A brush hog gearbox takes a steady beating in the line of duty. Over time, heavy loads from dense, woody vegetation will strain the drivetrain, but it’s really the impacts with rocks and obstacles that wreak the most havoc on your blade system and gears.
Always keep one eye on your maintenance schedule as the other follows the mowing job. No one wants to stop in the middle of a pasture for repairs!
Naturally, the upkeep your mower needs will depend on how you’ve been using it. If you cut a pasture a few times each year, it’s smooth sailing for a few seasons. But shout out to the landscapers — if you’re out there reclaiming neglected acreage every weekend, you’re going to be a bit busier with the maintenance checklist.
Use these checks as a baseline, then shorten your maintenance intervals when the attachment spends more hours in heavy material.
Check the gear oil level in our 90-degree Omni gearbox and keep it topped off with 80W-90 gear lubricant. On the Prime mower, the correct level will just reach the lower level-check opening while the attachment is sitting level on the ground or floor.
It’s not a big burden to do some quick oil-level checks every now and again. Keep up with it and you’ll always catch lubricant loss in time, so the internal gearbox components don’t spend hours working with inadequate lubrication.
Look over hydraulic hoses and fittings before each use. Pay extra attention to catch small visible leaks or connection points that could be in need of service. Hydraulic pressure can build up in the lines during hot weather. Follow the pressure-relief procedure specified for your skid steer and attachment before you start any work with attachments that use hydraulic connections.
Brush hog blades eat a big slice of the punishment pie in tree brush removal. Damage or excessive dulling adds strain on the hog and kills cutting performance at the same time.
We always recommend that owners do routine inspections of their brush hog’s blades. Sharpen them at roughly 20-hour intervals of time in service. That’s a ballpark — if your job is extra tough (heavy brush, thick saplings, rocky ground, etc.), do it more often. Mowing some grass? You can probably wait quite a bit longer.
The Prime Brush Mower uses two hardened blades and we rate it for saplings and small trees up to 3 inches in diameter. Stay within that cutting capacity and you’ll extend the service life of the attachment.
The stump jumper connects the cutting system to the gearbox shaft. It’s kind of in the middle of all the important stuff. Check it often. We recommend doing it before every project. The pan should remain tight on the tapered gearbox shaft with no looseness or slop. The retaining cotter key also has to be present and secure for it to work properly.
This inspection only takes a minute! If you’ve got to repair damage underneath the deck, it will take considerably longer…don’t skip this step.
A standard brush hog gear box mower is great for pasture work and clearing brush. Maneuverability and cut quality are your top concerns in lighter work. Our standard mower operates at 15–25 GPM and handles growth up to 3 inches in diameter — still pretty badass, if you ask us!
Heavier woody growth? Go with the Prime Direct Drive Mower. This muscular model eliminates the gearbox entirely in favor of a 417-pound flywheel with four free-spinning blades. We rate it for trees up to 8 inches thick (seriously, it’s basically a lumberjack) at 20–25 GPM.
Match the mower to the vegetation and verify the hydraulic requirements against your machine.
A maintenance calendar is important, but on its own it won’t tell you much about the wear on your mower. You’ve got to track operating hours, which are a much better measure of wear and tear. Pay attention to the working conditions for your brush hog over that time, too.
A simple maintenance record with those details is all it takes. Well, that and the frequent visual inspections. Follow the tips above and your blade service and brush hog gearbox checks will stay on track.