Ok, 1st gear at 1500rpm (pto rpm) is slower than you walk. You push your walk-behind faster! No joke. Walking (military cadence (marching))= 4mph; low gear = 2.51mph at 1400rpm; 2nd gear (plowing speed and 1400rpm) 3.23mph; and high gear at 1400rpm = 7.48mph. Reverse = 2.69mph at 1400 rpm.
The 9N doesn't have a proofmeter so you might not know the pto speed is about 7 knotches from full throttle. I didn't know that until I got an 8N. You want pto speed because your hog is designed thinking you will operate at that speed. 2nd gear at pto speed is not too fast for tractor control while bush hogging most places but the cut will suffer some. I stay in 1st and mow an acre or so an hour.
I put the tractor in neutral, engage the pto, engage the clutch, and start the hog spinning. Actually, with a proof meter I set the throttle to pto rpm with the hog spinning before I shift into gear and start off but that's an 8N. Once the hog is spinning some (just a little makes a big difference), I clutch, shift into gear, release the clutch, and off I go bush hog already spinning and it's a lot smoother than starting the hog spinning and the tractor moving all at the same time. You can shift into gear with the throttle set at 1500rpm, bush hog spinning, and not grind gears. You won't grind gears if the ground speed is zero. The only time I touch the throttle while bush hogging is when I first start the engine and after I'm finished mowing. Again, the tractor ground speed must be zero to shift but the engine rpm does not have to be minimum. Set the throttle and forget it. It helps some if you understand and remember a tractor throttle is not an accellerator like you have on your car. The governor operates the carb to react to changes in grade and operating conditions. Not like a car at all.
Now if I'm going to road it in 4th gear or that overdrive I will set the throttle midway or 3/4, engage the clutch, and once moving some pull the throttle wide open. I'll use the throttle some when roading at higher ground speeds for turns and such but that's not the way to operate your implimients at lower ground speeds.
Use an ORC (required, required, required for safety, shifting while hog is spinning, and therefore protecting the tranny guts and stuff) and limiter chains (eliminates starting with the blade in the dirt and the unexpected changes in mower height). Limiter chains and ORC available at farm/ranch stores and tractor dealers. You need to measure the pto shaft diameter to get the right ORC setup. Shop for prices but get em along with sway bars, at least one anyway. (You won't get change from a 100-dollar bill, btw.)I ran without sway bars once = Dumb. I ran without an ORC a couple times = Ignorant, really dumb, and I'm fortunate I didn't break stuff and hurt myself. Tranny would lock-up and wouldn't come out of gear, wouldn't stop and almost took out a wellhead, and I thought I was going to roll the tractor backwards once. Front end came down real hard! sheesh I ran without limiter chains for a couple years = Really dumb and could kick myself.
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