Rotary Cutter Newbie with a JD 613 Rotary Cutter Problem

[cnl390]

After several years of research and whining to the wife I finally have my tractor.

A John Deere 870 with 436 hours. It came with a JD 440 loader & JD 613 Rotary Cutter.

When I first got it I shredded a field of 1-2 1/2 foot dry grass with the cutter set at about 6 with no problem. A couple of days later I shredded another similar field (a little denser grass & some thick thatch) for about an hour in the evening with no problems. The next morning I went out and after about 45 minutes I noticed the cutter started to leave chunks of grass uncut and smelled a smell like brake or clutch pads. I turned around to see the plastic cover over the slip clutch at the gearbox was smoking and melting. I stopped immediately and have not used it since.

Any idea of what it did and what caused this to happen? I mean the entire plastic housing melted away.

 

[kennyd]

Your slipper clutch was to loose and it overheated. You can probably rebuild it, or you can get a new one...

Oh, and Welcome to TBN

 

[JerryG]

What Kenny said is right. If it got that hot, the clutch discs will for sure have to be replaced. Had you noticed them and knew what was happening when they first start slipping, you more than likely could have adjusted them and they would have worked a lot longer. You can replace them yourself. Most clutches have only two discs and are very inexpensive.