Bush Hog 307 Restoration

[woodsman08]

About to start on this one. Hard to tell from the pic, but there is quite a bit of rust damage to the 7 gauge deck towards the front. Planning on coming back in with 10 gauge assuming the gearbox checks out. Speaking of the gearbox...it's a 125 HP box...on a 7ft shredder!

To do list:

- Change gear box oil
- Replace u-joints
- replace front deck
- paint

- If all goes well I might add a hydraulic cylinder for the rear wheel lift
- attempt to fabricate a new stump jumper as the current one is rusted out (part cost over $800 and I am trying to keep this under $400)

[woodsman08]

specs

pretty sure these are the specs...

[bowtech72]

goog mowers, we had one just like that for over 30 years

[Palmetto]

I have spend many a day pulling an old school bush hog around. HD gearboxes for sure.
Here's the ones we had.....

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286772&highlight=bush+hog

[cattlelackranch]

Looks like a great project.

I'm gonna follow this one. Don't forget the pics.

[Steve_243]

I have one just like it. Great mower to have..

[GIL HUNTS]

That's a tough ole cutter.

[woodsman08]

FINALLY got the shredder back to Houston to work on it. Unloading off the trailer tomorrow and will get some pics. Quite a bit of rust damage, but the frame still looks to be in good shape.

[woodsman08]

back to the shop

Got her pulled in to the shop this afternoon. Going to start ordering material tomorrow. Hopefully the Amazon prime event will give me a discount on some new blades and pillow block. A sheet of 7 gauge sheet metal is much needed. Going to have to replace over half of the original deck.

[bowhunterchris]

I would definately add a hydraulic cylinder. Find a used one of an old piece of equipment.

[12 point]

Have one identical to it that I bought off a friend's ranch. The heavy spring in back broke before I got it. Instead of buying a new spring they decided to convert it to a 3 pt hitch and replaced the two tail wheels with a single swivel type. I've shredded a bunch of thick vegetation with it. I kept all the parts they took off when they converted it.

[woodsman08]

update

Made a little progress this morning until my air compressor gave out. It was a little 22 gallon compressor that I would have to constantly wait on when plasma cutting. Bad news is the compressor went out. Good news is now I "have" to buy a bigger one.

Front three floor panels are out and I was cutting the 10 gauge replacement panels when the compressor gave out. The shredder sat with the tongue down, so you can see the rust damage from rain water just sitting at the front end. Going to deal with the blades before welding the new panels back in.

Started pulling apart the driveline and had to order a bigger two jaw puller for the u-joints. This .5"~ thick bolt that was part of the slip clutch assembly had been cross threaded. My 800 ft/lb impact was no match for it, so a breaker bar with a cheater bar was used.

Forgot to snap a pick of the gear oil, but it is light brown...not good.

[woodsman08]

Blade Bolts

The blade bolts are giving me a lot of trouble right now. Broke a 3/4" breaker bar today trying to get them off (although it was harbor freight). I'm soaking them in PB Blaster right now and will probably try a pipe wrench tomorrow. I'm not in the shop right now, but off the top of my head it's either a 1-5/8" or 1-11/16" socket.

[BTLowry]

I was going to take the blades off of my 5' shredder and it didn't take me long to decide I would just hoist it up and use an angle grinder to sharpen the ones on it.

Should be a solid piece of equipment when you get it repaired

[highspeed]

Looking good so far. Please keep us updated.