'49 JD B handles my 6 ft Hog!

It still doesn't go through the cluster gear in transmision driven type pto....the power shaft will operate if the tractor is in neutral, right ?

Maybe I'm missing something...but I though it drove from that geat beside the first redux gear which drove the cross shaft to the bevel gear, then out the back.

BTW we pulled a 9'Sunflower 3 spindle roatry mower bought new in 1960 with our '48 "A" for years. It was a load which was better suited to the 70 especially if the grass was damp. The key was keeping the tractor at rated speed and not trying to chew stumps.

The worst thing that ever happened was when the Bush Hog name got coloquialized into "brush hog" and people thought that automatically made the tractor and mower capable of chewing wood.

My $ .02.

Frank-in-Tallahassee
70D // 855

Great story ! And a great lesson !

We had a neighbor kid who got their old "A" pushed into the road when he was chopping stalks. He was concentrating on the fence , started to turn too late, popped the clutch, hit the brakes, the end ground was greasy, and he went through the ditch and up and on to the road. Now no cars were coming, but what if !!!!!

Even the live pto model tractors can't stop a Bush Hog type mower very quickly...they all coast to a stop because the pto brake is very small. I would rather have the tractor stopped while the machine idles down than pushing that strain from the pto through the drive gear, through the cross shafts, to the bull gears and then to the axles. That's what happens if it stops on time. If it doesn't, you end up in the pond..or the road.

Seems to me that you're really multiplying that momentum factor by using the tractor brakes to stop the momentum of the mower and then the forward momentum of the tractor. At that point it's not the brakes, it's the tires and how well they can grab the ground.

I favor an ORC. It's just the safer way to go. If you have that many rocks, you need to police your work area first just like the book says.

My 2 1/2 Cents

Frank-in-Tallahassee
70D // 855

"as soon as I disengage the transmission clutch" means "Now!". Are you sure that the mower doesn't make at least a few turns after you disengage ? And I mean something with some mass, not a sickle bar mower. If a big machine stops that fast, you've twisted a few pto shafts.

I used to help the neighbor who would sometimes ran his New Holland baler with his WD, and that Allis didn't stop that baler any faster than any of the other tractors.

Orange or green, F=MA,

That's my story and I'm sticking to it ! :)

Frank-in-Tallahassee
70D // 855

That's what I thought, but I was referring to the statement above that a live PTO could stop the bush hog. Guess what was meant was that the live pto could stop the pto from being driven. That led to my question. My 70 with live pto also disengages from the powershaft immediately, and the mower coasts to a stop, dragging itself down on the pto brake that is pretty feeble in most live pto's. That's the nature of live. It won't push me and the tractor, but it would with a transmission driven pto.

Frank

I don't want to start a fight either, but,

We bought a new Sunflower 9', three spindle, rotary mower in the summer of 1960 to use with our '48 "A". It was a good load on it. It was much better on the 70.

Bush Hog might not have been making mowers for that long a time, but there were rotary mowers sold with those tractors in mind.

Still, I agree with you that there is no tougher duty on even a new tractor than using a "Bush Hog" type mower in brush and trash that is too much for it to handle. Man, they can tear up a gear train.

Frank-in-Tallahassee
70D // 855

I mentioned here before, we do NOT use the ORC, because of the NEED to stop that Mower in an Emergency... Just pull the Clutch out, and Stand on the brakes....( Your brakes ARE good, arent they? ) You can stop in just a few feet.. The 2-Cylinder should not be pulled down to the point of it starting to "Lunge"... If you don't... you will not damage the PTO universals....otherwise. they can be hard on them... I always break the PTO slip clutch loose every season, then just tighten it enough to not slip while under full power.. Then, if you hit a rock ( or something ) it will absorb the shock--protecting the tractor PTO... Those Shock loads can equal many times the Rated out-put of the Engine..Because of the Heavy Flywheel, and momentum.etc..( Sorry Sam, I didn't Spell out ALL the Variables )..