Finishing Mower

Well, I finally found a finishing mower that I thought worthy of an investment. It's a Bush Hog brand ATH600. It does not have a speck of rust on it as the fellow stored it inside when not in use and did not use it much. Most of the finishing mowers I looked at were either rusted to heck or had large rust holes in them and wanted $600-$700 for the privileged of purchasing/working on said junk. I saw this one on Craigslist about 15 miles from me and took a gander. We struck a deal and he loaded it into the back of my F150 and it barely fit with half on the tail gate. Let me tell you that this thing cuts very well. I spent about two hours taking the covers off and adjusting the belt/sharpening blades and then greasing everything up and then hooked 'er up to the '52 8N. Wow, that finishing mower is quite a bit noisier than a bush hog! Poor old N had to drag it around in 1st gear and about 1800-2000 rpms. It definitely struggled with it. I need to rebuild the engine this winter as it has low compression down to about 60psi on each cylinder. It had about 90 psi when I first got it years ago. The 5' mower is quite heavy and 7 gauge steel, but I love it! Won't be using the "riding mower" near as much next year. With the implement rims/wider tires up front, this thing will be doing the job!

Nice find! It's a good machine.
I've been using one of those for about 10 years.
N's can pull them easy in 2nd gear, unless the
grass is real tall. I like being able to raise it
up an inch and mow the field with it. I took the
discharge chute off so it will blow out the grass
better.
Lately have been using it with an 841.
Are you using stabilizer bars?

A finish mower will take more HP to run it so don't
be surprised if it works your tractor a little
harder.

Thanks, I am using one stabilizer bar. I replaced the lift arms with some from YT and they are a little longer than the originals, so only one of the old stabilizer basr will fit. I need to go to a steel place and get another cut that is the correct length.

Yes, I found this out the hard way this morning...lol. Hopefully after a rebuild this winter it will pull it a little easier. :shock:

I use a 6-foot King Kutter finish mower behind my 2N. It works fine in second unless the grass is taller than it should be. Then I need to drop to first and/or take half-sized bites. Been doing a lot of that this summer with all the rain -- ideal grass-growing weather here this year.

Especially if it is not a rear discharge..Rear discharge makes it seem like you added 10 hp.

(quoted from post at 20:26:13 09/26/14) I use a 6-foot King Kutter finish mower behind my 2N. It works fine in second unless the grass is taller than it should be. Then I need to drop to first and/or take half-sized bites. Been doing a lot of that this summer with all the rain -- ideal grass-growing weather here this year.

Click to expand...

Using my 5' King Kutter behind the "45 2N..It works best keeping the grass low..

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpIUt8kj0HU

I got a Maschio 60" at an auction, brand new, for $650 this summer. Someone has consigned two of them and some other new stuff. Build date on mine is 2011 so it has been sitting for some time. Works great. Congrats on your Bush Hog.