Bush Hog -- FYI

[aaluck]

I know that we see a lot of problems trying (successfully) to be solved on here so I wanted to update folks on my 12 year old Bush Hog 286 problem I had and the final solution.

I needed to change my blades and so I hit youtube. Very good videos and watched most all of them to get hints. Although I was able to easily remove the 1-11/16 nuts from the pivot bolts with my 3/4 air impact but COULD NOT get the pivot bolts dislodged--they have a very strange way of keeping them from spinning when removing the nuts, which makes them nearly impossible to get out. After two days (at least an hour each day) of pounding (as Youtube videos showed) I called Bush Hog for help (actually to let them have a piece of my mind).

Within 36 hours they sent two guys to my house that removed the bolts, after 30 minutes of pounding (and a method not recommended) AND put the new blades on and told me to return the pivots I had purchased, as they used some they brought--ALL FOR FREE.

Great to have a company take care of folks even when they don't have to. That is top-notch service.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Goo on you... Last time I changed them on my LP flat top I ground the heads off and used pneumatic hammer to drive the shanks through the spider.

 

[aaluck]

Goo on you... Last time I changed them on my LP flat top I ground the heads off and used pneumatic hammer to drive the shanks through the spider.

That's about what it takes. There HAS to be a better design--doesn't there?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Not really. The bolts have splined shanks that engage the spider to keep the shanks from rotating when you tighten the nuts and they have to be really tight. On mine that is about 450 - 500 foot pounds tight.

I use my 1" drive air impact or a portable torque multiplier.

The bolt heads have to be headless so they don't interfere with the blade cut. A hex headed bolt would catch on stuff and impede the cutting action.

Like I said, I use a air hammer to drive them out. Beats flogging on them with a sledge hammer.

Same principle as a wheel stud on a vehicle. The studs are splined to engage the spider and keep them from rotating.

 

[B737]

I use a torque multiplier as well. My 1/2" impact gun didnt stand a chance. But the torque multiplier got both off with very little effort.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I've been there too trying to get those bolts out. I put new blades on an old cutter last year, my 3/4" drive socket bar and a heavy 6' pipe could not move them, no matter how much I soaked them in WD 40 or PB Blaster. I ended up cutting them off, what a task that all turned out to be. I sold the old used cutter and replaced it with a new Woods heavy duty unit that has " Exclusive quick-change pins enable speedy blade changes in the field". I will not be looking to change them in the field but would like to have a quick task in the barn, I guess we will see how that works out in a few years time! So Woods did make a design change to try to improve on the situation.

 

[country53]

I use a 1" drive breaker and hook a chain to it and hook the chain to another tractor and take off I figure either socket or bar will break or the nut will break loose so far I've did it around 50 times nut has always broke loose, I made a fixture to go on breaker bar to hook chain. I heat the bolt up to 200 degrees when reassembling and tighten as much as I can with just the breaker bar, always works for me

 

[Pau7220]

First removal required spark-o-wrench with rosebud tip... After reassembly with Never Seez and IR 231, never needed anything more.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

We also have a BH 286. I use a 3/4 drive socket and 6 - 8 ft cheater pipe. It originally had nuts that were less than full height and left a couple of bolt threads exposed. We soaked it with Liquid Wrench but the threads still seized. We replaced those with full height nuts and greased them. These nuts cover all the bolt threads and haven't been a problem since.

Removing the pins. Don't just hammer on them without supporting the socket part. You're tending to bend the spider and gearbox shaft and forcing the gearbox bearings to take the shock load. You're not likely to bend them, but a lot of your hammer energy is being wasted in that 'springiness'. Support the structure rigidly as close to the pin as possible. A piece of 4" pipe placed around the head of the pin down to a hard floor would probably be ideal. But I used some solid wood blocks under the stump jumper on each side of the blade and it worked fine. I jacked the Bush Hog up a little and set it on the blocks. You want to make sure there is zero gap between the support and whatever you're beating on.

 

[Bulldog]

I took all 6 of mine off with a 1/2 IR Thundergun. It's stronger than my 3/4 gun.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I have one as well. Ear protection required....