BrushHog for TO35

I recently purchased a 1959 Ferguson TO35 and am looking for a brushhog.

The outside width of the rear tires is about 68 inches.
On tractordata.com, it says the PTO horsepower is 32.

Would a 5ft or 6ft brush hog be better?

Some folks say that a 6ft could be too much for this tractor, while others say it could handle it.

As for the width of the brushhog, folks say it is better for the brushhog to be wider than the rear tires. This way, you can get closer
to things for trimming . You also don't cut disturbed grass as the tractor tires would flatten down grass on the first pass you would end
up not cutting that on the 2nd "overlap" pass.

Other people say to have it narrower than the tire width so that way you know if your tractor can make it past, then the brushhog will as well.

There is also the question of shear pin vs slip clutch and then which manufacturer (Woods, BushHog, KingKutter, LandPride are the ones in my area).

I have about 8 acres of horse pasture to mow.


On another question, it is correct to say I have a Ferguson TO35 or a Massey-Ferguson TO35?


Thanks
 
I am only replying to the correct way to say which tractor you have. Ferguson made the TO 35, Massey Ferguson made the Massey Ferguson 35. So with your tractor you should say I have a 1959 Ferguson TO 35. There are many people that do not realize this difference. Welcome to the best forum on the www.
 
I have a 1957 TO35, I pull a mid weight 5 ft. Rotary
cutter.

In heavy grass or tall thick weeds a 5 ft. Cutter is
all my tractor needs.

If all you are going to do is clip a pasture then
you should be able to handle a 6 ft rotary cutter.

Depending on the brand there can be significant
difference in the weight of the cutter.

You do not want a cutter so heavy that each time you
pick it up, the front of the tractor comes off the
ground.
 
Agree with maxwell99. I've got a 5ft on my 35 and it's just right. If I get in heavy stuff, I've got to drop to 2nd, but if I'm just taking off 6 inches, I can roll along in 3L or even 1H...

I think a 6 would force me to a lower gear more often, and I probably wouldn't make up the time difference by getting more on each pass.
 
I have an MF 35, yours is a Ferguson TO 35, just a question of the
year of manufacture as the merger was taking place. Mine likes a 5'
but before I had the loader on it when I would hook up the heavy
Bush Hog 205 it was like having power steering, took all of the
weight off the front end. Whether that was good or bad depended
on how badly I wanted the tractor to turn. That was even with
about 200# of front weight. Without the weight it would have been
worse.
Zach
 
Thanks for all of the quick replies!

Just to clarify that I do have a loader already attached so that would take care of keeping the front end down. Although I have heard that having both a loader/bucket and a brushhog can make it hard to maneuver. It does have manual steering althought the steering links have been extended a few inches which does help.

If a manufacturer says 6ft brushhog needs a minimum of 25HP, is that just going through "normal" grass (not sure what "normal" is - medium thickness of 12 inches?)

Any comments on whether the brushhog should be wider or narrow than the rear tires? My rear tires are 68inches between the outer edges.


Thanks for any advice !!
 
Doesn't make a big difference to me about the tires overhanging a
bit beyond the bush hog, when I use my 5' on my Farmall 300 it is
even worse. I am looking for a 6' for the farmall. My 35 is a bit
tired so I would not want more than 5' for it.
Zach
 
My hog is just about as wide as my rears.. but using stabilizers, I can hold it offset to one side or the other to get it out past the wheels if I really want to...
 
I have a 1957 TO35 that I recently purchased and tow a woods CO-80 brush hog with flail blades. Works just fine, it is a drawbar tow pto driven setup. The woods mowers are very heavy duty. Mine is 80 inches wide. Some hilly ground but mostly level. I have cut grass that was as tall as the tractors rear tires (did take a couple extra passes in low gear tho) and now that everything is trimmed up nice I just finished cutting the 2nd time around in 3rd gear low range, only had to slow for a couple heavy spots and a couple steeper hills. I would not go with a smaller tractor for that mower but the TO35 runs it fine.
 
I had a 6' bush hog on a TO-35 once. When you picked it up the hydraulic pump knocked loudly. You could walk around to the front of the tractor and pick it up off the ground with little effort.

If you're just mowing pasture - I'd strongly suggest sticking with a 5' mower.
 

In reply to your question, please look at my earlier pixs of "mowing with a 1958 TO-35". This is powered with the 23 C diesel.

I use a 5' Razorback Bush Hog that is used to mow 35 acres of horse paddock. This is a lighter built unit than the Woods or that style and is only designed for cutting up to 1" thick brush, not the 3" that our bigger Woods is.

I have some hilly areas and have cut up to top of radiator grass using 2 or 3 L gearing. When cutting shorter I normally can use 1 H.

Since the TO-35 is somewhat lighter than the newer small ag- tractors I have not had significant problem with the mower being narrower than the rear wheels and pushed down grass.

Good luck, stabilizer arms are a great asset,and I strongly suggest them, especially with side hill mowing.

Fx
 
I have a 1955 TO-35 and a 30+ year old "Hi-Co" brand 5 foot brush hog. It does pretty good considering I only mow my fields two or three times a year with it and they are pretty tall when I do so. I just stay in second gear/1350 RPM and she cruises through no problem. I am going to buy some adjustable stabilizers for the lower arms though. This old hog is pretty heavy and likes to swing around from one side to the other in turns and on slopes. When its time to get another one I am probably going to buy a four footer with dual rear wheels. I'm not a big fan of just the single wheel and the narrower brush hog would probably be a little easier on this old girl.
 
Thanks for all of the replies. Great information from real tractor users !

One of my local dealers says to stick with 5ft and another one says 6ft is fine. Seems like many people are recommending a 5ft unit. Guess I am struggling with whether the tractor can handle the 6ft or if 5ft is better. Another thing is the 5ft I am looking at is 66 inches actual width which would just about cover my tractor tires width of 68 inches. Although the cutting width is only 60 inches, I would be doing an overlap on the next cutting pass. Is there any big deal about cutting grass that is laying down due to the tractor tires running over it before being cut? Can you just do another pass from a different direction to pull the grass up and get it cut?

As the 6ft is heavier than the 5ft unit, it got me thinking about what is the 3pt hitch lift capacity of a TO-35? I search around and did not find it yet.

Any advice about getting a brush hog with shear pin vs slip clutch on the TO-35 that has the live PTO?
 
If you buy a cutter that has a slip clutch!

As soon as you get it home, loosen the slip clutch,
be sure it spins free, then re-tighten the clutch
per manufacturers specifications.

The slip clutch must work properly, otherwise if you
hit something solid, if the slip clutch does not
slip, you could bust transmission gears.

Just a heads up.

Sometimes slip clutches have paint on them that keep
the clutch from working properly.

Also, if you buy a cutter with a shear pin, be sure you have soft shear bolts, not hard bolts.

I have a 5 ft and it works fine.
 
I've got a slip clutch on mine. Rarely will it slip when it probably should. I've pulled it apart more than once and cleaned it up. Maybe it would slip if I hit something really solid.. never totally sure it's reliable. A shear pin will pretty much always do it's thing.
 
If you can afford the slip clutch, by all means get it. That way you don't get caught without a spare shear bolt.
 

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