Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Bushhogging

We used the front end loader to lift up one side of the bushhog and prop it up on a 55 gallon drum (the safest configuration I could come up with - that thing has to weigh 400 lbs) so we could get up under there. I then used an angle grinder to sharpen the blades which were about as sharp as marble. I am not really sure just how sharp they are supposed to be (since we routinely hit rocks, tires, etc.) so I only filed them down to about sharp as a pencil eraser. Then, I hooked it up and set out to mowing the driveway edges. It worked like a charm - much better than pre-sharpening.

The only problem, of course, is that the wheel that keeps the thing at a consistent height above the ground is still broken, so I had to use the lift on the rear of the tractor to constantly adjust the height of the mower as I went over the uneven terrain. What a pain!

I should also note that shorts and crocs are not ideal bush-hogging atire, although having a bed of grass clippings between foot and croc is not altogether that bad of a sensation.

The most noteworthy thing of the whole affair was when all the sudden the tractor stopped, wheels still spinning, then stalled out. It took me a few moments to realize that the bucket on the front end loader had dug into the ground in the hillside I was approaching. Oops. Fired her back up, reversed out of it, and lifted the bucket a bit to continue. Good times.

No comments: