Finish mower for 8N

Douga · Sep 1, 2014

I am buying a 52 8N tractor. However I noticed most of the mowers have a 40HP gearbox and the 8N any gets around 25HP to the PTO. Does that mean I can"t use them or do I just need to run in a lower gear?

Any suggestions on what to look for in a brush hog and a finish mower?

I"ll be using this on a 14 acres were the greatest slop is a 40" drop over 180" ft

Thanks

Farmallhal · Sep 1, 2014

I'm not a regular on this YT forum but I have a 1952 8N along with a finish mower which I use behind the 8N to keep the extended yard looking nice. About the gear box rating you note I believe that is the maximum HP it is rated for and your 8N will handle it just fine. I have larger rotary mowers or bush hogs for other tractors for maintaining my pastures which I believe are rated with 150 HP gear boxes and use tractors in the 65-80 HP category on them and again everything works fine. On the 8N I have a 6 foot Bush Hog brand finish mower with a rear discharge and it works wonderful as the grass clipping are spread evenly across the entire width of the mower and not "windrowed" on one side. I generally pull it in first of second gear depending on how thick the grass might be at various times of the mowing season. Hope this helps and your 8N will work fine but be really careful around fences and building unless you have an overriding clutch in the PTO drive somewhere, Hal.

Royse · Sep 1, 2014

An 8N will run a finish mower and a rotary mower just fine.
I would stick with 6ft for a finish mower and 5ft for a rotary.
You will need an override coupler with a rotary mower.
Similar to this one which will also adapt 1 1/8 PTO to 1 3/8 if needed.
Welcome to the forum!

John in Mich · Sep 1, 2014

I used my '51 8N in front of my Ford 5' brush hog and Woods 6' finish mower for years until I bought my Jubilee. The 8N is retired to hauling hayrides and going to tractor shows. I've been driving it 61 years.

Tom N MS · Sep 1, 2014

As someone else said the 40 hp gearbox means max.hp of the tractor(plenty of them are used behind tractors with higher hp and get away with it for a long time) -- If u buy a finish mower, do yourself a major favor and get a rear discharge--u won't regret it--cut grass gets on out from under the deck out the rear without churning it around under there like a side mount does...I have had three different FMs over the yrs and the rear discharge is the only way to go......HTH

RET-N-IA · Sep 1, 2014

I agree with Royse and Tom's responses but I will add that always check before each mow the condition of the blades. I doesn't take long to wear 'em down. I put an edge on 'em almost every cut,atleast every other cut. Your tractor has to work twice as hard with dull blades. Fifteen minutes with an angle grinder or Dremmel makes a huge difference.

Finish mower for 8N

Douga

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Farmallhal

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Royse

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John in Mich

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Tom N MS

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RET-N-IA

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