Rotary Cutter Load noises from Rotary Cutter

   / Load noises from Rotary Cutter #1  

Strider

New member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
18
Location
Central NC
Tractor
Kubota L3010 HST w/ FEL
Hi folks,

I have an ancient and decrepit rotary cutter that was included with a previous tractor purchase. It has been patched and welded all over, the PTO shaft guard is mangled, and I just discovered that there is supposed to be a locking mechanism on the PTO shaft yoke. I discovered this after I attached the cutter to our new Kubota L3010 and cranked it up - and the shaft came off and flopped around in a rather disturbing fashion /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif. This never happened on the old Yanmar we used before, I think because all the rust on the PTO stub held the yoke on by friction. I have temporarily fixed this problem, but I now notice that there is a tremendously loud thumping noise whenever I engage the PTO. It sounds exactly like the blades are hitting the housing. I didn't dare peek underneath while it was operating at speed (don't even want to get off the tractor with it operating), but when I disengaged the PTO and hopped off to look, I couldn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary. Is this sound normal? I don't remember it from the last time I bush hogged a couple years ago... It's going to cost me at least $50 in parts from TSC to make the yoke not slip off, and as I said before this implement has definitely seen better days - should we just get a new rotary cutter?

Thanks for any advice!
 
   / Load noises from Rotary Cutter #2  
Could the drive shaft be overextended when mounted on your new tractor? The two halves of the shaft need to overlap some minimum distance to act as a single stable shaft. If there is too little overlap it might be flopping around causing the noise.

The basic answer to your question is no, it shouldn't make a banging noise unless you are mowing down trees or rocks.
 
   / Load noises from Rotary Cutter #3  
I’ll bet Hayden is right and the new tractor needs a longer PTO shaft. Measure the length of your shaft when it is hooked to the tractor and then unhook it and see if it will extend farther. If the mower goes into a low spot and the PTO shaft is to short, especially if the locking mechanism is not working properly, it could be very dangerous. Might be time to look at a new cutter if you have to put out a $120 + for a PTO shaft.

MarkV
 
   / Load noises from Rotary Cutter #4  
Strider,

If you really want to check to see if your blade is hitting something - turn off your tractor, disconnect the PTO shaft from the tractor, reach under the unit and slowly spin the blade. You should easily be able to determine if the blade is hitting something.
 
   / Load noises from Rotary Cutter
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Hi Folks!

Thanks for your input. We decided to just go get a new Rotary Cutter, since this one was in such poor shape anyway. I picked up a KingKutter 5' at TSC yesterday, and spent the rest of the evening assembling it. Can't wait to use it today! Thanks for the advice.
 
 
 
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