rear wheel for brush hog

[defed]

i have a brush hog that came w/ my old tractor. the 3 pt had been modified and the rear wheel was gone.

i have viewed the original types of wheel assemblies here:

Brush Hog - Tractor Bush Hog, Field Mower, Rotary Cutter, Agricutter, Brush Cutter

the top left (single wheel, a-frame) is presumably original, but looks pretty weak, especially if backing into something. the one on the top right (dual wheel) looks like overkill for a medium duty cutter.

i was debating if i should use the top right style but w/ a single wheel in the middle instead of 2 wheels.

if anyone has some pics of various styles or ideas, please post.

thanks.

 

[MMagis]

Single rear wheel is fine. If you hit something hard enough to damage it, you've likely damaged something else more important as well.

 

[defed]

i understand if i hit a tree, anything could break. but backing into some 1" diameter dogwoods,for example, seems like the single wheel type might be prone to fail (flex side to side). looks fine for just weed mowing, but is it still beefy enough for courser material?

i guess it's the single anchor point where you adjust height that bothers me. i could make the a-frame and just make that point better.

thanks.

 

[MMagis]

i understand if i hit a tree, anything could break. but backing into some 1" diameter dogwoods,for example, seems like the single wheel type might be prone to fail (flex side to side). looks fine for just weed mowing, but is it still beefy enough for courser material?

i guess it's the single anchor point where you adjust height that bothers me. i could make the a-frame and just make that point better.

thanks.

If a 1" dogwood hurts that, it was about to fall apart already. Unless you plan to be backing into large trees, I think you're worrying too much. I use mine MUCH harder than most people and it's still just fine. It's not a King Kutter, but it only has the single tail wheel.

 

[Ford850]

The steel is thick on those supports. I've bulldozed over trees at least 2" in reverse many times with no problems.

 

[defed]

do you guys happen to know the dimensions of the steel used? i guess from the pics, i just got the impression that they weren't that heavy. thinking about it more, i'm not as concerned about knocking stuff down as much as the lateral forces on the wheel when cutting into some rough stuff and the whole cutter is bouncing up and down and side to side. that small upright supporting the a-frame just seems not sturdy enough for that.

the current wheel, i added in a hurry a couple of years ago just so i could use it. the mount on the deck and the mount on the wheel are joined together w/ 2 pieces of 3" x 3/16" channel, bolted back to back. after some years of heavy use, the channel is ripping apart down the center. that's the only reason i was concerned about the strength of the a-frame.

but, if you guys say it is good, i can make it. in fact, i probably don't have any flat stock long enough, so i'll probably use square tube or angle, which will probably make it even stronger.

 

[Soundguy]

i understand if i hit a tree, anything could break. but backing into some 1" diameter dogwoods,for example, seems like the single wheel type might be prone to fail (flex side to side). looks fine for just weed mowing, but is it still beefy enough for courser material?

i guess it's the single anchor point where you adjust height that bothers me. i could make the a-frame and just make that point better.

thanks.

I have a kk with single wheel.. have never hurt it hitting things yet.

soundguy

 

[defed]

i scrounged up some parts for a wheel height adjustment setup from an old crimper. it is the same as the one that is used on my grandfather's heavy duty tow behind brush hog. i will have to modify it, mostly just cutting it to length, and add an arm to attach my swivel wheel. it will adjust height via a ratcheting turnbuckle.

 

[lostcause]

you mentioned that the 3ph had been modified too. make sure that whatever you put it back to includes a pivot between the mower and your tractor's top link bar. this is what allows the mower to tip up (when the back wheel makes contact with the ground). if your top link goes directly between the tractor and mower with no other pivot, you're likely to bend or break something. if i don't make sense, take a close up look at the 3ph top connection on a new mower.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. the flex link.. many companies use a 'U' shaped pece for this. deffinately something to think about.

soundguy

 

[defed]

thanks for the tip. there is no independent pivot for the top link, just its own ball sockets. i have used it like it is for 4 or 5 years, and i always hated how it road on the ground. i was going to try w/ no top link, but now i will have to check the ones out at TSC and see how they are. for years, i've had a rinky dink rear wheel, and somehow it held up....then i swapped the cheap tire for the real laminated one, and then things started to break! i'm thinking the 3pt has something to do w/ it.

another thing i noticed w/ my new tractor, where the lower arms connect to the pins, the pins are set back on the angle iron a few inches. this allows me to actually lift the whole unit w/o the top link attached. the lower arms hit the protruding angle iron, not allowing the mower to tilt back. never noticed this on the old tractor, maybe it had narrower arms. then again, if i lifted the mower too high on the old tractor, the pto shaft would hit the deck (was bent when i got it and i accidentally broke it once myself). nowhere close to hitting on the new tractor.

it came w/ my old tractor when i bought it, i've beat on it pretty good, have made some repairs to it over the years...can't ask for much else from a free brush hog.

 

[defed]

while searching for pics of the flex link, i found a pic of the type of wheel i am going to fabricate. i will make it possible to add dual swivels like the one pictured, but it will currently only have one in the center.

 

[Soundguy]

imagine a u shaped piece of flat stock with 2 sets of holes drilled in it. one set across the flats near the bottom of the u.. one set near the top. this Y shaped piece is narrow enough to fit between the members that now holt your toplink at the mower. use the pint that normally holds the mower toplink to hold the u shaped piece using the set of holes near the bottom of the u.. place the toplink in the other set of holes.. now you have some swivel.

soundguy

 

[djradz]

If you don't want to fabricate a flex-link, you might be able to get one direct from KK or through TSC.

 

[defed]

sounds pretty simple to make. thanks for the description.

 

[defed]

i looked at the factory wheel assembly and it is pretty stout. alot more so than i could have imagined from looking at the pics. but, i have already started (90%) done w/ my turnbuckle adjusted single wheel.

it would be 99% done, but i didn't take into account the angle of the swivel wheel to to the ground...the spindle the tire assembly swivels on ended up at a fairly steep angle to plumb, so when the caster spins 180 degrees, it's a cpl inches higher than it started due to the angle relationship of the spindle and caster. kind of hard to explain w/o a picture. i just need to reset the rear spindle to be plumb and it should be good to go. it would work as it is, i think, but would probably add stress to parts as the wheel tries to lift the whole unit up and down as you change direction.

 

[Soundguy]

post some pics when ya get a chance!

soundguy

 

[defed]

sure, i can, but my fabrication work isn't THAT good. i'm a rookie at it, but so far it's coming out pretty good. in fact, i'll try to get some now before i change the wheel angle so you can see what i was talking about.

the worst part is the jerry-rigged caster. i started w/ a pre-made swivel about 6 yrs ago, and have modified it a few times, often in a hurry, so that looks REALLY bad, but it works.

 

[defed]

here you can see the problem i created when i attached the caster to the support arm...i welded the arm on square to the swivel. as you can see, this causes a severe angle mismatch when going from forward to reverse.

the last pic has a line drawn where the swivel should be positioned to make it plumb. the problem is that i think my support arm will be too short to keep the wheel from hitting the brush hog in reverse. i have more square tubing to make another. but my half round cut outs came out so good, i hope i can do it again.

 

[defed]

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