Brush Hog Rotary Mower Stump Bump and Blade Removal - Ranch Hand Tips 

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I needed to remove the outboard stump jumper plate from my Bush Hog 278 so that I could replace the oil seal. As with everyone else, the plate would not budge after I removed the castle nut. After watching this video, and others like it, I decided to take my tractor to a neighbor that is older, wiser and more experienced so that he could teach me how to do this right. He had the job done in less than 10 minutes, and never broke a sweat. Here’s now he did it: I took the shredder to him connected to the three point hitch of my tractor. First he connected an electric winch to the tail wheels “axle” of the shredder, and then had me disconnect the top link and PTO shaft. The winch was secured to a heavy workshop beam above. Then he raised the back of the shredder to almost vertical, pivoting it up on the bottom links of the three point hitch. This made the stump jumper plate convenient to work on. Brilliant. Took one minute. Then he put a appropriately thick wood block and a stout metal splitting wedge under opposite sides of the stump jumper, at the positions of the internal bracing of the plate. Then he positioned the castle nut flush with the end of the spline shaft so that there was about an inch of clearance between the plate and the nut, so that the plate would not fall off when the spline let it go. Then he hit each wedge a few times, alternating back and forth between the two, and within a minute the plate popped loose. Amazingly simple, easy and completely stress free. Now I know, and perhaps someone else will too.

I hesitate to bring this up dude...but it is amazing that you did not injure yourself big time. Without proper shop practices, you are dangerous as hell. Glad you were not crippled though.

Always leave the nut on the end of the bolt. That way you are hitting the nut and not damaging the threads. Plus when it does come loose it will not go flying. Be careful with the heat. There is a seal on the shaft at the gearbox. If it gets to hot you will have a leak. Then you can destroy the gearbox. Anti seize gease is a good option when putting everything back together.

That is a nut on the gear box shaft, not a bolt

I just changed my blades. Same problem you had----my solution was to use wood splitting steel wedges driven in around the sides. It worked after 10 mins. Bad design!! I didn't have room to cut a access hole on top to reach the blade nut so this required turning it over and pounding in steel wood splitting wedges. My next step was to heat it up. Thanks for taking the time to post this video!

Thanks for giving us all that’s you did that did not work…then showed what did work. That’s real teaching.

I appreciate you putting out this video and all the helpful comments that are with it.

Watching this made me realize how fortunate I was having my grand daddy & old 65-70 yr old millrights I use to work with show me and teach me wisdom of having to work and mechanic in oil field and work at papermills my whole life that I listened and maybe wise enough to pass on to some of these millennials that once upon a time a mechanic knew every trick to working with metal & broke stuff and made a living doing so..

It is a tapered shaft to break the taper pulling evenly from both sides is the text book method. Never never hit a threaded shaft with out the nut on it to protect the treads. Be very careful heating hardened shafts not to apply heat to the shaft. Once it turns even dull red you ruined the temper. Apply heat to the female part only.

All I can say is thank you for sharing this video it saved me on all the trouble you went through

Great video … thank you. I have a 32 year old Howse that seems identical to yours except no holes in the stump bump pan which I need to remove to tighten the gearbox hold down bolts. I’ll try using a torch, but not sure how I’m going to get pressure on it. Anyway, thank you. I appreciate you describing your failures and frustrations nas well as your success. Great job.

Great video. Enjoy learning about your methods you tried!

I am glad that you included what did not work, many would have simply not presented the methods that did not work.

Thanks for the helpful advice! I also did everything imaginable, watched your video and it helped. Thumbs 👍

I just got done doing this doe the first time on my own to a piece of equipment older than I am. Thankfully I've been tempered to dealing with frustration in working on things. I was able to do it In a reasonable amount of time despite my tools being scattered to each side of my shop. I would only recommend that next time you've got to fix some threads , use your hand file and cut some straight lines into the threads of the nut and it will help cut the threads back out. Just wiggle it slowly on and off and oil it. This has saved me a lot of headaches

Thanks, this was exactly what I needed to see! Just a couple thoughts: A 2-jaw puller would have removed the female spline off the shaft, without heat. Alt, you could use wood to gain height and use one pry-bar on each side. For removing the cotter-pin, hold with pliers, tap pliers with hammer. Use anti-seize compound on the bolts you may want to remove someday. For leverage with an open-end/box-end wrench, interlock 2 together to increase length.

Glad you got it off, I always coat the stump jumper shaft with never seize when I reinstall, Once I had the bolts that hold the gearbox to cutter frame come loose so I had to remove stump jumper to get to them and tighten I removed the nuts and applied thread locker to those nuts before reinstalling I always look under the cutter and check that stump jumper nut to be sure it’s in place and the carter key is in place, Friend of mine, the stump jumper came off while he was cutting with the machine, but he was lucky it just when to ground and stayed under cutter,

good job ,your persistence is amazing

When you cracked your stump pan, did the shear pin shear? Were you using the manufacturer's recommended hardness shear pin? My dad, who thinks he is wise and knows all (actually, he's more of a "know-it-all"), kept breaking shear pins and decided to get a really hard bolt. Soon, he struck a large rock and BAM! He bent the driveline and a universal joint and just about destroyed the gear box. Luckily, we don't think he damaged the tractor or its PTO, but even so, the cost to repair the damage to the brush cutter was going to be more than we paid for the thing. The School of Hard Knocks has a very high tuition. I prefer that someone else pay it and let their experience teach me.

I have a 48" King Kutter mower. Turned it on its side. I had to heat the castle nut with a O/A torch to get it loose. But the Stump Jumper was a dirty SOB. Heating the female spline with the torch a bit till I got worried about the shaft seal and its a big mass of metal to heat up properly. Finally made a couple of 60 degree wood wedges out of a 4x4. Placed them where the blades attach on each side of the stump jumper. Drove them in evenly with a sledge and it reluctantly, slowly got the stump jumper off the spline shaft. Anti-seize on everything when it goes back on.

Good video I've learned a few things. Thank you.

Problem with heat will ruin the seal. I cut 4 wedges out of wood and drove them under the blade in 4 areas. If blade pan flexes because of crack, maybe weld a little of the crack then drive wedges and then just a whack on the shaft.

I removed my stump jumper in about one minute. It is easier if you leave it connected to the tractor to lift it. I have 3 cutters, and I have extras for backups if I damage one mowing. So I have replaced them many times. Easy way to get them off if they are stuck is to remove the nut and mow till it falls off. Torch is bad because you will melt the oil seal around the output shaft, and end up replacing seals on gearbox. I have a 1" -14 die cutter to rethread the shafts, because I work on them all of the time. I rebuilt a rusty 1980 ACME cutter and rethreaded the shaft to replace jumper, bolts, and blades. I got a 40hp ACME 5", 40hp Countryline 5", and 210hp Brushhog 6". Watching you drag your cutter upside down trying to get it off was hillarious. If you remove the nut and raise the cutter with the tractor, and drop it fast to the ground it will usually fall off after you slam it on the gound a few times.

What about using a gear puller centered on the shaft with the arms hooked in the blade holes.

This is one crazy ass video!!!

I commented, then read through all the other comments and it looks like there were a lot of critics, including myself. However, I believe this video and others that show people struggling through, can be as, if not more valuable than viewing experts doing the same work. When you go through the struggle with them, you think that might work, or that won't work, or why doesn't he try x?, or I'd have done y, etc. Then as always, you should read the comments to see what others say. The reason this could be as good or better than watching an expert is, following the more difficult path engages the problem solving part of your brain and possibly a few emotions, which is usually much more memorable than seeing something done easily. This is also a way to improve your own problem solving skills. I highly commend this guy for not providing a polished tutorial, but letting us pull up a chair and watch him work through a mildly challenging repair. It takes an in-check ego to put this out there for the world to see. Please please please continue putting out videos in this format.

Hello, what effect did the heat have on the seals of the gear box? Thanks

I hate to tell you this, but did you notice the dimple in the center of the shaft? That is there to accept the point of an automotive type wheel/gear puller. The two holes in the stump bump are where the arms of the puller go.

i right now have mine in the air supported with jacks, i have a car jack under the round disck next to the bolt, that the blades are on (stump bump) ?? nut is half off but need to make shure when i lower it , will the grease come running out also? fromthe top box ?

I use a hydrolic porta-a-power to push it off . Placing rams under blade bolts works great !

I need to replace the seal. Can't find a video to show how to remove the plate under the 4 bolts to get to the seal.

Just curious, the gear box or the bolts on top don't come off? On my van I had to take off the whole axel to get to the stuck king pin. I put 20 tons of pressure on the king pin to drive it out but just bent my press. So finally I realized I could use my angle grinder to cut the king pin in half. I didn't want to heat it up because that changes the metal at the molecular level. If you watch knife making or any metal science you know heat changes the metal .

Even the torch failed for me. Last ditch effort - I replaced the castle nut upside down and flush with the top of the shaft. Then I took a 10 pound sledge and hit it with great force to shock it. At the same time I had a 4x4 wedge already adding upward pressure. It budged.

That 2" hole behind the gearbox is so you can drop a crow-bar down through and tap it off while it hangs on the 3pt hitch. Read the manual for a Bush Hog 306, and that's what it will tell you the same thing.

How is the output seal holding up after heating?

A couple of nuts welded on the stumpjumper and a puller pushing on the shaft.

ok my hubby is having issues on his job. Need ideas. THe blade holder is seized up. He has tried torch and he still cant get it to free

its called a castle nut, not a bolt.

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Best video ever...I'm on day 2 myself - i haven't tried dragging it around yet but i might just for fun....ha.

It took me a lot of pb blaster and time and a lot of swings with the sledge to get mine off 😂

Enjoyed the video but I won’t comment on the tactics however, very interesting. Here is another way to remove the stump jumper without heat risking damage to the gearbox seal. The alternative is to use a gear puller. This can be accomplished by drilling two holes in the stump jumper approximately 1½” in diameter just outside the center hub. This allows the hooks of the puller to grab as close to the center as possible. The gearbox shaft has a “center” location drilled during manufacturing that can also be used for the puller. Apply pressure on the puller as needed and occasionally striking the puller hex nut with a heavy hammer. Use plenty of penetrating fluid and when re assembling use anti-seize. This works best if the brush hog is upside down.

Holy hell. What the hell are you doing man. Hope you are still alive to read this comment

True shade tree mechanic. Luke’s to use the word “wack”.

I did that about 4 or 5 years ago posted it will you get hammered by you know it alls

What kind of threads is on the shaft

good heavens.

Next time use a 1” ID machine thread nut (like off of a 2” receiver hitch with a 1” shank). Screw it down just almost level. Then, use a low profile jack to do your prying on the stump jumper while you hit the shaft with a sledge hammer. You won’t bugger your threads that way. Each hit add a little more pressure with the jack.

That thing is gonna be messed up now.

Not to sound like Mr. Know-it-all here...I'm not that, but, I am wondering if a 2 or 3 jawed puller wouldn't have taken that off for you. The driveshaft coming from the gearbox has the hole down through the middle for it. If anyone's ever tried that...let me know. Looks like it might be the tool for the job....and probably some heat, but be careful, that gearbox is filled with oil...don't want to ignite that while you're heating the shaft. 🤷

A nut, not a bolt.

Antisieze is what I would use keeps things from seizing up and your " Nut" will tighten more and come off easier

Will Heating it up that much will ruin your seals

30 yrs in the elevator business...my mechanics faced similar problems. You will not believe what they used as a penetrating oil. SLOAN’S LINIMENT...that was their go-to solution to stubborn nuts on frozen tapered shafts. The Sloan’s is expensive. My drug store special orders it for about. $16.00 for about 6 oz.

Heat always been a miracle worker.... Suggestion..... when putting it back together use anti-seize.

they use to call that yankee ingenuity not every one has 300 pullers for one job and you would not have found this video if you knew it all thanks for the video. One thing that got me out of trouble was a thread file get a good quality file because shafts are hard i use a two file set and a thread gauge

what did you do with those blades? They look really rough?

All that work and didn't sharpen the blades? Anyway, use the wedges to put pressure on the stump bump plate, use a little heat, and tap the shaft using a block of oak to protect it. Also, if you do your maintenance regularly, things come apart much more easily. Use anti-seize on your shaft (the crown bolt and cotter pin will keep it tight. Or get some goats... Just sayin' ......

Stump bump???? Try blade pan or stump jumper. It will save you embarrassment at the parts shop.

The problem with using heat on that bolt is that you are damaging the metal and where it will be brittle and have to be replaced. I saw the part where you dragged the bush hog around isn't a good idea either. That is a very good way to damage the entire unit and that particular bush hog is cheaply built with the thin metal it is built with.

You could have just used a thread file. Also installing the nut before beating the shaft. All of these are fundamental mechanic skills

that much heat had to ruin the oil seal, use plenty of never seize when putting back together

Looks like there was paint inside the spline no wonder it would not come off.

Lol, I've gotta try that lil flip trick on mine... The baby is a 10 footer and there's a pair of 14'ers... I don't think it's gonna work do good..

Hot wrench !

Have you ever thought about heating up your nut and or bolt assembly? Heat expands it doesn't contract, until it cools

This odyssey​ was wonderful. You're well on the path of getting an oxy-acetylene torch set-up for reasons. If you must hit a hardened threaded shaft, thread the nut most of the way back on. In this way you beat up the nut, not the shaft. Regardless, brush cutters are a hassle to mess around with as my own odyssey shows. LOL ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DaAGlmC2nfE.html

Never Sieze is your friend!

looking at your intro I can see why the stump jump broke on that brush hog. Just saying.

Always put nut on threaded shaft when hammering on.

Use heat and a bearing puller. Turn the puller legs out.

Why is this so ridiculously difficult I have watched several videos trying to remove mine without any success.

Side note - Never, ever - ever- ever chain to your tractor above the drawbar the way you did. Nobody thinks THEY will flip over backwards - yet every year, people die from flipping over backwards. Even more dangerous without a rops.

Stump bump my goodness

Would hate to see you work on a sidewinder, hey why didn't you try some acid to eat away the iron oxide to loosen the stump jumper all it was was rusted to the gear box shaft?

That was HOG 🐗 WÏLD 💨, Glad the cable didn’t cut your time ⏳ waay shørt⚠️ Yes indeed, ‘slow fusion’, is Certainly a dictating factor. Cheers 🍻 fròm 🦘🌅☂️

Mistakes made. NEVER take the CASTLE nut all the way off. They cost 4 or 5 bucks, at best. Loosen the castle nut and beat the shit out of it. NEVER hit bare threads, I don't care how good you are with a FREAKING SAWMILL? Really? The drive Spindle is MUCH more expensive. Check your gear oil seals now, I bet they leak. NEVER use lube on threads. Use ANTI SEIZE. Using some long hardened punches, two of them, on exactly opposite sides of the spindle and the Stump Hump fitting, (granted this take two people to do) strike BOTH punches at the exact same time with identical hammers. Same size and weight, and try to use the same force on both punches at the same instant. That causes a harmonic vibration the will break ANY nut or spindle off (as long as they are NOT rusted). Heat melts your grease seals. Dropping it from the lift only means that now you will need to straighten or replace the 3 point attachment ams. God help the guy who buys this off of Craigs List. Grind the welds down and TRY to get the hump back into balance, Bent is ok, out of balance is not. I just watched a little more of the video. Nice gear oil stream. I told it would leak. I really should watch the entire video before commenting. The reason there is a hole in the center of the spindle is for a Bearing or Hub puller. that centers the puller so it doesn't fuck up the threads. FYI. Heat is the LAST thing to try. Best laugh I have had in a while, thanks.

Mistake #1 is that you were using non-destructive methods on an irreparable part and lacked an O/A torch to do it how the rest of the world does it (takes all of 2 minutes, and half that is getting the rosebud on the torch handle). Your stump jumper was trashed, so why not cut it off? You could've popped the friction fit of the tapered splines using an angle grinder and cutting the hub along the side parallel to the output shaft of the gear box. You own an angle grinder, right? I had to replace the gear box on a 5' Bush Hog. I went to a buddies house for an extra set of hands, and between the two of us and the torch had the whole job done in 10 minutes. No damage done to the stump jumper or the castle nut.

Hydraulic porta power

Love the video but the music in-between the talking really gets on my wife's nerves. I'd rather just listen to the talking explanation without the music. IMO. Thank you for the video though

This video is 2 years old so you probably know this already, but that lower seal is ruined now.

Holy sh1t. Tell me you don't what you doing with out telling me.

Dear Lord brother that was very painful to watch. I would’ve taken a mini grinder with a thin zip wheel and cut what you call the stump bump off tjen pull the hub off haha. Hey at least you got it done

Nut....nuts thread on not bolts........ and pulling that with your car...... it would have been amazing to see that break loose and take out your rear window.....

Remove castle nut, put long metal bar through the hole and literally the beat the hell out of the metal bar, then rotate stump jumper 180 degrees and commence with more beating. The biggest hammer you can swing will make for less beating of the metal bar.

Anti seize next time.

Neversieze

OMG DUDE..! You do way too much talking. Just work & talk in the video at the same time. 😣

*CRINGE*... Those holes are NOT meant for you to pull it off from. They're meant to have a round bar inserted into so that the blades have a "stop" to push against while you take the nut off that attaches them to the hub. Pulling the hub off with those holes, while it is already cracked, is just going to make your life more difficult. Most likely by pinching the hub even more on the shaft as you try to pull it off, thereby gouging the shaft as you pull. To do it right, use a bearing puller with two arms. That way, it pulls evenly with the force always perfectly balanced and parallel to the shaft.

Omg man 🤦🏻‍♂️

Its called a stump jumper meaning it jumps the stumps man come on

anti seize on everything next time

when does your circus act start

Stump jumper .....not bump

buy a new one that one is shot

I have done this same job in about 10 min but I use tools every day

Just run it with out the nut . Won't it just fall off ?

warm up and heat the cracked piece , not the shaft. gently tap shaft and walla.

That’s a toy