modify a mower deck . . .

[PetesPonies1 117]

anyone modify a deck to be a rough cut deck? Bush Hog esque??

[leeave96 488]

Not modified, but the 42 inch rear discharge deck makes a mighty fine field mower.  I wouldn't mow over sticks and brush, but if it's tall grass and weeds, the beauty of the rear discharge deck is it is wide open at the rear, can't clog, leaves the clippings behind as it mows.

 

Good luck,

Bill

[Tankman 3,520]

I believe a RD mower could be beefed up and used in "heavy stuff."

 

Usin' 48" SD decks now, work fine on grass. The RD deck was clean, I used a sweeper when mowing. Excellent results 'specially after the wifey fell in love with the Stallion! 

I use a blade weed whacker to clear, then mow over the cuttings with a 6.5 hp push mower. 'Course, I'm just blazing a trail or two for the Grandsons; deer stands and dirt bike trails.

 

If I had a front mount for my current decks, I might try the Horse after the bladed weed whacker and lopper.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Tankman

[608KEB 796]

I seemed to have better results mowing tall grass with a 48" SD than a 42"RD. The 42" deck belt would stop if mower deck got to full. 48" seemed to push grass out better.

[PetesPonies1 117]

I guess I was hoping for some generic tips    My daily tractor is a LT160 Deere. I have been using it very roughly to say the least. I have been mowing down small ( 1-1 1/2" ) pines and other small hardwood trees along with wild bushes and grasses. Thew trees are taller than me, but I push them down with the front bumper and chew them up with the mower. I spent about 5-6 hours doing this on two occasions. I really did not hurt anything as the blades were toast. anyway. But I consider myself lucky. So I bought a second deck and wanted to use it solely for this kind of work . . .  and was wondering about mods, special blades, cutting an opening in deck etc etc. Ideas?

Edited August 30, 2013 by PetesPonies1

[C-160 Auto 10]

I guess I was hoping for some generic tips    My daily tractor is a LT160 Deere. I have been using it very roughly to say the least. I have been mowing down small ( 1-1 1/2" ) pins and other small hardwood tree allow with wild bushes and grasses. Thew trees are taller than me, but I push them down with the front bumper and chew them up with the mower. I spend about 5-6 hours doing this on two occasions. I really did not hurt anything as the blades were toast., But I consider myself lucky. So I bought a second deck and wanted to use it solely for this kind of work . . .  and was wondering about mods, special blades, cutting an opening in deck etc etc. Ideas?

Have you checked the John Deere forum?

[Hodge71 665]

 

I guess I was hoping for some generic tips    My daily tractor is a LT160 Deere. I have been using it very roughly to say the least. I have been mowing down small ( 1-1 1/2" ) pins and other small hardwood tree allow with wild bushes and grasses. Thew trees are taller than me, but I push them down with the front bumper and chew them up with the mower. I spend about 5-6 hours doing this on two occasions. I really did not hurt anything as the blades were toast., But I consider myself lucky. So I bought a second deck and wanted to use it solely for this kind of work . . .  and was wondering about mods, special blades, cutting an opening in deck etc etc. Ideas?

Have you checked the John Deere forum?

 

 

 

I'm not sure the green guys have a cool place like this that has such a knowledge base....

[C-160 Auto 10]

Hmm. I thought they did. From the sounds of it...what you're doing seems to be working!

Edited August 30, 2013 by C-160 Auto

[welderman85 53]

I'm not to sure and how to make your set up better but for this kind of work I got an old mtd from the scrapyard I just keep the blades sharp I use it to cut trails in the woods and tall grass it works pretty good but small trees are hard on the deck and blades I don't think I would use a mower I cared about for what I do

[C-160 Auto 10]

You could cut the metal from the rear portion of the deck so it works as a rear discharge deck...somewhat. Or buy a spare deck for parts as it tears up.  They make pull behind decks made for rough cutting.  I don't know if you want to spend that kind of money.  Might be worth buying a used pull behind if this is something you have to do frequently. The one pictured is a 44" cut, 12.5 Briggs.  I seriously though about buying one awhile back.

 

[PetesPonies1 117]

You are correct, I enjoy the knowledge base here   I have other tractors. I have a 44" pull behind with a 10.5 HP on it, but it's a finish mower. I use it on the acreage. But I am expanding my "captured" land  . .  so I need something rough. I know it seems what I was doing worked, damn Deere is made tough. Can't say anything bad about it for sure. With an extra deck, I figure I can continue using it with no worries. Making it rear discharge . .  what does that accomplish?? Is it easier to get rid of what is cut?? I'd be for makingthe mod if I understood what it could do. Thanks guys.

[C-160 Auto 10]

If your deck has baffles around the blades, if you removed those and cut the rear of deck the grass would just lay down after being cut. (Similar to a bush hog) Is your side discharge deck throwing debris dangerously? Are you having problems mowing the rough stuff, or just checking if there's a better way?

Edited August 30, 2013 by C-160 Auto

[PetesPonies1 117]

More just checking to see if there is a better way. Yes I do throw some stuff. I shot a lug nut towards my wife a few weeks ago. The land used to have lots of cars on it   This pic shows what it looks like underneath.

 

[C-160 Auto 10]

Hmm, I should have asked for a picture before I made my suggestions.  I don't think my idea would help any, plus that's too nice of a deck to go hacking on. My only suggestion at this point is to tell the family to take cover.... maybe someone else has a better idea. 

[Digger 66 3,488]

More just checking to see if there is a better way. Yes I do throw some stuff. I shot a lug nut towards my wife a few weeks ago. The land used to have lots of cars on it   This pic shows what it looks like underneath.

 

 

Have you entertained the idea of modifying your blades to be similar to a rough-cut style blade ? 

Just a thought 

 

[PetesPonies1 117]

That's not my actual deck   I wouldn't have bought that to beat up . .  that is just a pic I found on the web that is the same. As for modifying blades .  I did do some searching to see if anything was available. I figured there might be some "super heavy duty" blades out there or a similar blade to a bushhog blade as a retrofit. I didn't find anything. With the hardening that blades have, I would expect it to be pretty difficult to drill a hole in the blade. Then you don't want to loose the temper by annealing to allow drilling. Thoughts?

[ericj 1,578]

i have a hedge row along the 1 side of my property. and when me and my neighbor find tome to get together every couple of years i through an old worn out 42" rd deck and an old set of blades and mulch up all of the brush that's left laying on the ground when done. works for me

 

 

eric j 

[jrc0528 20]

If you want blades like a bush hog (swinging style), look up the Meg-Mo system at Meg-Mo.com

 

Several of the members over on MTF have tried those and loved them.

Edited September 9, 2013 by jrc0528

[PetesPonies1 117]

Thanks I'll check that out. I just cracked a blade on my replacement deck the other day  

[RMCIII 838]

Just my  . It will never work properly. If it is a "rough" cut you are looking for, then it will be a "rough" cut you will get. That deck is made specifically for side discharge. Some decks you can do that too. That is not one of them. If you do not care what it looks like after you mow it, then by all means, cut away. Otherwise, look for a rough cut pull behind mower.  

[shorts 182]

I've got an old toro commercial walk behind mower that has a totally adjustable 60'' 3 blade deck, anything from brushog to finish mower, the fabricated housing is about 6'' tall and has adjustable front and side guards, the rear guards are rubber like mud flaps that hang at blade height. For finish mowing I cut at 3 or 4 inches with the front and side guards down and use it as a rear discharge, in wet heavy grass I flip the right side guard up and use it like a side discharge, if the grass gets to tall and pushes over I raise the front guards so that the blades can cut the grass before the deck pushes it over, for full tilt bushog I rais the deck up to 9" put the k301 against the governor, put it in 1st gear and watch the 4 foot tall grass fall

 

When the guards are up it is an absolute necessity to keep every one away at least 300 ft

 

If you want to rough cut heavy weeds and brush think about shortening the front guard on your rough deck.

hint, look at the DR brush mowers for ideas