Got a letter from David, a viewer who has bent the stump jumper on his Bush Hog 296 cutter. This is going to be expensive to repair. New ones are $1060 + freight. He's wondering if he could bend it back and keep it in balance and how to get it off. I've never known anyone who has tried to take a dent out of a stump jumper, also called a blade pan, on a brush hog. I'm doubting it'll work, and I see three options.

I think David's first option is to try to fix the stump jumper himself, but to be prepared to replace it, if that doesn't work. The big challenge would be keeping it in balance. If it wobbles just a bit it can woller out the splines on the gearbox shaft, which means both the gearbox and stump jumper would have to be replaced, at which point the cutter would cost more to repair than it's worth. If it wobbles a lot, you'll feel it in the tractor seat and it can tear up the deck, loosen bolts, etc.

The second option is to take it to a dealer and have them fix it. I like this option because David has revealed he's a bit over ten years older than I am, and probably doesn't need to be trying to manhandle a 180 lb. stump jumper. You need good relations with your local dealer, there are certain situations where it's best to let people with more experience and better tools take care of your problems. This might be one of them. A lot depends on the condition of the cutter now. He told me it's 15 years old, if the deck is beaten up and the blades are worn, it might be time for plan C.

The third option is to trade it in on a new one. I strongly recommend telling the dealer that it was the blade pan issue and being honest about the repair needed. If you don't they'll never trust you on another repair again. They can allow you something for it and then either repair it and resell it when they're less busy or offer it to someone who wants a "project" and sell them the parts to fix it.

I like options 2 and 3 the best. What do you think? Put it in the comments below.


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