Bush Hog Road Grader RG72 Ripping itself to shreds

[pblalock]

So I used my Bush Hog RG72 to straighten up my drive and the thing seems to be pulling itself apart. Any thoughts on the best approach to repair other than buy a better road grader?

I purchased the road grader in the spring and it might have 8 hours of work on it. The scarifier close up is the worst but the others are all showing signs of metal fatigue. The tractor is a L3901 so I dont feel like the implement is mismatched with the tractor. Service rep from Bushhog said they would not cover it under warranty.

Thanks for any constructive advice.

Pat

 

[D2Cat]

I'd go further up the food chain and get a better answer. If no one gives any support I'd let them know you'll be doing a lot of negative advertising for their product and services!

 

[fried1765]

So I used my Bush Hog RG72 to straighten up my drive and the thing seems to be pulling itself apart. Any thoughts on the best approach to repair other than buy a better road grader?

View attachment 94215

View attachment 94216

I purchased the road grader in the spring and it might have 8 hours of work on it. The scarifier close up is the worst but the others are all showing signs of metal fatigue. The tractor is a L3901 so I dont feel like the implement is mismatched with the tractor. Service rep from Bushhog said they would not cover it under warranty.

Thanks for any constructive advice.

Pat

Please keep us advised with the eventual outcome!
This situation must be resolved!

 

[pblalock]

I hope anyone considering the specific implement or brand sees my post!

Pat

I'd go further up the food chain and get a better answer. If no one gives any support I'd let them know you'll be doing a lot of negative advertising for their product and services!

 

[jimh406]

My LandPride is similar design. It looks like you hit something pretty fast/hard. I’m not really surprised that damage isn’t covered. That’s a lot of leverage in the lowest position.

If you weld or have a friend that does, I’d reinforce those areas with plate steel welded on and/or stop going so fast/deep.

Fwiw, other than breaking up potholes, I don’t use the scarifiers on mine. I find them completely unnecessary. Fwiw, that was the recommendation of the delivery driver that delivered my tractor/grader scraper etc.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

wow, it sure does look like it hit something hard and fast ! steel torn and powdercoat gone. The shank to the left also shows similar damage.
looks like you were running with the shanks all the way down ?
Unless YOU personally put ALL the material down on your driveway I'd raise them up to just go 2-3 inches below grade, not the 8-10" they are now.

 

[fried1765]

wow, it sure does look like it hit something hard and fast ! steel torn and powdercoat gone. The shank to the left also shows similar damage.
looks like you were running with the shanks all the way down ?
Unless YOU personally put ALL the material down on your driveway I'd raise them up to just go 2-3 inches below grade, not the 8-10" they are now.

Unless specifically max. rated for lesser HP, that implement should be built strong enough to be damage free, when pulled by a 36.3 net. HP tractor, without any limitations!

 

[pblalock]

wow, it sure does look like it hit something hard and fast ! steel torn and powdercoat gone. The shank to the left also shows similar damage.
looks like you were running with the shanks all the way down ?
Unless YOU personally put ALL the material down on your driveway I'd raise them up to just go 2-3 inches below grade, not the 8-10" they are now.

You assume to much kind sir. The shanks were pretty close to level with the grade the way I run this implement. I have never run the RG72 8-10 deep! How deep the shanks are is directly correlated with the pitch of the 3 point hitch. All of the shanks show the same metal fatigue. I am willing to bet the metal is soft.

 

[pblalock]

I would say I baby my equipment and I know this RG never ever saw high gear.

If it is not going to be covered by Bush Hog I intend to replace the entire bar where the shanks attach unless a better idea surfaces here.

 

[jimh406]

Fwiw, the specs say it only goes 3 inches deep. Also, only weighs 571 lbs. In comparison, my LandPride GS2572 is about two hundred lbs heavier at 774 lbs. Two hundred lbs of steel could make the Land Pride quite a bit stronger. It’s also rated at 40-90 while the Bush Hog is only rated to 40.

The Land Pride specs say the scarifier support is

4"x 4" x 5/16" (10.2 cm x 10.2 cm x 0.8 cm) Reinforced heavy wall tubing

Bush Hog says the following

4 IN. X 4 IN. X 5/16” WALL

RG Series Road Grader - Bush Hog

bushhog.com

https://cdn-assets.greatplainsmfg.com/ari/attach/lp/public/specs/303-268s.pdf

 

[Flintknapper]

You assume to much kind sir. The shanks were pretty close to level with the grade the way I run this implement. I have never run the RG72 8-10 deep! How deep the shanks are is directly correlated with the pitch of the 3 point hitch. All of the shanks show the same metal fatigue. I am willing to bet the metal is soft.

Appearances (and that is all the dealer has to go by) would indeed suggest the shanks were set too low and caught something at high speed. However....I tend to agree with you (soft metal) owing to the very granular look of that tear. The metal 'grain' appears quite defective to me.

For what it is worth don't lower the shanks all the way and run the grader high (lifted) in hard soil. There is no need to subject it to that kind of leverage (whether it should withstand it or not).

 

[mikester]

Slow is faster.

Classic operator error. Learn to Slow Down. If you go slow and things hang up you have a chance to stop the tractor before things break. Going too fast means you now have repairs to make and machine down time. You are operating a general purpose utility AG tractor not a designed for earth engaging Caterpillar D9 Ripper. You can even break a D9 if you operate it wrong.

Same principle applies when using your front end loader. Going to fast with full or unbalanced loads ends up twisting and breaking things.

 

[lynnmor]

It looks like there isn't much horizontal material directly behind the tools, if you cannot get warranty help I would see a weld shop to have a heavy plate or angle added. Perhaps you could measure the distance that is backing up the tool currently so we can judge if it is a poor design.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

As Mikester says... go slower....

My 40HP tractor has been stopped pulling the single toothed subsoiler. A single 1 1/4 vertical bar attached to a 40hp tractor and a simple rock STOPS it. That's why going slow is important,it'll minimize damage.

The grader, like most (all ?) 'boxes with teeth' ,share a common design 'flaw'. The teeth are pushed against the 3/16 thickness 'edge' of the punched out slot,that's centerd in the beam, they do not get pressed upon the 4" vertical 'back' of the beam. This put ALL the stress onto a very thin,deformed section of the tubing. Sure ,it's 'OK' for loose material but come upon something 'unmoveable' ,like a rock, and the steel WILL buckle,tear,rip,bend as something has to give.

If you watch 'Gold Rush', you'll see even D10s and 11s STOPPED from their SINGLE riptooth not being able to rip permafrost. What they do is raise up the tooth,rip all day, come back next day after Mr. Sun has melted the permafrost, THEN they can go deeper.

 

[hedgerow]

I would say I baby my equipment and I know this RG never ever saw high gear.

If it is not going to be covered by Bush Hog I intend to replace the entire bar where the shanks attach unless a better idea surfaces here.

If it was mine. I would heat the damaged part up. Hammer it back in place. Plate the damage section up. Paint it back up and take it to the local consignment auction and move it on. Go and buy a well built heavy duty one that won't do that. Its not worth spending a bunch of money rebuilding the bar. Its not heavy enough for what you want to do with it. Put it down to a lesson learned.

 

[fried1765]

As Mikester says... go slower....

My 40HP tractor has been stopped pulling the single toothed subsoiler. A single 1 1/4 vertical bar attached to a 40hp tractor and a simple rock STOPS it. That's why going slow is important,it'll minimize damage.

The grader, like most (all ?) 'boxes with teeth' ,share a common design 'flaw'. The teeth are pushed against the 3/16 thickness 'edge' of the punched out slot,that's centerd in the beam, they do not get pressed upon the 4" vertical 'back' of the beam. This put ALL the stress onto a very thin,deformed section of the tubing. Sure ,it's 'OK' for loose material but come upon something 'unmoveable' ,like a rock, and the steel WILL buckle,tear,rip,bend as something has to give.

If you watch 'Gold Rush', you'll see even D10s and 11s STOPPED from their SINGLE riptooth not being able to rip permafrost. What they do is raise up the tooth,rip all day, come back next day after Mr. Sun has melted the permafrost, THEN they can go deeper.

I do watch Gold Rush!
I have seen a D10 stopped, when fetched up, but have never seen the machine/implement damaged!

 

[NCL4701]

Always thought of Bush Hog as pretty good quality products but I’m with Flintknapper on the appearance of that tear. Maybe some operator error, maybe not, but the operator didn’t have anything to do with the quality of steel used by the manufacturer.

And a L3901 isn’t a D10. An implement rated for that size tractor shouldn’t tear like that. The tractor should spin out before that kind of damage. That’s what I’d expect to see from an implement being run behind a tractor significantly larger than its rated for.

Ripping at “high speed” with a 72” wide ripper/grader behind a L3901? Nothing against a L3901 but hard to believe it’s capable of “high speed” with that size implement ripping anything actually worthy of ripping.

So far as what to do with it, Hedgerow’s plan makes the most sense to me if chasing Bush Hog further doesn’t work. Fix it, sell it to someone with a smaller tractor, and get something built correctly for your size tractor.

Not saying I’d definitely never buy something with the Bush Hog name on it but after seeing that, I’d think twice about it.

 

[Flintknapper]

NCL4701 Wrote:

"Always thought of Bush Hog as pretty good quality products but I’m with Flintknapper on the appearance of that tear"


Reply:

I am just bothered by the grain structure pictured (for mild steel). I've seen that kind of thing before and it doesn't look right.

If it were Cast Iron....yes, but not mild steel. I recognize the failure is in the form of a tear (Not a cut which would appear different) but it looks very much like inferior metal to me.

 

[NCL4701]

NCL4701 Wrote:

"Always thought of Bush Hog as pretty good quality products but I’m with Flintknapper on the appearance of that tear"


Reply:

I am just bothered by the grain structure pictured (for mild steel). I've seen that kind of thing before and it doesn't look right.

If it were Cast Iron....yes, but not mild steel. I recognize the failure is in the form of a tear (Not a cut which would appear different) but it looks very much like inferior metal to me.

View attachment 94263

Exactly. I’m not a metallurgist. But I have inspected a rather large quantity of torn mild steel, mostly light and medium duty vehicle frames, ag and construction implements. That just doesn’t look right.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

How deep the shanks are is directly correlated with the pitch of the 3 point hitch.

Curious?
Do you have the front of the Land plane hitting the ground before the rear?
Or are you running it level all across the sides?