Best way to sharpen brush hog blades

What's the best way to sharpen brush hog blades so I don't kill myself?

you wont kill yourself, but that being said, theirs more to it than just sharpening, first what is the brush hog mowing? if your mowing mostly grass, you can sharpen the blades up sharp like a lawn mower and they'll do a nice job on grass, but they wont do well if your mowing brush and small saplingts, for that they need to have a semi sharp edge so they]ll shatter the brush stumps and help prevent regrowth, then next thing is what do you have to sharpen the blades with? i use a bench grinder once in awhile with the blades each removed from the carrier, but for most general sharpening a small right angle grinder works well, if you get a grinding disc so you can use the backside of it to gring the top of the blades, some brush hogs will not allow this due to their design, and you must remove the blades to sharpen every time, some will let you get a grinder up in there and use it, block the brush hog up so it cant fall on you, if its hooked to the tractor a pair of good quality jack stands will work fine, then block the pto shaft so it cant rotate i hold the blade with one hand and run the grinder with the other, it takes some practice, if your not feeling safe doing that way just remove the blades to sharpen them

I use an air grinder on my Woods mower blades with a coarse stone. I lift up the mower while on the tractor the wedge it so it can"t come down. Put on a face shield and grind the blades but still leave a flat leading edge. It works very well and it saves on taking those blades off the bush hog.

......if your mowing brush and small saplings, for that they need to have a semi sharp edge so they will shatter the brush stumps and help prevent regrowth .....

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This is also important if you have livestock that may step on the stub , your tires may appreciate it also .

If and when I do that I back in my shop and use my chain hoist to lift it up and hold it so the bottom is straight up and down. Now if you do not have a chain hoist to do that back up close to a tree put a block under one side then use a com-a-long and pull it up and on to the trunk of the tree then chain it fast so it can not fall on you or any thing else and sharpen away wit ha angle grinder. NEVER go under something like that unless you have it well blocked up and even then doing it that way is very hard

Just lift the mower up and use a angle grinder, BUT MAKE SURE IT IS BLOCKED WELL BEFORE CRAWLING UNDERNEATH, these can very heavy when they come down on you.


Stan
9N 222933
2N with 8N motor 8N345567
8N 146710
8N 179555
8N 197904
8N 199000
8N 254079
8N 362039

Just sharpened mine ouple of days ago. Removed the tail wheel(2 bolts)Used gin pole-backed up to the rear of the hog-hooked chain to top 3 point connection point on the hog-raised it some and pulled forward, Stood it almost straight up. Put 2X 10 under lip that was up in the air for safety measure--clamped one blade with vise grips and held it with one hand and ground away with a 4-1/2" DISC GRINDER--NO FUN BUT GOT A GOOD JOB DONE ON THEM..Eased her back down..next thing I knew I had it half painted and I finished it before dark--needs a little welding-not much.I got it for $100 so I"mhappy with it-could easily get 3-4 times my money back out if it.It"s a 5 footer..Had a heavy heavy box blade with hydraulic teeth for digging-Tractor is 46 hp and would handle it but I traded a dude for a standard box blade and he gave me $200 boot--I like horse trading..

(quoted from post at 20:02:36 05/25/13) What's the best way to sharpen brush hog blades so I don't kill myself?

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I take the blades off myself.

I use an angle grinder like most here have said, with the mower well blocked up.

I use an engine-hoist to lift it by the tailwheel-frame, and block it up, then grind 'em with an angle-grinder.
Keep a 1/8" flat leading edge (because a sharp leading edge will not endure and may fracture, and that's what the Rhino website stipulates.)
If you have old blades and vibration...consider starting over with new blades....because they may have been previously-ground way out of balance.
Keep 'em somewhat balanced unless you like vibration and replacing bearngs and gearboxes.
Kinda hard to do unless you can remove them and hang 'em on opposite ends of a skinning gambrel, etc., and even then you have to recognize that a blade that's thicker at one end than the other (blade) will have more centrifugal force (i.e. dynamic balance), so keep 'em somewhat symmetrical..