Hooking up my least favorite implement

[JWR]

I bet that thing is a PITA to hook up. You need to be a contortionist to get the PTO attached.

I don't really know the 3pt rating on the tractor [just looked it up and find it is 3391lbs] but it had no problem at all lifting the ORSI, you just did not dare to leave it hanging there without the support underneath. The ORSI model I have claims in literature to be OK with a 50 hp tractor. Mine is 81HP and been dyno tested putting out 90hp. Of course it is weight and rear tire track that matter, not HP. I suppose with the loader my MF2660 low profile weighs about 9,000lb with loaded tires, etc. The dry weight [of the ORSI] is over 2200 lbs , not 2700 lbs, but the oil tank is huge and then you have the support structure, stab arms, etc.

I have had this mower tip me over sideways (lift the rear tire off the ground) attempting to use it fully extended on a side slope (!!) After the GULP I realized it was only going to tip far enough for the mower to rest on the ground which then became an outrigger instead of load on a lever ! I then pulled it in closer and got off the slope. My rear tires are 8ft apart outer edge to outer edge. Would go wider but that creates trailer issues. If I were going to use ORSI a whole lot more I would definitely widen the rear wheels more (I have about another 10 or 12 inches I could go.)

The PTO is the least of the problem hooking up. That goes on rather easily. But the heavy stabilizer arms and several pins to get in place & line up all add up in mounting time. Because the thing is PTO driven it is VERY robust and will pretty much cut anything that gets in the way. Has two of it's own hydraulic pumps, one for positioning and one for cutting. I have been pleasantly surprised to find no debris slinging at me in the tractor seat with an open station tractor and all the hell breaking loose out there at the end of the arm. It is a great tool for overhanging limbs, ditches and especially cutting brush grown up in sink holes around the farm. An old WV farm is automatically hilly and in 100 acres I probably have at least 9 or 10 sink holes that would bury the rear wheels on a large tractor if you did not know the land inch by inch.

 

[LouNY]

I'm guessing getting the hydraulics installed on the tractor for the cutter is like a wiring schematic. Thanks for all the pictures. Very interesting. How many times a year do you it, in the fall and spring or more?

I have an Italian-made ORSI arm mower but it has a 4ft bush hog on the business end. It weighs around 2700lbs and is a serious load on a 9000lb tractor. Mine reaches 17ft. I see you do NOT have stabilizer rods on yours. ?? Mine would wobble all over the place relative to the tractor without 2 heavy stabilizer rods. BY THE WAY, is you top link attach point ion the tractor stout enough to hold that thing stationary? My top link and stabilizer rods all hooked to the top link attach point on the tractor. When the hyd pressure bled off the thing wa heavy enough to bend a good sized hunk of 1/2" thick steel plate on my tractor and I had to go repair that !!!
Lesson learned: Have to put a support structure under the ORSI that rests on the drawbar , etc. or else do damage to the tractor. The dealer failed to tell me that... a few pictures follow.
Trouble with picture insertion. Coming soon...

Because the ORSI is hard on an old man to hook up and remove, takes me at least 2hrs, I got a Lane Shark which will do enough of my overhanging limb trimming and ditches and cutting over sink holes so I will not be using the ORSI that much from now on. I can fully understand the OP's title of "Least favorite implement" and maybe he could use a Lane Shark too ? It will never have the reach of the ORSI nor cover as much territory nor cut as heavy a material,,, but it goes on and off easily in a short time and an old guy can do it...

What 3PH lift weight is your tractor rated for? I've never seen a boom mower supported like that.

I bet that thing is a PITA to hook up. You need to be a contortionist to get the PTO attached.

ljjhouser, the hydraulics are actually the easy part.
The hydraulic power is off a pump on the mower all the valves are cable operated which mounts in the cab.

JWR; I would say that we are in the same boat, on me my age and weight makes it difficult to get into it.
Your ORSI has the same type cable controls as my Twose does they look very similar except for the heads.
I like your lower support cradle thats a good idea, mine has some chain supports and the manual calls for
some ridge supports, unfortunately my tractor requires the lift arms to be cycled up and down a bit before
the PTO will engage, it's one of their safeties. ( not detailed in the manual, you should have seen the head scratching
trying to get the pto turned on with a pull type tedder the first time, no problems with the brush hog or sickle bar mower
as the lift arms )were always moved before the PTO.
I have worried about my toplink mounting a few times with different attachments, my 3 pt forklift got some heavy loads
at times.
I have looked at the lane shark type mowers a few times as it would do quite a bit of what I'm mowing, I have also considered mounting a sickle bar to a ssqa plate and powering it with a hydraulic motor.

workinonit; the 3 pt is rated for around 5000#,
yes the PTO is the worst part to hookup, I stop about 3" from the lift arm attaching point crawl in and try to get the pto started on the shaft without pulling it apart, sometimes it takes 2-3 movements of the tractor to get the right distance but still be able to squeeze in to get ahold of the pto, once its started I can back in to get the lift arm hooks lined up, then reaching down over the top of the machine get the pto slid on and latched, then I'll get back in the tractor and lift the arms to latch them and then adjust the toplink to hook in. This was the first time with this new top link much easier then a conventional or regular hydraulic top link.

 

[ripHST]

wow......call me lazy, but I think if I needed one of those contraptions to cut brush and limbs I would just decide it didn't need to be cut. Now, if my wife decided it DID need to be cut, I'd probably be back here asking questions.

 

[JWR]

wow......call me lazy, but I think if I needed one of those contraptions to cut brush and limbs I would just decide it didn't need to be cut. Now, if my wife decided it DID need to be cut, I'd probably be back here asking questions.

In retrospect I'd have been better off to locate an old (large beast of a tractor) with a side mount arm cutter (surplus from the highway dept) and avoided taking this "contraption" on and off my main tractor. A problem with that alternative is having yet one more tractor to keep running, maintain, fix , make safe on steep ground, etc. At age 78 none of that seems reasonable so the best compromise I can find (aside from hiring it done which is not really available to me) is to shift to using the Lane Shark for what it will do and just sell ORSI. L:et the rest go. I don't like it because I put so much work into getting the ORSI setup right and because it is such a robust tool ... but then many things are second choice unstead of first choice.

 

[LouNY]

Well I finally took a couple of pictures today while using my boom arm mower.
Used it for 5-6 hours today and should be finished for the year here with it.

some before pictures;

and after;

looking out the side and rear windows while using it;

Not very good pictures, I didn't think to get any when I was doing my roadside limb triming or the heavy brush.

 

[redman135]

JWR, some roadside mowers use a dual wheel on the ditch side(single on bitumen side) for stability and floatation, as some dirt roads have soft edges. Maybe a quick release dual would work for you.

 

[JWR]

JWR, some roadside mowers use a dual wheel on the ditch side(single on bitumen side) for stability and floatation, as some dirt roads have soft edges. Maybe a quick release dual would work for you.

That is a good idea. I'd give it some more serious thought except I'm at the age and agility point where I probably have to work more with things like the Lane Shark and less with Orsi. Still a great point.

 

[JWR]

Well I finally took a couple of pictures today while using my boom arm mower.
Used it for 5-6 hours today and should be finished for the year here with it.

.... doing my roadside limb triming or the heavy brush.he heavy brush.

Say Lou: My Orsi uses a 4ft bush hog on the business end (which I had the dealer in SC make for it, replacing the flail it came with.) As I said earlier it will cut just about anything that gets in the way. Heavy branches, stuff the size of my puny arm, etc. But I have a 7.5 ft Alamo heavy flail mower using the HD "Y" type flails (they make both thick and thinner Y flails) and it is a great tool BUT you cannot be running over limbs and unseen posts and saplings with it at all. You end up having to stop and replace flail knives every third time you hit a branch 2" in diameter. In my pasture field I have to tiptoe around debris using the flail that my 7ft Bush Hog eats with such ease.

So this leads me to ask you: Do you not have problems using the arm cutter with overhanging limbs ? Or do you have the cast metal chopper style flails on yours ?

 

[LouNY]

Say Lou: My Orsi uses a 4ft bush hog on the business end (which I had the dealer in SC make for it, replacing the flail it came with.) As I said earlier it will cut just about anything that gets in the way. Heavy branches, stuff the size of my puny arm, etc. But I have a 7.5 ft Alamo heavy flail mower using the HD "Y" type flails (they make both thick and thinner Y flails) and it is a great tool BUT you cannot be running over limbs and unseen posts and saplings with it at all. You end up having to stop and replace flail knives every third time you hit a branch 2" in diameter. In my pasture field I have to tiptoe around debris using the flail that my 7ft Bush Hog eats with such ease.

So this leads me to ask you: Do you not have problems using the arm cutter with overhanging limbs ? Or do you have the cast metal chopper style flails on yours ?

I have the heavy cast hammer type flails.
I will actually rotate mine so the cutter head is facing upward or vertical and trim tree limbs.
Also at times when I have an older punky stump I will lower in down over it and use it as a chipper,
I ground down 3 stumps this past week that had gotten soft and semi rotted.
My flail head is only 1 meter in width, so under 40 inches.
But even so when fully extended and lowered down cutting on bank it feels quite heavy

 

[pmsmechanic]

I'm thinking that for most of the work you do with the ORSI it would be only a little less handy having it on a 2 wheel trailer. It would be more of a pain to maneuver into areas but a lot less time to hook up to the tractor.

Not just any old light duty trailer either. An A frame style with tractor tires for wheels and well counter weighted. The other disadvantage would be that because the tractor would be more in front of the mower it would be easier for the tractor operator to get pelted with debris from the mower.

 

[JWR]

I'm thinking that for most of the work you do with the ORSI it would be only a little less handy having it on a 2 wheel trailer. It would be more of a pain to maneuver into areas but a lot less time to hook up to the tractor.

Not just any old light duty trailer either. An A frame style with tractor tires for wheels and well counter weighted. The other disadvantage would be that because the tractor would be more in front of the mower it would be easier for the tractor operator to get pelted with debris from the mower.

Several reasons that is not feasible for me and the ORSI. The operator cables for control are not long enough to use a pull behind kind of trailer. Second, it requires some very serious lateral mass and outrigger rear wheels to avoid tipover. To control the roll axis of a unit weighing over a ton. The stabilizer links that tie in to the tractor are essential, not optional. Then there would be a very long PTO shaft, etc. Not feasible.

 

[CobyRupert]

Holy smokes! You’re missing the fair!
Do you have any grandkids, nephews, neighborhood kids, etc… that you can hold by their ankles and lower them in there to hook up the PTO?
That’s a tight squeeze!

 

[pmsmechanic]

Several reasons that is not feasible for me and the ORSI. The operator cables for control are not long enough to use a pull behind kind of trailer. Second, it requires some very serious lateral mass and outrigger rear wheels to avoid tipover. To control the roll axis of a unit weighing over a ton. The stabilizer links that tie in to the tractor are essential, not optional. Then there would be a very long PTO shaft, etc. Not feasible.

The hydraulics could all be moved closer to the tractor. You just need longer hoses. The PTO and the hydraulic pump could also be moved closer to the tractor.

If the ORSI is mounted solidly onto the trailer there is no need for stabilizer links. The trailer would obviously need to be built heavy enough for stability. Don't think utility trailer. Think something built out of an old pull type combine chassis with 18.4x26 tires. Fluid filled if necessary.

Very feasible. Just not cheap.

 

[JWR]

Nope. Not sure that I can find a good picture to make it obvious to you that none of that applies.

None of the hoses connect to the tractor at all. ORSI has 2 pumps of it's own, integral parts of the machine. It is the control cables that would not reach.

No, the PTO pumps cannot be moved closer to the tractor as they are integral to and part of the machine.

One COULD get a big long PTO shaft to go with the long control cables. Then hard-mount the ORSI machine to the A-frame 2 wheel trailer we visualize having made.

Then make sure that trailer will not tip over with a 17ft arm and heavy mower out on the end while the cart is hauling the one ton machine. We already know it CAN tip the 9000lb tractor so I guess we make a trailer weighing in excess of 9000lbs (or bettwer yet counter weighted to one side.) If you run the wheels/axle of that A-frame trailer out wider than those of the tractor (they'd have to be MUCH wider unless this trailer itself outweighs the ORSI by a bunch,,,) then you directly subtract from the reach of the mower arm... unless you use substitutes for the stabilizer arms to tie the new trailer to the tractor to prevent tipping.

You do all that, there is only possible degradation of performance (reach) and no possibility of improved function.

You might as well have hooked the thing to the tractor the way it was designed.

The more I think about it , imagine how unwieldy this contraption (tractor plus trailer) would be compared to the tractor with mounted ORSI alone. Backing, maneuvering, ... forget it.

Your one idea that is/was of interest is some way to trailer mount ORSI and make it really quick and easy to hook to the tractor -- just the PTO and long control cables and a pull hitch. When thought the rest of the way through -- not feasible.

 

[manac]

Did a search for Twose and found this thread. PM Lou the OP and asked him some questions.
Ended up buying a 1998 Twose 395, 13’ reach 39” flail Hedge Trimmer. Too new to me to be a pain to attach but I suppose it will get old. My tractor is twice the size of the minimum so it handles it well.

 

[5030]

Boy am I glad I don't have to deal with that type of implement. The farmer adjacent to my hay fields has a side mount and he does the ditch banks for me. Not something I'd want to deal with at all. He has a really big one btw.

If I did have one, I believe it would stay on a tractor all the time and never get dismounted.

Bad enough hooking up my new Kubota BV round baler. 4 remote hookups plus a dump to tank hookup plus the miserable European PTO shaft.

 

[JWR]

Yes, I strongly considered buying a very large old clunker of a 4WD tractor that I could just use for cutting with the ORSI and nothing else. LEAVE it mounted on there permanently. But the downsides were having to maintain another tractor, a fresh new storage problem, etc. Besides I just turned 80 and decided I could do all the trim mowing I needed using the FEL mounted Lane Shark. No where near the reach or capability of the ORSI but so much easier to get on and off for one person. SO, I sold my ORSI about 6 weeks ago. Hated to let it go as they are such versatile, robust and well designed tools. But all things considered, I sold it.