What keeps your brush hog from falling???

[TBone]

I remember when I was young and foolish (I'm still foolish but no longer young) and I got a piece of wire wrapped around my brush hog blades, I would raise it up and get under it with my trusty pliers to get the wire off without even thinking about it falling.

Luckily I never had one to fall on me, due to good hydraulics and a lot of luck I suppose. Nowadays I back the tailwheel up to a good sized tree and use a chain to secure it, whether it is a 30 second wire removal or I am taking off the blades for sharpening. Unnecessary?? Maybe, but I feel safer doing it.

What do you do if you have to get under yours??

 

[Harv]

I'm a total brush hog neophite, but when I was installing the chain guards on mine, I set 4 firewood-sized log sections under the cutter at strategic points. I never had more than an arm under the thing, but I took some comfort in knowing that the logs would take the weight of the beast before my arm did. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[RobS]

I was cleaning mine the other day and used a pair of jack stands under the front. Top link would keep the rear up even if the tph sagged a bit. I felt comfortable /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Alan L.]

In the first year I had a tractor I ran over a barbed wire fence and got it all tangled up in the cutter. I had pliers in my toolbox so I raised up the cutter, killed the tractor and climbed under it to get it untangled. Pretty stupid now that I think back.

I have had a dream where the thing falls on me. After I don't show up for supper, my wife discovers me under there where I am stuck. Not hurt but I can't get out. Anyway, heres where it gets tricky. I explain to my wife how to crank the tractor and raise the cutter off me. However she accidentally engages the PTO /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif............

Not gonna to that anymore.

Alan L., TX

 

[Bird]

Like Rob, I have a pair of jack stands I put under mine.

Bird

 

[LazyK]

...Out in the field?... drop it on a log/raise up the front end and block it with rocks or good tree chunks; engine OFF; UN-COUPLE the drive line; brakes-ON; fel---DUG IN; IN gear; key OUT; tell a friend that because his gloves are heavier than your's, he should slink under the b-hog and remove the 50' of razor concertina that you accidently spooled onto the hog-hub

Back at the shop?...chain-hoist with load-balancing-
chain-adjustor-link -thing-that-you-only-use when pulling-V-8 engines.

Pardon me. Safety is not a light humor-thing. I feel very uncomfortable getting under anything capable of turning me into field pizza. Depending on the need to crawl under harm's way...I find leaving it alone and taking it home so it doesn't spit your tail out behind it...a very good option.
After all is said and done, watch thy 'six'.

Lazy K - Chip <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by LazyK on 07/26/01 06:11 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[RichZ]

I don't have a Brush Hog, but when I clean my finish mower, I raise it up on the 3ph, and put a pile of cinder blocks in each corner, and lower it onto them, so it doesn't move while I'm working on it. The engine is off, and all the wheels are chocked. Someone said they disconnect it from the pto. I never thought of that, but I'll do that from now on!!

Rich

 

[TBone]

Alan, that wasn't a dream - that was a nightmare!

I like the jackstand idea that some of the posts suggest but most of my tractor time is spent a long way from my house and shop (as in out in the sticks).

I have a pretty heavy duty five foot brush hog. I don't know what it weighs but it is HEAVY . By chaining up the back like I do the front end could still fall most of the way down. I always try to work from the rear just in case.

I usually leave the tractor running so the hydraulics don't leak down and I never disconnect the pto shaft. I am almost always working alone so I don't /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif guess /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif there is any way for the pto to get engaged. The more I think about it the better it sounds to disconnect the pto - It only takes a minute.

It's funny but laying under there looking up at all that steel right above my head just doesn't give a warm and fuzzy feeling any more.

 

[TBone]

Thanks Bird and Rob, The jack stands are a great idea when I am close to home. I am going to use them next time I sharpen the blades. TBone

 

[Kerry]

G'day Guys,No offence ment guys but YOU GUYS ARE BLOODY CRAZY getting under anything hydraulic without proper supports let alone with engines running and driveshafts connected, it sends shivers down the spine just thinking about it. I guess I am lucky to still have both feet after a 5' machine fell off a stand in the shop where I was working as an apprentice and crushed my right foot,It has made me very aware ever since. So when working on any equipment please THINK SAFETY and OPERATE RESPONSIBLY as we only have one life.Kerry inOz.

 

[Hillbilly]

Hey John,
Amen to what you said!!!!!!
Never work on any type of pto powered equipment with the motor running.

 

[RichNJ]

RichZ,
Just one comment: I have found that cinder blocks are very strong but they do break easily and are brittle. I use wood blocks. But after reading the other posts I am also going to get some jack stands.

 

[bgott]

I recieved the latest issue of Farmshow today and they have an article on one guy's innovative way to work on his MMM. It seems he has an anchor in his driveway that he hooks a chain to and then he hooks the other end to the top of his ROPS on his Kubota. He then drives forward, pivoting on the rear axle, until the front of the tractor is about two feet off the ground and he then puts a stand under it. I imagine this will work until his foot slips off the clutch or his hydro pedal sticks and he loops it!

 

[Bird]

I'm sure that'll work. Was his name Knievel?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[TBone]

Hmmm, Maybe I can do the same thing in reverse. Back up with the chain hooked in front of me and pivot on the front wheels. Then I could stand up under the brush hog and get the wire off. It's amazing the things you learn on this board.
TBone

 

[RichZ]

Thanks, Rich. I think I'm gonna get some jack stands, too!

Rich