BX2200 and bushhogging ?'s about undercarriage?

[Anonymous Poster]

BX2200 and bushhogging ?\'s about undercarriage?

I read somewhere in this forum that fellow owners are having problems damaging the filters on the BX2200 while bushhog work is being done. Seems that the lack of ground clearence causes this problem. I just recieved a call from a customer asking me to hog two acres for him. I have done this property four other times with my TC33D without much concern, but now I own a BX2200 and I am quite apprehensive about going into it. There are some deep ruts and uneven terrain on this land and the grass and weeds are over ther height of the steering wheel, I don't want to mess anything up. I use a 48" Woods hog and I feel the tractor would be up to the task but I'm concerned. I plan to leave the loader on and set just above the ground incase anything is in the hogs path. Has anyone hurt their units and what went wrong? Mark

 

[sandyc]

Re: BX2200 and bushhogging ?\'s about undercarriage?

The only problem might be if you got something jammed into the HST cooling fan. If you look under the tractor you will see a once white plastic fan that blows a bit of air onto the front of the hst. As you are hogging just listen to see if something gets caught up into the fan. Some folks have built a small skid pan to eliminate this problem.
Also, the mid pto is not guarded or covered so you might wrap weeds onto it but I don't think that would ba a problem.
I have run my 2200 through some pretty tough areas and have not had a problem.
Best of luck

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: BX2200 and bushhogging ?\'s about undercarriage?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Also, the mid pto is not guarded or covered so you might wrap weeds onto it but I don't think that would ba a problem.
)</font>
I understand the concern for the cooling fan but I don't understand the part about wrapping weeds around the mid-PTO. If you are using a bush-hog, (rear pto) why would you continue to have the mid PTO engaged?

 

[sandyc]

Re: BX2200 and bushhogging ?\'s about undercarriage?

You wouldn't be using the mid pto but once you are thru running thru the giggleweeds you might want to clear any debris from the pto shaft, fan and other linkage....just a thought

 

[WALT]

Re: BX2200 and bushhogging ?\'s about undercarriage?

Bigguy:

Do a search for "Bulletproof BX" post from last year. In it you will find photos of a skid plate I fabricated to protect the undercarriage while brush hogging. Low ground clearance is a problem with the BX 2200.

WALT

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Couldn\'t find it

Hi Walt.

I tried searching all forums all dates with Bulletproof and couldn't find it.

Would you please provide more specifics.

THANKS.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: BX2200 and bushhogging ?\'s about undercarriage?

I remember someone who made a ski plate had a bad experience... a bolt [bolts?] extending up through the bottom of the plate ended up poking a hole in the rear gear housing...or something like that. It became an expensive repair.

A rock pushed up oh the skid plate...Walt, was this you or someone else???

Anyway, when and if I make one, I will be sure that nothing sticks up where it shouldn't on the top of the plate.

As an aside, I am thinking of making a prototype skid plate out of 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood. Not as bulletproof as steel, but much stronger than those filters that are hanging out down under there waiting to be knocked off.

I only have 2 acres to clear of briars and stuff. After that I will maintian it and really don't have a strong need to own a skid plate for the long term as I don't plan on mowing too much over unknown ground that is badly overgrown.

maybe a plywood plate is all I need...

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Re: Couldn\'t find it

Here you go
web page

you can also click on Walts name and then click on "see all users posts", on the bottom of the page, that is how I found it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[WALT]

Re: BX2200 and bushhogging ?\'s about undercarriage?

Sorry for my late reply.
Yup, it was I who had my skidplate turn on me.
I had used a "eye bolt" to attach my chain, that secured the rear hinged plate, protecting the transaxle.
When I hit a large rock, the skid plate pushed up as designed, but the eye bolt contacted the bottom of the transaxle, cracking the aluminum casting.

As you might imagine, when all was repaired, I removed the eyebolt, and re-attached the chain to the skid plate with a repair link. (As it was originally)

My skid plate is made of 3/16" steel plate. An unintended benifit is that my set-up can flex as I drive over rough ground.
If you attach a plywood skidplate to the mower frame, as I did, it may break vs. flex.

I had a minute finally today to read the forum, at work.
When home again, I will measure and give you the spec. of my skid plate, if you desire.

My skid plate only comes off when I am using the belly mower. As you can see, there are many items that can be damaged if struck from below, on a BX 2200.

The link to the post was posted by another on this thread.
Read it so as not to repeat my expensive lesson.

WALT

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Please post the specs Walt

Or email privately to me.

I don't even have my BX2200 yet and I'm starting a notebook of GREAT ideas shared here.

I bought some iron today to fabricate a 3 pt ripper for mine. The ground around here is solid clay, so in order to assist the rototiller and to find any tree roots, I plan to rip most of the tilling jobs I can obtain BEFORE I till it. I think the tilling will go faster and should help the bush hog tiller last longer/break down less.

I plan to purchase up to five ripper shanks like on box blades, and have it pinned to a 4 x 4 box beam. Plan to add a couple of gage wheels to limit the max depth, since I'm in town and subject to nasty things buried so deep!

I'll post some photos of it when it's completed and painted.

Thanks!