rear wheel on bush hog

[bear]

Should the "rear wheel" on a bush hog contact the ground while mowing or just hover above. The dealer lost my instruction manual and I'd wrather ask you guys vs. them.
Thanks

 

[BB_TX]

I suppose you could do it either way. But my rear wheel rides on the ground. I adjust the 3pt so that the front of the deck is slightly lower than the rear of the deck with the wheel on the ground. I don't particularly want all that weight suspended all the time.

 

[RoyJackson]

Mine's not only on the ground while cutting, I keep the top link long enough that the wheel stays on the ground while transporting across the grass or field. If you do this, just raise the front end high enough...don't hit the PTO shaft.

I will bring the tail wheel up when transporting on hard pavement...but I rarely have to do that.

 

[Freds]

I was having a problem with my KK brush hog wheel turning (actually swivelling) and never did have it adjusted right, or so I thought. I played with the toplink, with cutting height, with the wheel adjustment. It would skid across the ground most of the time when I turned and really tore up the ground.

I had my Rhino BH delivered a couple of weeks ago and the person who delivered it, also the store owner, told me flat out without my asking that the wheel is supposed to be set to hover just above the ground while cutting. That the 3 pt is designed to support all the weight of the implement and the rear wheel is only an anti-scalp wheel. Any cutting angle of the BH is to be set using the toplink.

Works for me.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I had my Rhino BH delivered a couple of weeks ago and the person who delivered it, also the store owner, told me flat out without my asking that the wheel is supposed to be set to hover just above the ground while cutting. )</font>

Freds, have you read the manual for that Rhino? I have not, so I can't say for sure, but I think I'd bet money that your dealer erred badly. Everyone I ever knew of using a brush hog, had the tail wheel on the ground, and I know what the manual for a Bush Hog brand shows. If you look at how they say the top links should be adjusted, it would be physically impossible to do that without the tail wheel on the ground.

 

[Ole_Hickory]

I agree with you Bird.

 

[Villengineer]

In the past, I've run brush hogs for many years and for several different farmers and everyone of them had them set up so the tail wheel touched the ground. The only time we "hovered" them was when the brush was too high to run them all the way down. With my current set-up my tractor is a bit too light in front and I have to run with the wheel touching. The only time I tear-up the ground very bad is when I try and swing it to sharp or when turning on really un-even ground. Usually where I run the BH I don't care though.

 

[KubotaSteve]

If you let the wheel hover just above the ground and then go into a turn the runners on the bush hog will rip the sod to pieces. The bush hog uses that wheel as a pivot to spin the bush hog round when going around turns.

 

[OkieG]

Tailwheel on the ground, with slack in the toplink (like RoyJackson) is a good technique.

OkieG

 

[beenthere]

I am with the "wheel on the ground" crowd. I cannot imagine anyone operating a rotary cutter (BH is a backhoe I thought /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif and Bush Hog is a brand name of a rotary cutter)with that wheel hovering, unless just trying to raise above a stump or rock or cut brush high.

IMO, the dealer didn't do you any favors with his instructions. But then, maybe he knows something about the situation that I don't know. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I run chain from the top link of the 3pt down to the rear of the rotary cutter (brush hog) just so the rear of the deck rides on that wheel which is the height adjustment for that end of the deck. For travel, or for fast turning, I lift the 3pt and the chain tightens and lifts the rear of the deck so the wheel is off the ground. Adjust the length of the chain so the PTO shaft doesn't contact the front edge of the deck when lifted. When turning, I slow down if I am mowing (not lifting) otherwise the deck is swinging around too fast (like the crack-the-whip game).

Listen to Bird. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif