Paying It Forward -- BCS 852

[MauiHoss]

Our neighbor, AKA -- the big farmer up the hill -- has a pair of Ferrari four wheelers for harvesting Mac Nuts. I think those are put together by MacMaster in Australia. The driving position is turned 180 degrees toward the back-end to accommodate the harvestor. Pretty cool machines.

 

[MauiHoss]

Re: Paying It Forward -- BCS 852 (Video Link)

Here's a little video of my roommate running the BCS852 with a 26" Del Morino Brush Mower. It's a beast!

BCS With Del Morino Brush Mower In Action - YouTube

We also tried tackling some of the tall stuff that hasn't been mowed in over a year. We had some trouble with the terrain but the engine never bogged down. I'm sure we'll get the hang of it in time.

The biggest problem I ran into was going over dips/ruts in the ground. The engine would bottom out when the wheels hit the low spot while the mower deck would hang up on the other side. To be fair, the grass was a little wet still and the flex point of the mower deck had slipped to a nose down position. I've readjusted the flex point on the Del Morino to a slightly nose-up position so we'll give it another try tomorrow. This was rarely a problem with the old DR Brush Mower since the engine is mounted up higher than the BCS. That's unfortunate as we're trying to mow four or five taro patches which are 1-3' elevation change from one to the next.

BTW -- the debris guard did a great job of keeping clippings out of the intake. I'm still not clear if the direction of the PTO changes when shifting to reverse. It seemed to handle rough mowing in either direction pretty well all things considered.

Enjoy the video.:dance1:

 

[farmerboybill]

Re: Paying It Forward -- BCS 852 (Video Link)

Congratulations on the new machine. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it for years to come.

I was afraid you'd have the issue with hanging up. The length of the deck sticking out is my biggest annoyance with the Del Morino mowers. Did Joel or Chris mention that you can buy taller tires to add clearance under the engine? I usually mention it when selling a machine as it only adds $50 to the cost of the machine when sold as an option. 2 inch taller tires add an inch under the unit and increase tire foot print. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it does help. They also add ground speed and change the angle of attack on attachments, which can be a positive or a negative, depending on attachment.

Another option is a sickle mower. It doesn't stick out as far and is less likely to hang up, but it also doesn't chop up the material. It lays it down like a hay field.

PTO rotation is the same on the BCS, regardless of direction.

 

[MauiHoss]

Re: Paying It Forward -- BCS 852 (Video Link)

Congratulations on the new machine. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it for years to come.

I was afraid you'd have the issue with hanging up. The length of the deck sticking out is my biggest annoyance with the Del Morino mowers. Did Joel or Chris mention that you can buy taller tires to add clearance under the engine? I usually mention it when selling a machine as it only adds $50 to the cost of the machine when sold as an option. 2 inch taller tires add an inch under the unit and increase tire foot print. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it does help. They also add ground speed and change the angle of attack on attachments, which can be a positive or a negative, depending on attachment.

Another option is a sickle mower. It doesn't stick out as far and is less likely to hang up, but it also doesn't chop up the material. It lays it down like a hay field.

PTO rotation is the same on the BCS, regardless of direction.

Joel may have mentioned taller tires but I don't remember that. It would definitely help. I'm pretty sure that he asked me if I didn't want the flail mower but I was head-strong on the brush mower. We didn't want the sickle mower because of the nature of this grass -- it will grow from the cut stalks just laying on the ground.

Good to know about the PTO rotation -- thanks for that!

 

[Jens767]

Re: Paying It Forward -- BCS 852 (Video Link)

Hi MauiHoss

Congratulation with your new tractor and your mower. Poor you having to live on Maui

Looking at your video, it looks like you have some serious mowing to do. It is good to see your roommate wearing ear-protection; sadly, that is often overlooked when working with 2-wheel tractors.

As mentioned by Joel on his homepage - and by some of us in this and other threads, I can only recommend the tallest possible tires, when working with a mower. On the BCS 852 that means 6.5x12x23", as the cylinder head of the Honda engine will not allow taller tires without axel-extensions.

I got my BCS 740, which - except for clutch, handlebars and blue plastic bits - are very similar to yours, with the standard 5x10x20" wheels. Had I known then, that I would get a mower later on, I would have opted for the taller tires in the first place. They make a lot of difference, and much more than one would expect looking at the numbers alone.

Due to the way they are designed, BCS-style tractors have less ground clearance than for instance the Honda-style ones; and especially so, if they are fitted with small wheels. On the other hand, they are less prone to tip over on slopes, due to their lower center of gravity.

Watching your video, I would expect you to have around 4" of ground clearance under your engine. Changing to the bigger wheels, will only raise the driving axle some 1 1/2", but because you are then able to tilt the PTO-flange upwards on the mower, while still maintaining the deck parallel to the ground, you will end up with some 8" of ground clearance under the engine - almost double!

Thank you for the video.


Best regards

Jens