a flat surface.

Where the top link attaches to the deck there should be some sort of mechanism, pivot bracket or chain) to allow the back of the deck to move up or down following slightly uneven terrain. The top link is adjusted to allow for this.

In the good old days, bush hog style mowers used a chain from top link bracket to rear deck to allow adjusting with a fair amount of float to follow uneven terrain. Safety police or the threat of litigation pretty much eliminated this feather as they figured the deck could hit an obstruction and bounce up and attack the operator. I have a cab tractor, I replaced the solid bars going aft with a chain. I'll take my chances.

LD1 · Oct 11, 2015

Video didn't load. A picture would help. Tailwheel flopping means its just barley contacting the ground and not carrying enough weight.

Assuming you have no chain or swinging toplink allowing the tail to float, set it up as follows:

On level ground, unhook toplink and set front cutter to desired height.

You want the rear about an inch higher. If if isn't, adjust the fail wheel by booking the toplink back up and making said adjustment. Unhook toplink again, lower cutter to desired position and recheck front and rear heights.

If its where you want it, set your stops or make a mark for the 3ph lever. Now reattach the toplink by lengthening or shortening it til it lines up with the holes and put the pin back in. The toplink is basically doing nothing til either the terrain changes or you lift the cutter

DerikL · Oct 11, 2015

You want to get the mower on a lever surface then try to set it up with the front lower then rear. If you don't have a chain top link set it up so top link has no effect until you want to lift the mower with 3ph.

Ed of all trades · Oct 11, 2015

They have given you good advice, I would add you can replace the top link with a chain so it can more easily float in the dips ect. Ed

brown40 · Oct 11, 2015

A friend and I were talking about scalping with finish mowers and came to the conclusion that some terrain has too much undulation for more than a 48" mower. Even properly adjusted you may run into cuts--especially turning, especially in reverse.
Once you get the weight to the rear wheel it should track better. It's definitely too tight, but any chance your top link is too short? I have a couple sizes to have enough threads to feel comfortable with some implements. Could that have changed?
Do your lower links have float/leveling settings? Mine can be fixed, or turned to allow vertical movement side to side, but the single rear wheel doesn't seem to encourage it. Usually the ground causes the movement.
I do find raising the cut height and putting the tail lower helps greatly with scalping, but I can still slice into turf on tight turns and rough terrain if I'm going haphazardly. Mines only 60".

TractorHelp101 · Oct 11, 2015

bumperm, Ed of all trades, derikl,brown40 and Ld1 I am going to attempt this adjusting on level ground and try what you all have suggested. I do have a question on the control that I use to lift bush hog there are numbers 1,2,3, and so forth what do they mean or their purpose? Someone suggest setting it to 3 hp???? I'm gonna work on getting this video loaded when my 9 year old grandson come down to visit....

thanks guys I'll give an update later today

SPYDERLK · Oct 11, 2015

TractorHelp101 said:
bumperm, Ed of all trades, derikl,brown40 and Ld1 I am going to attempt this adjusting on level ground and try what you all have suggested. I do have a question on the control that I use to lift bush hog there are numbers 1,2,3, and so forth what do they mean or their purpose? Someone suggest setting it to 3 hp???? I'm gonna work on getting this video loaded when my 9 year old grandson come down to visit....

thanks guys I'll give an update later today

The numbers are for visual reference when changing the lift height. You need a setup that lets your mower be carried by its rear wheel and the 2 lower lift arms on the tractor. This will give you the best terrain following cut.
,,, The toplink should have a lost motion linkage or be chain, as mentioned. Its only use is to lift the entire bushog off the ground.

TractorHelp101 · Oct 11, 2015

I sort of thought that but was not sure...thanks

Kenneth S · Oct 11, 2015

On mine I set the mower with the front on the ground (on flat ground not hooked to the tractor). Adjusted the rear wheel to hold the rear 2" off the ground, hook the mower to the lower lift links only (I don't use the top link at all), raise it 1", put mark on the quadrant, and that's it. In the rough areas I run it a little higher. I have no reason lift the mower way up in the air.

bumperm · Oct 11, 2015

As SPYDERLK says, the numbers on your 3 point control lever are for reference (when the 3 point is "positioning" better, and not "inching" not so better). It's common to have a sliding lock plate that your can move up so that the lever will not go down beyond a set position while mowing etc. This allows you to lift the mower deck and then immediately put it back down to the precise set position again without hassle.

There is another way to accomplish this, and that it to install a couple of limit chains on your 3 point lift arms. These chains are then adjusted to allow the mower deck from to only go down to the desired level when you drop the 3 point. For top and tilt equipped tractors, this also mitigates any problem you might have with leak down.

TractorHelp101 · Oct 12, 2015

Kenneth S. I have attached two pictures of the tractor and bush hog. Maybe you all can tell me where to set the rear-wheel bolts.
I will wait to get instructions from you all before I attempt trying something wrong.

thanks
Sig

LD1 · Oct 12, 2015

TractorHelp101 said:
Kenneth S. I have attached two pictures of the tractor and bush hog. Maybe you all can tell me where to set the rear-wheel bolts.
I will wait to get instructions from you all before I attempt trying something wrong.

thanks
Sig

Follow the directions I gave in post 3.

Ignore the typos I posted that from my phone.

Gator6x4 · Oct 12, 2015

Just my two cents worth. If that was my Bush Hog I would find a flat level area lay a short piece of two by four on the ground and use it to hold the rear up which would allow me to adjust the tail wheel using the adjusting hole to where the tail wheel was making good solid contact with the ground. This will give you a tilt to the front and make the rear run higher than the front when in use.

Now to the top link. I do not see in the photos you post a u shape piece of metal on the bush hog to attach your top link to instead of attaching directly to the ridged upright brace on the bush hog. If you use the bush hog like this damage will likely occur either to the top link which will bend or the tractor will be damaged where the top link attaches to the tractor. When the rear of the bush hog is forced up this will transfer a tremendous amount of leverage force through the top link and onto the tractor.

I personally would replace the top link with a chain if I could not find a u piece of metal to hook the top link to which would allow the bush hog to float up and not damage anything. Very easy to do assuming you have the rear tail wheel already adjusted, hook to the bush hog with the lift arms and raise it to the desired cutting height. Now put a pin in the top link hole on the tractor and on the bush hog, measure the distance and fabricate a piece of chain that is taunt with the bush hog setting in the cutting position. When you lift up the three point the bush hog will then lift off the ground.

LD1 · Oct 12, 2015

Gator6x4 said:
Now to the top link. I do not see in the photos you post a u shape piece of metal on the bush hog to attach your top link to instead of attaching directly to the ridged upright brace on the bush hog. If you use the bush hog like this damage will likely occur either to the top link which will bend or the tractor will be damaged where the top link attaches to the tractor. When the rear of the bush hog is forced up this will transfer a tremendous amount of leverage force through the top link and onto the tractor.

Not going to damage the tractor. IF the metal straps are weak, they will bend. IF they are stout, the whole bushhog will raise/float up. Lots and lots of bushhogs out there this very same way.

Kenneth S · Oct 12, 2015

Gator6x4 said:
Just my two cents worth. If that was my Bush Hog I would find a flat level area lay a short piece of two by four on the ground and use it to hold the rear up which would allow me to adjust the tail wheel using the adjusting hole to where the tail wheel was making good solid contact with the ground. This will give you a tilt to the front and make the rear run higher than the front when in use.

This is how I would do it ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Here's my tractor with just the lower lift links hooked to the shredder. I use the upper link to hold a bucket with some tools in it, until I put a tool box somewhere on the tractor.

MMagis · Oct 13, 2015

LD1 said:
Not going to damage the tractor. IF the metal straps are weak, they will bend. IF they are stout, the whole bushhog will raise/float up. Lots and lots of bushhogs out there this very same way.

This is exactly right. I don’t know where the idea came from that without a flexible link a brush hog will self-destruct at the first little dip in the terrain. I back mine up some very steep banks, there is enough flex in the whole “system” that the rear wheels are on the hill before the brush hog even comes close to binding up. It’s the way it was made, as are thousands that have been made over the last 4 decades.
To the original poster, it looks to me you’re trying to use a brush hog to do the job of a finish mower. If you need to drop the cutter that low, plan on digging in the dirt occasionally. If a brush hog worked well that way, there would be no such thing as a finish mower.

MMagis · Oct 13, 2015

LD1 said:
Not going to damage the tractor. IF the metal straps are weak, they will bend. IF they are stout, the whole bushhog will raise/float up. Lots and lots of bushhogs out there this very same way.

This is exactly right. I don't know where the idea came from that without a flexible link a brush hog will self-destruct at the first little dip in the terrain. I back mine up some very steep banks, there is enough flex in the whole "system" that the rear wheels are on the hill before the brush hog even comes close to binding up. It's the way it was made, as are thousands that have been made over the last 4 decades.
To the original poster, it looks to me you're trying to use a brush hog to do the job of a finish mower. If you need to drop the cutter that low, plan on digging in the dirt occasionally. If a brush hog worked well that way, there would be no such thing as a finish mower.

TractorHelp101 · Oct 13, 2015

This morning I did finally get the bush hog set like I want it to cut and not scalp the ground.
LD1 instruction were the way I went and it took me a hour to do it but I adjusted It, cut a few turns and only one scalped area where a **** red ant bed was. I think my problem was not taking my time.
To all of you guys who gave me input thanks a lot....I am a complete stranger to all of you but you all stepped up to help me without question. Again thanks guys.

Sig.