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["Don Bowen" <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

> Who needs a bushhog or sickle bar cutter for the '51 McCormick.

A brush hog is for mowing a field of heavy weeds, brush, and small trees.
Its output is like a lawnmower, just bigger.  Best for keeping a field mowed
and keeping it from returning to the forest that wants to be there.

A sickle bar mower is for cutting hay.  The cut is at the bottom and the
long stalks are preserved and available for raking up and baling.  A sickle
bar mower does not do brush very well and will not do small trees at all.
Best for mowing to make hay.

On your International you have hydraulic quick disconnect fittings.  That
will be used power the ram to lower and raise the brush hog or sickle bar
mower bar.  You will have to get a hydraulic ram that mounts in brackets on
what ever implement you will be using.  The ram can be moved between
implements as needed.  On things like a brush hog and a disk you will need
some spring loaded colors to limit the ram movement to adjust brush hog
height.

One advantage of the brush hog is that the material is cut into smaller
pieces that decompose quicker.  If someone else is going to be doing the
haying, get a brush hog.  There are many uses around the farm.

I spent time this summer brush hogging.  A couple of areas were the stream
road and a couple of small fields for the neighbors.  A heavily overgrown
pine field was opened up and a loop road cleared to gain access to some
trees.

Don Bowen  KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html