Track loader powered brush hog

[jhubert]

After not much positive over my idea to mount an open faced severe duty brush hog on my loaders arms and power it with hydraulics, Ive found someone who has done it.

How do I post a pic thats on another site?

[Scottyb]

I put your photo up for you

I am following your progress as my winter project is to put a heavy skidsteer mount on the front of my 350b so attachments similar to your plan can be used on it. I also have a heavy single blade mower that will get tried up front once I complete the mount. Currently the mower has a 3 point hitch but I can adapt that easily.
luck with your project, keep us posted.
Scott

[jhubert]

Thanks a bunch. Im not sure how far I will get this winter with all the OT I been getting. Its great to have the work but a few rainy sundays and the whole winter is shot as far as progress for me. Im gonna contact this guy and see if and how well it works. As far as I read he mounted a wheel loaders quick-attach coupler. Looks awesome but $$$$$$$$

[NWJD fan]

What are the hydraulic requirements for something like that? My 350 loader puts out 20 GPM @ 2000 psi and I am curious if it would run an implement like that effectively.

[jhubert]

I think the overall feeling here was that even if I have enough flow (they offer low flow motors for skidsteers that dont have hi-flow) it wouldnt be able to dissapate its heat because of the small reservoir. Im stuck on what to do as its a huge investment if you dont have these things on hand to repurpose, but its the correct machine to have to mow HEAVY brush in rough terrain and thats what I do have. Maybe the trick is wait and watch for stuff to pop up for sale cheap and use it for less than an hour at a time, and during the fall. You sure dont want to cook the machines life blood.

[GRWeldon]

...You sure dont want to cook the machines life blood.

I would think that if heat would be an issue, a auxiliary cooler with a fan could be mounted someplace. Either that or possibly mount a removable auxiliary hydraulic tank (with or without cooler) to the rear of the machine. Just tossing out ideas...

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

I think I would use a PTO driven pump and make up a separate hyd system just to run the mower.

Stan

[Scottyb]

Stan, that is a interesting solution. Would it require a speed increase at the pto? Like a chain and sprockets or something to boost the RPM?
Scott

[Labparamour]

The photo you have posted is an International 125E...I'm not sure what the flow of the pump is. The manual for my 450B says it has 1000 rpm pto so not sure if a standard pto mount pump would be damaged at 1000 vs 540. Separate system would allow constant flow to mower while operating loader arms plus added fluid capacity.
Could plumb a second oil cooler in-line with hyd motor return line or run return through aux hyd tank that could be removed when not using mower- hyd couplers capturing/keeping extra oil in mower lines.

[DrLoch]

Stan, that is a interesting solution. Would it require a speed increase at the pto? Like a chain and sprockets or something to boost the RPM?
Scott

I agree, don't use the loader pump/hydraulic system use a separate system. The PTO ratio is close to 2 to 1, (1.9). Just need to size a pump to provide the flow required for the RPM of the brush hog blade. Hydraulic motors are sized in cubic in per rev as well as pumps, just need to match the volumes at the RPM you want to run at. Most gear pumps will run down as low as 600 RPM without any adverse effect.

If you know the power required at the brush hog, I can give you the rest of the data required.

D

[jhubert]

That is an easier solution but my G series machine was built after they decided track machines have no business in farming and dropped the pto option. So it may work for you but not me. I thought buying a G series machine would be the way to go in terms of better engineering and here I missed out on one of the most useful options I coud've gotten....O well

[Tigerhaze]

Not that I know much at all about the G series or pump options, but is it possible to find a belt driven hydraulic pump that could run off the cam or crank pulleys in the engine compartment? There may not be enough room or may be difficult to fashion brackets but seems like it could be an idea to look into? I guess also the fact that it wouldn't operate at constant RPM could also be an issue. Oh well, just a thought.

[jhubert]

I just stopped at my local deere dealer and one service tech offered up this info. My machine since its direct drive should still be able to drive forward and back when the power beyond is active. This means I would get full pump flow to run my brush hog and I see manufacturers building them to run on 16gpm and up. Even better is he thinks my machine should be new enough that it has a fan fed hydraulic cooler in place to help with heat... Can anyone's experience confirm or deny that? Ill be investigating with their sister-dealer in Lancaster, pa also at his advise since they are neck deep in Amish territory he says they get wind of some extremely creative farmer adaptations.

[jhubert]

The loader in the pic is a 175 I think and the owner did a TON of work to it after the purchase. The story is a great read. From what I remember its an IH inline 6 cyl turbo weighing in at 16 tons. So on that alone I'd guess a two yard bucket, way bigger cylinders to fill and therefore larger pump than I have. He probly can run that mower. It's a high flow 72" ammbusher. Big $$$ like 10k

[Lavoy]

While it may have a hyd cooler in front of the radiator, it was never designed to cool a system running orbital functions.

Horsepower =
Pressure (psi) x Flow (GPM)/1714=HP

IF your crawler was perfect in every way, at factory spec for a C model loader crawler, 26GPM X 2250PSI/1714=34.13HP. Any variation from these number results in a HP decrease. Additionally, reduce output by 10-15% for motor efficiency and you are at 30HP or less.
You can talk to your mechanic, the Amish, or your local Tarot card reader, the simple fact of the matter is that you have 30HP or less available assuming you have a C model crawler that is in perfect factory original condition as far as the hyd system, and assuming you can take maximum unrestricted flow at maximum pressure continuously at full throttle on the crawler. Then make sure you never touch a hyd lever while in operation.
The 16GPM mowers you are fixated on are for late model skid steers, not antique crawlers. If you look up the spec for a new smaller Deere skid steer, they operate at 3,450PSI for auxiliary functions. 16GPM X 3450PSI/1714=32.20HP. At your pressure, that is about 21HP, about the same as a new riding lawn mower.
The same skid steer I am referencing with the high flow option can put out about 58 HP on the auxiliary circuit, which means a new small skidsteer can put out more HP in available aux hyd flow than you have available net HP from your entire crawler.
You can not run a mower off of the factory hyd, period, quit wasting your time. If you insist on running a mower on your loader, you need a 40HP or more power pack on the back of the crawler that can put out over 3,000PSI and 25GPM, then just run hoses to the mower and you are done. You can run the loader at partial throttle to control ground speed, you won't have cooling issues hyd or otherwise, and you won't wreck a good old crawler trying to force it to do something it was never designed to do and is not capable of.
Lavoy
Lavoy