+1 on all that.After you get used to it a little more, you can start pushing down on the handlebars, raising the mower way up in the air and lunging into the briar patch. Be careful though.
I always think about what someone said on here one time, that if you are using a Gravely and trip and fall and it gets away from you, be sure to get up and out of the way as fast as you can, because before long it's going to be coming back out of the briars headed your way.
But there's no guarantee which way it will head in there.I am getting pretty good at getting into the big bushy prickly stuff. I just nibble at it until I can safely get to the trunk, then I let it have it. I find this thing will decimate roses even at just barely above idle.After you get used to it a little more, you can start pushing down on the handlebars, raising the mower way up in the air and lunging into the briar patch. Be careful though.
I always think about what someone said on here one time, that if you are using a Gravely and trip and fall and it gets away from you, be sure to get up and out of the way as fast as you can, because before long it's going to be coming back out of the briars headed your way.
I am very careful, I won't use it anywhere thee are other people, livestock or pets. Also nothing needs brush hogging near the house. Tall thick grass seems to be the only thing that will slow this thing down. I have a 9' flail and a 70 hp tractor for that, so no worries.+1 on all that.
An issue with going after the big brambles is getting on top of them. Around me we have these terrible 12 foot high wild roses. Trying to just mow over them won't work, the stems are too sturdy. But if you pick up the leading edge of the deck about 18", you can chop them off, then drop the nose to chew up the remaining parts. You want the front guard off for this exercise.
Do use care at all times. It's tempting to let the machine go and bull its way through a wad of vegetation. I've done that a number of times <img src="http://www.mytractorforum.com/images/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" class="inlineimg" /> But there's no guarantee which way it will head in there.
The other thing to watch when brush hogging, esp when the front guard is off, is what's nearby. That heavy blade is perfectly happy to launch debris at warp speed. I've seen beer-can sized chunks of wood fly 75 feet. If you're near a building, esp one with windows, take care to orient the machine so that you won't take out anything you care about.
Good on you for putting the grass Nazi in his place. Too much of that in .gov , I think those positions attract those people. Enough said I think.About 15 years ago we were living in a little town north of here. The town hire a city manager we were way to small for a full time manager. Young guy let's the position go to his head . He decided to be a grass Nazi ? but was only picking on our elderly. I had a friend that worked for the city that kept me informed. I ruined his plans to change people $75 an hour to mow their high grass on several occasions with a Gravely LI and brush mower. He made the comment now one else could mow because it was to high for a mower so the city would have to do it. I took that as a challenge ! I would mow the yards with the Gravely brush cutter then go over it with a lawn lawnboy I had or the finish mower deck.
The brush deck is the most fun you can have behind the handlebars. Make sure you get a 106. Maybe a long neck drive for the Pro-12, right?My wife thinks I am nuts out back in the prime heat of the day brush hogging. She might be right.I am going to try to go get a brush deck this pay day for my Professional 12 .
As far as the yard nazi city manager goes if he would have been doing it to able bodied residents of the town I would have stayed out of it . He didn't have the courage to do that he went after elderly no able to do it and on fix income that couldn't afford the charge . I finally got the city council to notify me and one of a group of people would help out . I flipped mowers back then . I had a teenager who wanted a mower to make summer cash but didn't have money to buy a mower . I gave him a pretty nice commercial grade lawnboy with the agreement that he would keep one ladies yard cut that year
Discovering a old gravely and trying out the implements for the first time will bring a smile to your face. All of them need a little tweaking usually as far as how you set the tractor up or set the implement up, but once you get it going it's pretty amazing.I also just figured out why my rotary plow was locked up. Seems the previous own swapped out the bolts that hold the guide wheel assembly on with longer, ring gear reaching bolts. Well I guess I needed to take it apart to see how much wear on the ring an pinion gears. None at all. So o cleaned it up, freed the pivoting assembly and flushed out the bearings. The double seals seem new also. Will try it tomorrow.
Yes, please do. Even though the tractor is easy to run without it, I would like it working. Gives me one less thing to have to worry about when running it. Thanks in advance.A guy I see on here once in a while - WvTeehead - rebuilt my Pierce governor last winter. He did a great job. Really glad I had him do it.
If you want his number pm me and I'll pm you his phone number.
+1 on all that.
An issue with going after the big brambles is getting on top of them. Around me we have these terrible 12 foot high wild roses. Trying to just mow over them won't work, the stems are too sturdy. But if you pick up the leading edge of the deck about 18", you can chop them off, then drop the nose to chew up the remaining parts. You want the front guard off for this exercise.
I bought a new rear guard for my 30" deck and have a cpl old ones here but want to find someone to cut one of them down to half-height to put on the front. Everytime I ever used a full height front guard they always get in a bind or get indented or whatever but I think a half-height one would be perfect, it would not get hung up every whip-stitch and still offer some protection.
It'll be cheaper to just find a used front guard.I bought a new rear guard for my 30" deck and have a cpl old ones here but want to find someone to cut one of them down to half-height to put on the front.
For serious brush-hogging, you don't want any guard on the front. The name of the game is letting all the debris (of which there will be a lot) out of there ASAP. As well as making it easier to get at the big stuff like rose bushes.
It does mean you have to be a bit more careful what's in the line of fire, but as long as you're out away from the house and the dog, there's generally not much of a hazard there.
Want some unsolicited advice? Try using a bearing seperator, some long bolts, and a harmonic balancer puller. Along with some heat if necessary. Usually works for me if there is enough space in there to do it this way. :tango_face_glasses:I can not get the pulley off without destroying it.
I don't run the front guard on mine. I run the short one in the rear. I ran it without either guard and it sets up some sort of strange vibration, so I put the short one in the rear and it stopped that.It'll be cheaper to just find a used front guard.
For serious brush-hogging, you don't want any guard on the front. The name of the game is letting all the debris (of which there will be a lot) out of there ASAP. As well as making it easier to get at the big stuff like rose bushes.
It does mean you have to be a bit more careful what's in the line of fire, but as long as you're out away from the house and the dog, there's generally not much of a hazard there.
If you have the thick blade, with no front guard you can actually cut trees up to 2 inch diameter down. Slowly run up against the tree, and then slip the clutch and press the mower harder into it very slowly. It will climb the tree a little bit as it starts bowing it over, and if you go slow it will make it's way through the tree and it will fall over. Then you can carefully work on what's left a little more to get it lower to the ground.
One other thing I discovered; I thought it would be smart to raise the blade up very high when cutting rough stuff, and lower it down for cutting a field or the lawn. I found out when cutting bramble briers and junk, the mower will have a tendency to push this stuff over in mass. If the blade it really high it will not cut it off, you just end up smashing everything down and running over it. If you leave the blade down lower, it will pick up and cut this stuff better that gets smashed over. With the blade lower, it's still easy to push down on the handle bars to raise the mower up if you have to over rough ground or a rock.
I may have 2 old ones here because mine came with one and the LI came w/one also. I remember trying to beat the one mine came with with a hammer to get the dents out of it but no way was that happening because that was/is some tuff stuff, prolly tougher than my new one I bought at Richards along w/a new blade.It'll be cheaper to just find a used front guard.
For serious brush-hogging, you don't want any guard on the front. The name of the game is letting all the debris (of which there will be a lot) out of there ASAP. As well as making it easier to get at the big stuff like rose bushes.
It does mean you have to be a bit more careful what's in the line of fire, but as long as you're out away from the house and the dog, there's generally not much of a hazard there.
But all of mine are bolt on jobs and I figured the rear ones were the same as the front as far as bolting-up goes but I haven't tried yet but I could do a change out if need be, or my son could if he ever gets it lol!
Maybe thats whats taking me so long, maybe in a strange way Im in no hurry to part with it lol!
