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Mounting a Tractor Hedge Flail

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awemawson:
Several years ago I bought a Twose 276 Hedge Flail. It originally would have mounted on 'axle brackets' but this one had been converted to mount on the standard 'Three Point Linkage'. Theoretically this makes it easier to mount and also able to be fitted to any tractor with a three point linkage.

awemawson:
Now the very day that it arrived a neighbour borrowed it, along with my tractor, but unfortunately he rang me an hour later to say he'd broken my tractor  :bugeye:

The flail being on the three point linkage, and being a very lop sided and heavy load, had put more strain on one lifting arm than the other, resulting in the cross shaft breaking due to the torque - an 1 1/2" diameter high quality steel shaft  :bang:

He mended it as those were the terms of the 'lend', but it meant that I wasn't prepared to mount it up again in that configuration.

Now I've bored you all witless in threads such as the 'enlarging a hole' thread where I was attempting to take the load off the hydraulics and take it elsewhere:

http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,9728.0.html

But those attempts also resulted in failure - far too much twist due to the lop sided load. So I decided to convert in back to 'Axle Bracket Mount' hence the thread a few weeks ago about 'Glueing Metal Back On':

http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,9885.0.html

The original 'fore and aft' spars on the flail had been chopped off and brackets welded on for the three point linkage. Now these spars are 100 mm square box with 6 mm wall thickness, and I had intended just to weld bits back on to bring them back to the original length. But thinking of the huge torque that they have to withstand I decided to replace them in their entirety. Theoretically they just bolt onto the very substantial hydraulic tank, but it remains to be seen how easily they come off.

This is what they looked like according to the parts book, which is the only documentation that the original manufacturer has after suffering various take overs

awemawson:
Now none of the mechanics of the axle mounts is particularly difficult, but what is difficult is measuring up to decide where to put them and how big to make them, so I cast around to see what I could find.

A set of brackets designed for my tractor (Ford 4600) but for a different flail turned up on eBay - they were for a Bomford and he also had the 'jaw fittings' which are rather more self-aligning than the Twose ones (which I couldn't find anyway)

awemawson:
So having at last completed the change of the right hand axle oil seal yesterday I could mount the brackets and start deciding how to glue the lot together.

Here is a picture of a Bomford flail with very similar brackets

awemawson:
So this morning I started unbolting the jaws from their original mounts - easy peasy - just four nuts and bolts on each - well not quite - they we unbelievably tight and I had to resort to unothodox methods to hold the bit down while swinging on the 3/4" socket drive with a long pipe

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