Bush Hog JBI Project

billbill1 said:

I had never heard of Bush Hog tractors until I saw this post. Looks like a well built machine. They must have been regional and not popular in the midwest. Wheel Horse is somewhat like that as well, not many around this area.

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They were built in Galesburg, Kansas. I found this one in the upper left corner of Ohio. I have 3 other Bush Hog tractors...all 3 are D4-10 models. Most I see for sale are from east of the Mississippi and many in the New England area.

Taking the JBI and my rustiest D4-10 to our local tractor show this
Saturday. Been cleaning up the JBI today & even with old paint looks
pretty decent. Made some decals to dress it up a tad. Furniture
polish brought some luster back to the paint too. Posted some more
pics of it in pic section under "modified JBI".
I can only take so many due to trailer size & time, so I'm taking my
rustiest D4-10 to go after "Ugliest Garden Tractor". No offense
intended, but she is mighty rusty & dirty. Taking her as-is, dirt,
dust, & all! LOL All my tractors run & drive, and that's required for
the show.
Taking 3 other tractors that I will have for sale signs on...my
MF12, Unico 15, and my MF85. Too many tractors & too many debts, so
thinning the herd, but NOT any Bush Hogs nor my Allis, that's for certain!
Next year I WILL have this JB repainted, so going after "Best of
Show" with her then!

Looks real nice Dan, still cant get over the whole putting your feet inside the dash though. How does it feel to drive like that?

It's a little confining and I'm only 5'9" or so. Any taller & this would not work at all. But even still, it's comfy enough, and the sound & power it makes is worth it anyway! And that's with my raising the dash about 2"! After the show....IF we ever get enough rain to dampen the soil, this baby is going plowing!

Plowed a few days ago on 30 year sod ground. Expanding my garden for next year. Used this Bush Hog JBI tractor with the big twin Wisconsin TJD that I shoe-horned into it. Did real good for such hard ground. HP wasn't even close to an issue....ran half throttle & HP to spare. Pulling the "Twin 10's" plow I built from two 10" Brinly's. It needs tires ballasted & some cast weights to do great, but if this wasn't such hard sod ground, it'd have done super.

Today I went to dig 4 post holes for moving the fence & gate to other side of new garden area. The danged post hold digger died on me. Top bearing went out & sounded like it got the gears. But to my surprise the gears are fine. The top bearing did bust out a section of cast where the bearing cup fits. I got that welded up with stainless steel rod...was out of nickel rod. Stainless works but Ni rod is better for cast iron. Bearings & seals on order. Gonna let the ground sit, then in spring plow it again, then till. In the meantime the JB will get a NOS hydro unit & differential. I have two NOS hydro's & 2 NOS differentials laid back. After hydro warms & thins the oil, the 3 point lift will not lift hardly at all. The new hydro will fix that. The axles in the diff have been damaged from running loose, so putting in a new diff assembly too. My JB's 6 bolt hubs were shot too, keyways ruined, but I found by gambling that MF1655 hubs can be made to fit. I bought a set off ebay hoping the taper would match. It does, but had to machine 1/4" off back side of 1655 hubs to allow full seating before hitting the diff axle housing. This tractor should be good as new when finished. The engine hada fresh complete rebuild before I bought it, so a NOS hydro & diff will be a complete like new powertrain. Also, my cousin has a tire foam filling setup. He's gonna fill these tires with the dense foam in the spring. The foam weighs same as water, so it will add about 100lbs per tire, being they will be filled completely.

Lookin' good Dan. Sure do like that twin 10.

Now, how are you getting the rear wheel to sit in the furrow? I tried ploughing with wide rear tyres and didn't have much luck, the tyre wouldn't sit in the furrow. Kinda looks like you have the plough set so both tyres just run on the surface?
I dont know if I'm making sense, got any pics of the tractor while you were going?

With 12" rears they don't ride well in a 10" furrow, but it rides a bit on the last plowed furrow. The next furrow flips & covers the tread marks left on previous run. Makes it a bit tougher to get the plow adjusted this way, but works fine when dialed in.

Ah, OK. Thats the trouble I was having. Couldnt get it to dial in right with the tractor not sitting in to furrow.
Real neat setup, the MF must be collecting dust

Mith said:

the MF must be collecting dust

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It has been for a bit,...but, just as soon as I get this fence up, she comes out to clean the calf stalls. No replacing the FEL. Not planning to build another. The MF pulls the plows better, because of it's weight, and the MF's hydro pedal is smoother to use, plus the low range is superior...the JB has it on brute power.... and the sound...that TJD sounds great!