old rotary cutter identification?

[tonka800a]

I just picked up an old 4 foot cutter for dirt cheap, and have no idea who made it. Anyone got an idea? .The drive shaft is kinda oval instead of square where it slides together, if that helps? I thought it might be a Ford, but upon closer inspection it looks like it was originally yellow and someone painted it blue. It will need some new blades and a u-joint. The gear box is marked warner auburn and has a serial tag that reads : F241. couldn't find any other markings. Guess I'll do some searching now, in the mean time here's a couple pics of the rusted out hulk:

 

[Gunny]

I've also got a cutter that uses that same shaft
That's a tri-lobe shaft, and I've only seen it used on four foot and a few light duty five foot cutters.
A couple of tractor dealers around here carry both inner and outer shafts, sell it by the foot. Both have said it's not a very good seller, but once in blue moon or so they'll have to fabricate one end or the other for a user.

Blades are pretty easy, just measure the ones on it, order new ones that have that length and a similar profile.
U-joints can be done the same way, take one of the old ones to just about any dealer or even a NAPA and have them cross reference new ones.

Looks like you really need to work on the decking under the gear box, you sure don't want that thing to shake itself loose!

 

[kebo]

Imo, it bears a strong resemblance to the older KingKutter 4ft bush hogs. Yellow has been one of their colors, but have also seen them in blue.

 

[tonka800a]

Thanks for the input Gunny, I saw a video last night of an old 5ft Big Bee W-540 with the tri-lobe shaft that bears some resemblance to this one. Looks like the previous owner felt the same about the gear box and welded the @#%$ out of it to the deck.

My thoughts exactly on replacing the blades and u-joint. Blades are pretty worn down, but the only time I intend to use this is when I let the back 1.5 acres get like they are now (about 18" high).

Thanks kebo, I did see a couple old kingkutters that were similar. These old cutters are kinda hard to pin point exactly.