I use a Tea 20 tractor to cut the grass on my acreage and purchased some time back a 4 foot slasher/bush hog. This piece of equipment did not come with a Jockey wheel on the back and had chains on it to support the head stock when lifting.
It worked well but you could feel when driving the tractor that it was dragging a big heavy lump behind it and was very hard to turn with the slasher/bush hog unless it was lifted up a little for the turns as you really should do.
I was lazy and did not bother lifting when turning and you could really feel the weight and the tractor working harder when turning.
This set up still worked well but I felt the the tractor was using far too much fuel.
I then decided to follow the advice of John (UK) re setting up the cutter to use the Hydraulics of the tractor and removed the chains and made up some steel bars to make the head stock fixed like the older models used to be.
I purchased a 400mm solid segmented wheel for the rear and used some scrap metal square tube to mount the wheel on.
I adjusted the top link so that the cutter was lower at the front and higher at the rear and then I went out for a test run.
I filled up the tractor with 5 litres of fuel and off I went cutting.
The difference was a quantum leap, the tractor was so easy to turn and it just cut like a dream (It just felt so different and easy to use like my Kubota bx2230).
On the turns I don't have to lift the rear and there is no drop in revs as I turn (It does not seem to bother the tractor).
In relation to fuel economy I was shocked as it kept going and going and I was constantly waiting for it to run out of fuel. In the end I cut a paddock which previously I used to use 15-18 Litres of fuel with just 5 Litres.
I should say that my paddocks are flat and without the wheel I used to use 3rd gear to do the cutting but with the wheel and fixed headstock I am using 4th gear and the tractor does not seem to mind this at all.
While many would say 4th is the wrong gear to be cutting in the tractor is not reving very high and the ground speed I am getting is about as fast as my Husqvarna ride on mower does flat out.
Also of note is that I adjusted my Governor as it was not set up correctly and when cutting in the past the tractor was reving well past the correct 2000-2200 rpm limit and this would be a significant factor in the fuel consumption.
It is just that the rear wheel makes the tractor not notice that it is dragging a large heavy object behind it.
With the Governor adjusted it now does not rev high when cutting and it is so easy to drive.
Regards Brad
It worked well but you could feel when driving the tractor that it was dragging a big heavy lump behind it and was very hard to turn with the slasher/bush hog unless it was lifted up a little for the turns as you really should do.
I was lazy and did not bother lifting when turning and you could really feel the weight and the tractor working harder when turning.
This set up still worked well but I felt the the tractor was using far too much fuel.
I then decided to follow the advice of John (UK) re setting up the cutter to use the Hydraulics of the tractor and removed the chains and made up some steel bars to make the head stock fixed like the older models used to be.
I purchased a 400mm solid segmented wheel for the rear and used some scrap metal square tube to mount the wheel on.
I adjusted the top link so that the cutter was lower at the front and higher at the rear and then I went out for a test run.
I filled up the tractor with 5 litres of fuel and off I went cutting.
The difference was a quantum leap, the tractor was so easy to turn and it just cut like a dream (It just felt so different and easy to use like my Kubota bx2230).
On the turns I don't have to lift the rear and there is no drop in revs as I turn (It does not seem to bother the tractor).
In relation to fuel economy I was shocked as it kept going and going and I was constantly waiting for it to run out of fuel. In the end I cut a paddock which previously I used to use 15-18 Litres of fuel with just 5 Litres.
I should say that my paddocks are flat and without the wheel I used to use 3rd gear to do the cutting but with the wheel and fixed headstock I am using 4th gear and the tractor does not seem to mind this at all.
While many would say 4th is the wrong gear to be cutting in the tractor is not reving very high and the ground speed I am getting is about as fast as my Husqvarna ride on mower does flat out.
Also of note is that I adjusted my Governor as it was not set up correctly and when cutting in the past the tractor was reving well past the correct 2000-2200 rpm limit and this would be a significant factor in the fuel consumption.
It is just that the rear wheel makes the tractor not notice that it is dragging a large heavy object behind it.
With the Governor adjusted it now does not rev high when cutting and it is so easy to drive.
Regards Brad
