I actually have very little use for a lawn mower , what little "lawn" I
have is fairly weasily controlled with a weedeater . What I REALLY need is a
bush hog , since much of what I'll be cutting will probably include small
trees and such . I'm wondering if there's any reason I shouldn't fabricate a
set of bush hog hubs/blades to replace the one-piece blades that I now have
.. I realize there will be more load on the bearings/hubs/deck from shock
loads , but they all need repair anyway and there's no reason I can't beef
up the structure while I'm at it . And hey , it should still cut grass
pretty well too .

--
Snag

On Saturday, November 15, 2014 2:39:27 PM UTC-6, Terry Coombs wrote:
I actually have very little use for a lawn mower , what little "lawn" I
have is fairly weasily controlled with a weedeater . What I REALLY need is a
bush hog , since much of what I'll be cutting will probably include small
trees and such . I'm wondering if there's any reason I shouldn't fabricate a
set of bush hog hubs/blades to replace the one-piece blades that I now have
. I realize there will be more load on the bearings/hubs/deck from shock
loads , but they all need repair anyway and there's no reason I can't beef
up the structure while I'm at it . And hey , it should still cut grass
pretty well too .

--
Snag

All the bushhogs I have had were eqquipted with "stump jumpers" Basically a heavy flywheel with two short blades mounted on the perimiter so that centrifugal force swings them out. They are free to swing back when they hit something like a stump that would tear up a single blade on a shaft. In my expierence, the heavier the better is the word on bushhogs. Deck needs to be heavy, as does the gearbox and stumpjumper

Gerry wrote:
On Saturday, November 15, 2014 2:39:27 PM UTC-6, Terry Coombs wrote:
I actually have very little use for a lawn mower , what little
"lawn" I have is fairly weasily controlled with a weedeater . What I
REALLY need is a bush hog , since much of what I'll be cutting will
probably include small trees and such . I'm wondering if there's any
reason I shouldn't fabricate a set of bush hog hubs/blades to
replace the one-piece blades that I now have . I realize there will
be more load on the bearings/hubs/deck from shock loads , but they
all need repair anyway and there's no reason I can't beef up the
structure while I'm at it . And hey , it should still cut grass
pretty well too .

--
Snag

All the bushhogs I have had were eqquipted with "stump jumpers"
Basically a heavy flywheel with two short blades mounted on the
perimiter so that centrifugal force swings them out. They are free to
swing back when they hit something like a stump that would tear up a
single blade on a shaft. In my expierence, the heavier the better is
the word on bushhogs. Deck needs to be heavy, as does the gearbox and
stumpjumper

Exactly what I had in mind . A disc of say 1/2" steel with 2 stub blades of
appropriate length to match the swing diameter of the single blade on there
now (it has 3 blades) . I'm not planning on cutting anything bigger than say
3/4" diameter , and that will be stuff that I have already cut down . I
recently repaired a hub that had the shield disc fatigued and cracked . That
one was a 1" by 4" piece of steel about 3 feet long with a splined hub in
the center . With the shield disc it weighed about 125 lbs .

--
Snag

Gerry wrote:
On Saturday, November 15, 2014 2:39:27 PM UTC-6, Terry Coombs wrote:
I actually have very little use for a lawn mower , what little
"lawn" I have is fairly weasily controlled with a weedeater . What I
REALLY need is a bush hog , since much of what I'll be cutting will
probably include small trees and such . I'm wondering if there's any
reason I shouldn't fabricate a set of bush hog hubs/blades to
replace the one-piece blades that I now have . I realize there will
be more load on the bearings/hubs/deck from shock loads , but they
all need repair anyway and there's no reason I can't beef up the
structure while I'm at it . And hey , it should still cut grass
pretty well too .

--
Snag

When you beef up whats under the deck remember that you will need to
beef up what's on top, as well. I tore up a new cheap($1000) 6'
bushhog when I hit a buried stump. Destroyed one blade, bent the
stumpjumper flywheel and bent the deck where the gearbox bolted down.
It was more trouble that the BH was worth to repair so I replaced it
with a GOOD($2800) BH instead

It's belt drive from the center hub to the 2 outside ones . Light belt
tension should let things slip if I hit that stump - and I've got several
out in the orchard - a year ago it was forest . With big oak trees .

--
Snag

On 11/15/2014 6:53 PM, Gerry wrote:
... I tore up a new cheap($1000) 6' bushhog when I hit a buried stump.Destroyed one blade, bent the stumpjumper flywheel and bent the deck
where the gearbox bolted down. ...

That would have pretty much ruined my day! $1000 may be cheap for a
b-h, but it's still real money.

Bob Engelhardt fired this volley in
:

That would have pretty much ruined my day! $1000 may be cheap for a
b-h, but it's still real money.


I'm more curious how one hits a "buried stump" with a bush hog. If it's
buried, it's not an obstacle.

You can see anthing that would damage a reaonably well-built mower. Mine
cost more than $1K, but I've never seen problems with whacking through
the occasional branch as large as 3". (makes a hell of a racket, but
other than dinging out the side skirts a little, does no lasting harm)
That's what swinging blades are for! Stumps that are above ground are
visible, even in heavy growth.

I've mowed a lot of rough area, including clearing out over-gown dead
orange groves, and it's just kinda hard to miss things that are both big
enough and high enough to bust a mower -- unless you're high on something
while mowing.

Lloyd

On Sat, 15 Nov 2014 14:39:21 -0600, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

I actually have very little use for a lawn mower , what little "lawn" I
have is fairly weasily controlled with a weedeater . What I REALLY need is a
bush hog , since much of what I'll be cutting will probably include small
trees and such . I'm wondering if there's any reason I shouldn't fabricate a
set of bush hog hubs/blades to replace the one-piece blades that I now have
. I realize there will be more load on the bearings/hubs/deck from shock
loads , but they all need repair anyway and there's no reason I can't beef
up the structure while I'm at it . And hey , it should still cut grass
pretty well too .
My old (brown) lawn boy with the front broken off the deck worked
great for trimming back the runnaway lilac bushes. Had about an inch
and a half of the blade exposed. I did put a golf ball into orbit with
it!
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada

On Sat, 15 Nov 2014 21:54:20 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 15 Nov 2014 14:39:21 -0600, "Terry Coombs"
wrote:

I actually have very little use for a lawn mower , what little "lawn" I
have is fairly weasily controlled with a weedeater . What I REALLY need is a
bush hog , since much of what I'll be cutting will probably include small
trees and such . I'm wondering if there's any reason I shouldn't fabricate a
set of bush hog hubs/blades to replace the one-piece blades that I now have
. I realize there will be more load on the bearings/hubs/deck from shock
loads , but they all need repair anyway and there's no reason I can't beef
up the structure while I'm at it . And hey , it should still cut grass
pretty well too .
My old (brown) lawn boy with the front broken off the deck worked
great for trimming back the runnaway lilac bushes. Had about an inch
and a half of the blade exposed.

OSHA would have loved you!


I did put a golf ball into orbit with it!

That's fun, isn't it? I've hit one of the rubber-banded types. The
jacket split and flew off immediately, which is what caught my eye,
then the bands started shredding off in a striptease as it flew away.

--
I started out with nothing and
I still have most of it left!
--anon

"I'm more curious how one hits a "buried stump" with a bush hog. If it's
buried, it's not an obstacle"

Believe me, it's easy down here in La. Ant hill cover roots, partialy buried crossties and firewood chunks. Did you know that a small block Chevy head will stick up in an fireant hill to get hit by a mower blade? But it just low enough to clear the guard on the front of the mower.