Brushhog Repair

[paul case]

Paul, after I added a tube of grease into the gear box on my model 3008., the seals now will hold the 90Wgear lube.

i would say you are quite lucky . i would still keep that oil checked though. i check mine everytime i am going to mow as well.

i would bet the only thing left of the seal on dads little 6'er is the metal outside ring..  pc

There's one out there called a Brown tree cutter. Super heavy duty. Will take down and shatter 6 inch dia. trees. You  need a big tractor

i have heard of them but the only ones i have ever seen are real old.  they made the sides of the mower fold up so you can get a tree to the cutter. pretty neat and heavy built too. are they still in business?   pc

[DanG]

The Brown Tree-cutter is one heck of a cutter, but it ain't exactly a mower.  It's blades are mounted to a big heavy disc, and they are massive, but it turns too slowly to get a good cut in grass.

One of the things I like about Woods is that they are geared a little higher than the cheaper brands.  The tip speed of the blades is what controls the quality of the cut.  Unless I disremember incorrectly, the tip speed at 540 rpm PTO on the 6' cutter I used to have was like 10,400fps.  That was significantly higher than anything else on the market at the time.  I got a lot of jobs because that thing cut so cleanly.

[Magicman]

And then if the blades aren't sharp, you are just chewing along instead of cutting.  That eats up the tractor's HP also.  I have a set of 4 being hammered for my 3008 now.

[DanG]

I thoroughly understand the premise of hammering rather than grinding, and I agree with it in principle.  But I wonder(that means I don't know but would like to) if it is more economically feasible if you have to pay somebody to do it.  How much do you pay for each sharpening?  I haven't had to buy a set of blades for a long time, but they didn't seem all that expensive back in the mid-eighties.  I can turn my cutter on end with the loader and sharpen up in about five minutes and don't seem to lose all that much steel.  I've also noticed, after thousands of hours, that the back side of the blade wears down more than the front, and they will eventually get thin enough that they won't take a hit anymore.

[Magicman]

DanG, you really don't save a lot.  It cost me $40 to have the 4 blades hammered.

I'm sure that they are more now, (I haven't checked) but I think that the last set of new blades cost me about $70.  I have two sets, and just rotate them each year.

[DanG]

I've thought about just hammering my own, but probably never will.  I do have a forge, a big honkin' anvil, and a bunch of hammers, but grinding on the mower is just so easy that I do it a lot more often.  One thing is for certain though, sharp blades make a huge difference!

[paul case]

I can turn my cutter on end with the loader and sharpen up in about five minutes and don't seem to lose all that much steel. 

DanG,
 i think that sounds lke a lot of work to sharpen blades. on my 2615L and 315 the way to do it is lift the wings and sharpen the side blades and the end of the middle ones actually stick out the side enough to sharpen them from the side while sitting on a bucket. the 160 model mower could be sharpened by lifting the mower all the way up and sitting on the ground in front of it . angle grinder in hand .cost less than $4 in grinder discs to sharpen them up.
mm,
i see your point on hammering those blades but when sharpening usually you usually take off the same amount from each blade. the balance shouldnt be affected that much.when my dad had to do some repair on the stump jumpers on his mower he sometimes set the dish on a tire bubble balancer for tires. worked real fine to balance it .
a neighbor of mine had his blades hammered. they said he was too cheap to waste any metal. pc

[DanG]

Well you can be sure I'd do it that way if my cutter had wings, but it is a single.

[Magicman]

My hammering guy has a forge and trip-hammer.  I would hate to even think about hand hammering a blade out for ten bucks.  One of the pluses for hammering is that no metal is taken off.

[Banjo picker]

I like Bushhog brand.  There is an outfit based in Arkansas called Bush Whacker that builds real heavy duty machines.  I wasn't familiar with them until working with the state.  Many highway departments in the use their 15 ft batwing mower.  I think they are everybit as tough as a Bushhog but costs less. 

I have had good success with Rhino and Woods mowers too.

I had a Woods dixie cutter M5 for years it is a fine machine...I just sold it last week ...with a little work it would still be better that the one I now have...

As James said the state of Ms... at least up here uses the Bush Whacker mowers....and it is unreal the abuse they get...and for the most part just keep on running...We hit rip rap, parappet walls on box culverts, ole tires and wheels...anything that can hide in tall grass...They would be worth a look....Tim