I was mowing when...

[lastcowboy32]

I get what you're saying. I should say that my own opinion was formed from a couple of things.

1. When I started using Bush Hogs, it was on my father's farm to clear land that he rented that had sat fallow for years. My brother, when renovating these fields for dad, liked to do it in late August, early September, using winter rye as a cover crop over grass seed. So there I was, looking at acres of weeds, saplings, hidden stone piles, shrubs, etc. My brother sat me on a JD 1520 and gave me a few instructions. One of which was, if the tractor can drive over it, the bush hog can take it. And that I did. Ear protection? Nah... this is the early 80's. So hours and hours of dust, chaff and noise from whacking saplings, stones, ant hills... At the end of the day, tractor and bush hog were just fine, but both were used to their capacity.

2. Fast forward 35-40 years, and my wife and I got the opportunity to use a 60acre field for hay... but... it was no-tilled to corn two years before and left alone. It's early June and it's grown up to all sorts of weeds. I pull in with the 2N and a heavy duty bush hog that I borrowed from a neighbor. I figure that it's not saplings, how bad can it be? Well..plenty bad. The old N was grunting plenty and getting hot.

So... why would I look at doing 60 acres in 1st gear, cutting partial widths? The bush hog was rated for a bigger tractor... which I had... and I was able to travel at a reasonable ground speed taking full widths.


So... sure... you can cut with a 40hp rated bush hog with a 2N... but you're going to have to do tricks to get the load on the bush hog down to 20hp... set it really high, take partial widths... mow often... But, if you take a 2N out to do 40hp rated work with a 40hp rated bush hog? Well bless your heart.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I see no reason to disparage how others use
their tractors.
Some guys have trailer queens and only take
them to shows.
Others use them for deer plots, gardens, road
maintenance, drilling post holes, loader
work, making hay, snow removal or lifting and
loading things. I use my tractor for many
tasks but use my tractor more for bush
hogging than all other things combined.
If I had not mowed to keep the brush down in
my open meadows for the last 20 years I would
have had zero open areas left.
It would have devalued my property a lot to
have let it all go to brush.
And I enjoy mowing. It is fun and a form of
relaxation for me.
What others use their tractors for is not my
call to say if it is legitimate or not.
Run em if you got em.

 

[lastcowboy32]

I was simply pointing out my "too much" worries.

 

[Ultradog MN]

[i:654c4848f0]''So... sure... you can cut with a 40hp
rated bush hog with a 2N... but you're going
to have to do tricks to get the load on the
bush hog down to 20hp... set it really high,
take partial widths... mow often... But, if
you take a 2N out to do 40hp rated work with
a 40hp rated bush hog? Well bless your
heart.''[/i:654c4848f0]

Don't get stuck on having to use a 23 hp
entry level tractor.
There are other, bigger, more capable
tractors - with more options and features out
there...

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 11:04:05 07/21/23) [i:d420594808]''So... sure... you can cut with a 40hp
rated bush hog with a 2N... but you're going
to have to do tricks to get the load on the
bush hog down to 20hp... set it really high,
take partial widths... mow often... But, if
you take a 2N out to do 40hp rated work with
a 40hp rated bush hog? Well bless your
heart.''[/i:d420594808]

Don't get stuck on having to use a 23 hp
entry level tractor.
There are other, bigger, more capable
tractors - with more options and features out
there...

And really, that's all I'm trying to say.

It's very simple in my mind. I look at my 2N and think... it has about the same horsepower as the Craftsman lawn mower that we use on the lawn. I've overloaded that lawnmower plenty, resulting in broken belts... constant fiddling with the mower deck... replacing those new lightweigth blade assembly thingies in the deck... but the engine isn't the limiting factor.

Most bush hogs you take to the field with a 2N will take far more abuse than the tractor you're powering it with... so you'll get no warning from the bush hog. You'll have to listen to the 2N itself.

 

[lastcowboy32]

With lawnmowers... I contrast that with the old Simplicity "Landlord" that my father had growing up...

The deck on those things built like a tank. I think we replace a bearing in it here and there over years and years of use. It had a 42" deck.

The machine itself weighed about twice what a typical 20hp lawnmower with a 48" deck would weigh now.

But it had a whopping 8 HP! I could stall the engine on that before I slipped a belt on the deck.

And we fiddled with that engine constantly.

 

[Jim in LA]

We ran a model 12 5 ft. Bush Hog on our 8n for over 20 years.

 

[lastcowboy32]

Well... I mean... Mine came to me with about 1/2 the compression it should have and a bent radius arm.

Somebody abused it doing something.

So maybe I got a little skiddish about beating it up after we rebuilt the engine.

But I've also done enough "mowing" and "bush hogging" over the years to know that how much abuse you get on a tractor from a bush hog is highly dependent on how you use them. If you use them as a "mower" ...keep them set high, mow the same area regularly, and even think about sharpening the blade once in a while
..they are pretty easy

If you take them into an unknown area, to "bush hog"...leave the blade like a club, set them low and make them try to grind up a thick dose of grass, forbs, legumes andand shrubs.before it can spit it out..and let them dig in here and there...completely different ball game

 

[lastcowboy32]

This is for HFJ.

Some pictures of fence clearing this summer with the scythe. I haven't gotten to our traditional multiflora rose clogged areas, but it has been doing the trick so far. Keep it sharp, and saplings about as thick as your thumb can be cut with a well placed slice

 

[lastcowboy32]

 

[Pete76NYPa]

Been running a 5' hog on the 2N and 8N for years with no issues...sure there are times when ya gotta cut a tad higher ir take a smaller swath, but that is mostly due to what you are cuttig, not so much the
tractor. This year for instance, things are so thick here in the So. Tier of NY that just for giggles I hooked the 5' Hog up to our JD 70, and got her snortin' a little. but for the most part, a 5' hog is
about as perfectly matched to an N as a 2-14 Dearborn plow is.

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 23:49:35 07/21/23) Been running a 5' hog on the 2N and 8N for years with no issues...sure there are times when ya gotta cut a tad higher ir take a smaller swath, but that is mostly due to what you are cuttig, not so much the
tractor. This year for instance, things are so thick here in the So. Tier of NY that just for giggles I hooked the 5' Hog up to our JD 70, and got her snortin' a little. but for the most part, a 5' hog is
about as perfectly matched to an N as a 2-14 Dearborn plow is.

I can relate. We're just north of you, and if you look at the pictures I posted just before your reply...you'll see that we can grow a bumper crop of weeds here in NY State. I don't know what the tall stuff in my first picture is. It looks like the Sudan grass or Sudex that we used to plant on the home farm. It follows some of the ditches and wet spots along the fence and gets well over 10' tall It "cuts" easy, with it's big, coarse stem. A hand scythe takes it right off. But if you drove over that with a Bush Hog? A lot of mass to try to chew up under the deck. Morning Glory doesn't get tall, but the joke around here is, if you grab one vine and pull it, the whole field shakes. When you get that under the deck, it starts drawing in vegetation from an area all around the deck and really makes the Bush Hog work.

I love our N. I think they are simple, reliable and tough little tractors. I just try my best to give it a fair fight.

This post was edited by lastcowboy32 on 07/22/2023 at 03:27 am.

 

[Leroy]

And a 2-14 plow is too much. When Dad bought my 1944 2N new they brought out a 2-14 with it and after trying 2 rounds took the plow back and brought out a 2-12 inch and we used that plow for years, still have tractor and plow. I tried a 5 foot Mower JD brand and it was too much for the tractor same as the 2-14 plow was. And that same JD mower it would kill a 60 horse tractor. Did that many a time.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Agree.
They probably sold more 2-14s with those tractors than any other size.
But that much plow was not for everywhere.
My 2N with a good strong motor and rear wheel weights wouldn't pull a Dearborn that size.
So I found a Ferguson 1-16 and it was a plowing fool.
It might have pulled 2-12s like you had but I never got a chance to try that.
Edit:
Agree with the others that 5' is optimum width brush mower for an N and they do very well at that task.

This post was edited by Ultradog MN on 07/22/2023 at 06:30 pm.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 21:20:37 07/22/23) Agree.
They probably sold more 2-14s with those tractors than any other size.
But that much plow was not for everywhere.
My 2N with a good strong motor and rear wheel weights wouldn't pull a Dearborn that size.
So I found a Ferguson 1-16 and it was a plowing fool.
It might have pulled 2-12s like you had but I never got a chance to try that.
Edit:
Agree with the others that 5' is optimum width brush mower for an N and they do very well at that task.

This post was edited by Ultradog MN on 07/22/2023 at 06:30 pm.

everywhere" is a key word, here. Two places 75 miles apart, one black gumbo and the other sand/sandy loam and the N pulls easy there.

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 15:12:56 07/23/23)

(quoted from post at 21:20:37 07/22/23) Agree.
They probably sold more 2-14s with those tractors than any other size.
But that much plow was not for everywhere.
My 2N with a good strong motor and rear wheel weights wouldn't pull a Dearborn that size.
So I found a Ferguson 1-16 and it was a plowing fool.
It might have pulled 2-12s like you had but I never got a chance to try that.
Edit:
Agree with the others that 5' is optimum width brush mower for an N and they do very well at that task.

This post was edited by Ultradog MN on 07/22/2023 at 06:30 pm.

everywhere" is a key word, here. Two places 75 miles apart, one black gumbo and the other sand/sandy loam and the N pulls easy there.

My own original post could have been a little more nuanced with better wording about "not everywhere"...

Plows, Mowers, Bush Hogs... An N is well matched to a few different sizes of each, depending on your situation. With a plow, it has to do with the soil and pulling conditions. With a mower or a bush hog, it mostly has to do with how much mass you're trying to mulch or chop up under the deck.

I could have also been much more clear in that it's a free country and it's not my place to tell people how to use their Ns.

Many people find mowing relaxing. I do myself, as well. It just isn't relaxing when I'm worrying about our old 2N, if I think I'm overloading it. Based on many of the responses, maybe it can take a little more than I think it can.

 

[Caryc]

I was not mowing when absolutely nothing happened. It was a good day.

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 09:12:24 07/25/23)
I was not mowing when absolutely nothing happened. It was a good day.

I laugh... because as much as I say it's not relaxing to worry about my N...

It's even worse to do nothing.

I myself need a little bit of something to worry about, like, will I be able to get that field baled before the rain?... Because if there is nothing to worry about... I worry about everything

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 06:41:49 07/26/23)

(quoted from post at 09:12:24 07/25/23)
I was not mowing when absolutely nothing happened. It was a good day.

I laugh... because as much as I say it's not relaxing to worry about my N...

It's even worse to do nothing.

I myself need a little bit of something to worry about, like, will I be able to get that field baled before the rain?... Because if there is nothing to worry about... I worry about everything

ttps://i.imgur.com/C53m5y0l.jpg[/img]

This post was edited by Caryc on 07/26/2023 at 08:27 am.

 

[HFJ]

(quoted from post at 12:23:37 07/26/23)

was sad to read of Al Jaffe's passing in april. i thank him for decades of laughs.

my father was the opposite. his tagline was "i [i:db94edaa6b]like[/i:db94edaa6b] to worry." and he did.