Homestead mailing list

[Roy Morgan <k1lky AT earthlink.net>]

On Oct 27, 2008, at 3:40 PM, Don Bowen wrote:

> > 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.

I can explain further:  The weeds we have are goldenrod and milk  
weed.  The stems are on the order of one quarter inch thick, sometimes  
a bit more.  There really is almost no brush: that is hardwood plants  
that aren't trees yet (such as wild birch).  There are a very few  
aspen trees, but except for the oldest ones we will likely leave in  
place, I could lop them all with the hand brush cutter in an hour or  
so.  There are a very few (maybe 5 or 6) bushes that have little red  
berries.  These, we are told, are poisonous to horses or sheep maybe.   
These things are up to an inch at the base and again, I can get them  
down with a small saw or hand brush cutter with no problem.

There are some areas outside the fence line that the road crew seems  
not to cut down. - between the road culvert bottom and the fence.   
Maybe 1500 feet of this.  It's all goldenrod and milk weed.

Certainly a brush hog would be best for cleaning up the un-mowed areas  
we still have. I wonder if I'd need it after that, though, since we  
expect most every yard of the fields will be in  good hay once cleaned  
up.

> 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.

Right.  The folks had an old haybine - a  sickle bar cutter with  
scooper function that left a row of mowed stuff.  They mowed all that  
they did with that.  It ran into a chuck hole rock one day and that  
popped the part that moves the bar back and forth - the replacement  
cost $300.

> On your International you have hydraulic quick disconnect fittings.

I was not clear on this.  The hydraulics on it are jury rigged from  
some other  machine.  The IHC-supplied kit for running towed  
implements is not what I have (My manual shows that setup).  I  
certainly would put quick disconnects on the thing if I was to get any  
towed implement that used the hydraulics.  It's not clear to me if the  
hydraulic pump was an add-on when the tractor was new, and I have not  
yet examined the thing closely enough to figure if it's an IHC part or  
not.   I suspect it is, but the rest of the hydraulic system is  
definitely not from the manufacturer.  in fact, the plow on the thing  
is painted white over the original (light yellow?) paint and you can  
just see the name under there - not McCormick or Harvester.  The  
hydraulic valve block is bolted to a piece of washboard type steel  
decking which is welded to the fender.

For pictures, go to:
http://web.me.com/hopefieldfarm1/Hopefield/Home.html
(or hopefieldfarm.com )
click "Current Picts" and then "The New House"
Down at the bottom you'll see 4 pictures of the tractor.  The covered- 
in-dust-and-grime condition is just how I got it. I'll be washing the  
thing so I can see it better ( and pinpoint where the hydraulic  
cylinders are leaking)

>  That will be used power the ram to lower and raise the brush hog or  
> sickle bar
> mower bar.

This I think I'd need.

> 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 think there are a lot of weeds that need to be cut into compost-able  
stuff.  And I hope to keep clear at least part of the perimeter of the  
pond.  There is a  long (2000 foot) swale or ditch that leads into the  
pond and away from it (no brook).  It may not be practical to hay  
that, even though it is quite broad.  The bush hog would keep that  
cleaned up.

After looking at the few pictures that follow the tractor ones, taken  
in June or so, I'm thinking that the weeds are this year's crop only,  
and that the fields may have been hayed last year.

The folks who hayed our place said they'd bought a two-point hitch  
brush hog not too far away for $250.  Unless I get a two- or three- 
point hitch (new ones are $800) for my tractor, I'd be looking for a  
draw bar pulled implement.

Roy

Roy Morgan
k1lky AT earthlink.net
529 Cobb St.
Groton NY, 13073