I brought my dad's older bushog home to try to fix it. The metal the
hoghead mounts to were broken. I am going to try to weld some new metal
in. SOmeone had welded on the metal before. Do you know is there a
certain height the hoghead needs to be? I mean I can lower it. If I
raise it all the way up the "bowel" on the inderside where the blades
mount to run the underside when you spin it.

Any advice here? I have never worked on a bushog before. This is an
older one and I dont even know the brand name but it is heavey and bid.
(At least for wwhat I am used to.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I brought my dad's older bushog home to try to fix it. The metal the
hoghead mounts to were broken. I am going to try to weld some new metal
in. SOmeone had welded on the metal before. Do you know is there a
certain height the hoghead needs to be? I mean I can lower it. If I
raise it all the way up the "bowel" on the inderside where the blades
mount to run the underside when you spin it.

Any advice here? I have never worked on a bushog before. This is an
older one and I dont even know the brand name but it is heavey and bid.
(At least for wwhat I am used to.


"Hog head"??? Are you talking about the gear box?

First of all, "Bush Hog" is a trademark and brand name. All brush mowers
and rotary field mowers are "heavey and bid" (sic).

Depending upon the brand, the gear box may mount directly to the surface of
the mower deck or may mount to a "turtle deck" riser on the mower deck.

The "bowel" is a stump jumper. It's a guard to prevent the spindle from
hitting objects you run over. It shouldn't touch anything when the mower's
operating.

Ideally, the blades should run from dead level with to about an inch higher
than the bottom of the skids. You should be able to "scalp" (just barely)
when running the skids firmly down on level turf. If you know what you're
doing, you can even "finish mow" with a rotary mower. Note that often the
blades have a "drop" at the ends, so the blades can cut lower than the
bottom of the stump jumper.

In ANY case, the gear box should be re-mounted right where it came off --
isn't that obvious? It sounds like instead of gobbing a bunch of bad
weldment on top of other bad weldment, you should cut out the whole area and
re-deck it.

Of course, that means you'll have to cut the pass-through hole for the
cutter spindle, you'll have to drill holes for the gearbox ears, and you'll
have to do the whole job in such a way so the thing still looks like a mower
when you're done.

Based upon the other things you've asked around here, I'd say that's a
project WAY, WAY beyond your current skill level.

LLoyd

I am not wanting it to be pretty, just work. Yes, what I am calling the
"hog head" is the gear box. That is just what people around here
sometimes call them. Just like they call all mowers, (bushhogs).

The gear box does not directly sit on the deck, there is a "riser" made
of metal it sits on. I plan on replacing. I do not know what the
previous owner added or took away to the metal so I cant "assume" that
it goes back at the same height.

No, I do not believe it is beyond my skill level. Just because I ask
alot of questions does not mean I dont know anything.

Now, if you want to be helpful, you say the blades should cut an inch
or so above the skids. How is blade height adjusted on sunch a machine?

Make it so the blades cutting edges are about 1/2" or so above the
bottom of the skids up to about an inch and a half. You have lots of
room to play with, due to gear box shaft length etc.

Cutting height is usually adjusted by the rear wheel(s) by either
raising or lowering the arms they are attached to along with the
height of the lift arms of the tractor. Just get your blade so its up
inside a bit from the skids bottom and it will cut fine. They are
simple machines, for the most part.

I don;t know what size hog you have but if its a bat wing type then
adjustment may or may not be a bit different but ts still on the same
principal.......

==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!
"The original frugal ponder"
~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

wrote in message
oups.com...
Now, if you want to be helpful, you say the blades should cut an inch
or so above the skids. How is blade height adjusted on sunch a machine?

It's not adjustable. It's established by the mounting height of the
gearbox.

Cutting height is adjusted by setting the tail wheel height and hitch
height. Ideally, the mower should run level when at the desired cutting
height. That's an "interactive" adjustment between tail wheel and hitch.
If you lower the front of the mower with the hitch, then you have to lower
the tail wheel. If you raise the front, you have to raise the tail wheel.

If the mower's not level, you'll get a "scooped" cut where either the rear
or front cut deeper. It's not a precision thing, though. Usually the tail
wheel is only adjustable in about two-inch increments. Usually, you set
the tail so the rear end is at or _higher_ than your desired cut height.
Then you lower the front to the final height, and live with the small amount
of scooping it's going to produce. You repeat your precise adjustments with
a movable stop on the hitch control quadrant.

BTW... it's not that you ask basic questions that makes me think you can't
handle this; you should ask. It's that after your questions have been
answered ten ways to Sunday by ten different people (all usually in
agreement), you never seem to "get" it. If you have been getting it, you're
followup posts sure don't show it.

LLoyd