how do I adjust the bush hog?

[trotter13]

I'm a new tractor owner and just got a bush hog for my b2710. The front end of the bush hog seems to be tilting forward and the back wheel comes off the ground. How should I adjust it? The dealer gave me no manuals. thanx, Tom

 

[frank_f15]

tom: check the tractor manuel for position of 3pt. but i think u need to lenghten the top link adjustment. appears u have it too short. lenghtening it it will allow rear to lower more.

 

[frank_f15]

P.S.: forgot to mention, all new equiptment should come with manuel. call dealer and demand one. or call manufacture of hog and they will send u one.

 

[trotter13]

Frank, I screwed the lower part of the link out does not seem to do much. Should the hogs front end be on the ground? When I try to use it , the front digs in. Seems unsafe to me.

 

[rmorgan]

Trotter,

Sounds like a mistake by the dealer, not leaving you any manuals. Good for Bush Hog--they their manuals online at http://www.bushhog.com/agtoc.html as .pdfs. The manual says to have front 1-2" lower than rear for "standard cut" or 1" higher for shredding.

Shouldn't you either shorten your top link to bring the front of the cutter off the ground, or just lower your hitch less, or both? I'm not expert with my bush hog either, but after using it for awhile I try to keep it relatively level when I'm on level ground. I still have to use the 3. to account for terrain variations to avoid scalping on crowns, but keeping the body level keeps the sides off the ground. Back wheel off the ground doesnt seem like a good idea--hard for me to visualize how than can happen unless the driveline is too short--does that make any sense?

Anyway, good luck.

--Rick

--Rick

Rick

 

[looch]

<font color=blue>the back wheel comes off the ground</font color=blue>

That's not good. There is no way I could ever get my back wheel off the ground - even with the 3ph all the way up. If your using a Bush Hog brand cutter, the top link connection is mounted in a free-swinging arm. This is so that the deck of the cutter can move over rough terrain independantly of the tractor. It is important to adjust the length of your toplink so that when the tractor and cutter are on level ground, this arm is perpendicular to the ground. It sounds to me that you have the toplink adjusted so that this arm is parallel to the ground - that is, if you have this kind of cutter.

 

[frank_f15]

ok! your machine is one size bigger than mine, but i will bet they are basically the same. check the top link where it attaches to tractor, u will see TWO holes for it to attach to. i beleive u must have it attached to the upper hole, as per tractor manuel. i have mine in that position and the mower is adjusted just right, fron't of deck slightly lower than back.

 

[radman]

I'm thinking your problem maybe because you have the front end lift arms too low. If the lift arms are set all the way down or too low, the front of the mower will dig down in the dirt and as a result the back end can get tipped up. Set your lift arms to the point where the front of the mower is 1-2 inches off of the ground. Set the 3rd link (I use a chain) so the back of the mower is at the same level and leave some slack in the 3rd link so the back end can float over the terrain. On a b2710 the position control of the lift will maintain the correct height of the front of the deck

 

[Bird]

Like the other guys said, raise the 3-point hitch so the front end does not quite touch the ground, then lengthen the top link so the rear wheel on the cutter does touch the ground. And is it a "Bush Hog" or some other brand of brush hog? If you had gotten a manual, it would have told you to mow with the front end slightly lower than the back end for faster mowing (throws stuff out the back faster) or mow with the back end slightly lower than the front if you want it to mulch or chop it up more. I prefer level or very slightly lower in the front.

Bird

 

[Rch]

There has to be some adjustment to the back wheel; on my Landpride there are about 6 holes for positioning the rear wheel up and down. Set up the 3 ph so the front of the cutter barely touches the ground and the back of the cutter 1-2" higher then adjust the rear wheel so it carry about 1/3 the weight. If the top link is not long enough to do this, the dealer may not of given you the 4-6" "hinge" linkage that goes between the distal end of the top link and the top hitch point on the cutter. This prevents the toplink from "pushing" or worse, "lifting" the tractor when the cutter is level and the tractor going uphill or the cutter is uphill and the tractor is level or even going up hill ( like crossing a ditch) The toplink can't be rigid or the rear wheels can be push up and serious/dangerous traction problems can occur. Some people will put in 6" section of chain between the distal toplink and top hitch point on the cutter. Once you got that flexible link in the toplink you should have enough adjustment to position the deck a little hiked up in the back and the rear wheel lightly touching on level ground. If not, you need a longer top link but that's fairly rare.

RCH

 

[Harv]

Okay, RCH -- I'm new to brush-hogging, but ya lost me on this one. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

<font color=blue>adjust the rear wheel so it carry about 1/3 the weight</font color=blue>

I do have the manual for my 60" Howse Rotary Cutter, and it explains quite clearly that the rear wheel adjustments are used to determine the height of your cut (how tall you want the remaining grass/weeds to be). They suggest higher for rough terrain to avoid scalping high spots, and lower for smoother, even ground.

It also instructs to always mow with the 3-pt in float mode so the wheel can follow the contours of the land.

<font color=blue>The toplink can't be rigid</font color=blue>

Again, the instructions in my manual are quite clear on attaching the toplink as you would for any 3-pt implement, and includes a number of pictures showing just that. No mention of a chain or any other flexible linkage.

I've only used the thing a couple of times so far, but I've followed these instructions and all has worked as advertised in the manual, even over some very rough terrain.

So, once again, this newbie is confused (call it a way of life), or I'm just plain not getting what you are talking about. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Rch]

Harv, I got some pictures in the works.

RCH

 

[Bird]

Harv, my Howse (and I assume yours) has a slot for the top link pin instead of a round hole and the hinged or swinging link like my Bush Hog finish mower. And you're right; the manual says to mow with the 3-point in the float position. In order to do that, and keep the front end off the ground, the top link has to be lengthened enough to be pushing against the back of that slot. Just seems to me to be putting an unnecessary strain on it, but I guess it works OK. I just don't do that. I adjust the height of the rear wheel for the height I want on the back, the 3-point for the height I want on the front, then the length of the top link for the pin to ride in the middle of that slot. That gives it room for the mower to move up and down a little bit. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it works for me, and I think puts the least amount of strain on everything./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[Harv]

Thanks, Bird.

I clean forgot about the slot. It's only a couple inches of slop, but I guess that gives it the play it needs. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

RCH -
Looking forward to the picts. I obviously still have a lot to learn. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[djradz]

There is quite a bit of good information on the subject under "Bush Hog Rubbing ...Tires" in the NH/Ford Owning forum dated 7/9/01. I stronly recommend the use of chains, (see forum) which will allow the front of the hog to be at a constant height, (and yet still adjustable) and let the hog top link flex. You will never get a better, more even cut than what you will get through the use of the chains which hold the hog deck at a constant height relative to the tractor rear tires.

 

[Rch]

Harv et al, here are two pictures; the top one shows the "hinge link" at the distal connection of the toplink to the brush cutter. If you were crossing, say a ditch and the tractor was going up the side of the ditch and the cutter was still descending the other side of the ditch (it would be like a "V", the tractor is the left limb of the V and the cutter is the right limb of the V) a rigid toplink would be pushed by the leverage of the cutter into the tractor. Something has to give, like break or possibly lift the front of the tractor so that traction is compromised. Someone about 7-8 months ago posted a thread about going down a slope bush hoggin', crossing a swale or medium ditch and the play in the top wasn't enough and the front of the tractor was pried up, he lost traction and started sliding a little sideways to the bottom of the hill. There was something about a brown spot in his underwear ! I'd appreciate it if someone could resurect that post. As you can see with the hinge link on my Landpride, that hinge bracket can rotate nearly 180 degrees giving 12-14" of play. A 7" chain could do the same. I don't think a 2" slot as describe by Bird on your Howse gives you much of a safety factor, especially with some of the slopes on you property. Maybe something would break on the Howse before enough force to push your tractor was generated.
The 2d picture shows the adjustible rear wheel on the cutter, the back end of the cutter a little higher than the front. I raise the 3 ph a tad so the front of the cutter is not riding on the runner so it doesn't wear excessively.

RCH

 

[Harv]

Thanks, Rch -

Great picts -- worth at least a thousand words. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Now I just have to wait until this weekend to take a closer look at my own setup. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Hope this is helping Trotter13 as much as it's helping me.

 

[Bird]

Harv, RCH's pictures show the same link that my Bush Hog finish mower has, but of course the Howse brush hog is different. And in '95, the Bush Hog brush hog did not have that hinged link either; don't know just when they started using that.

Bird

 

[rbargeron]

For the thread on stained shorts, search all posts, Kubota Owning, for "up on 2 wheels, need new underwear" It ran from July 2 through August 9 of 2000. This got a lot of attention - big discussion about flexible (good) -vs- rigid (bad) top links all topical to this thread.

My Brown 472 rotary and Woods 990 finisher both have a 6" pivoting extension - similar to Rch's pics and Bird's description. They allow some float and prevent the top link from being in compression.

Keep it down on all fours.

 

[Rch]

Dick, thanks for finding that thread; here is the link for those interested
http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=owning&Number=9214&page=&view=&sb=&part=all&vc=1

RCH