Rotary Cutter Land pride rotary cutter cracking after only 2 years.

[Raddad]

I bought a land pride Rotary cutter 2 years ago. I have many other Land Pride implements some 30 years old. I occasionally use it with the Detroit Mower Gang to mow playgrounds in Detroit using a B7610 25hp Kubota. The back of the mower is already cracking just below the top. The dealer said Land Pride will not warranty this as the deck warranty is 1 year. The dealer sent pictures to Land Pride but wasn't optimistic that they would do anything. Mine is an RCR 1248. Please see the attached photos? Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?

 

[houstonscott]

I bought a land pride Rotary cutter 2 years ago. I have many other Land Pride implements some 30 years old. I occasionally use it with the Detroit Mower Gang to mow playgrounds in Detroit using a B7610 25hp Kubota. The back of the mower is already cracking just below the top. The dealer said Land Pride will not warranty this as the deck warranty is 1 year. The dealer sent pictures to Land Pride but wasn't optimistic that they would do anything. Mine is an RCR 1248. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=484422"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=484422"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=484423"/>Please see the attached photos? Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?

What's the gray paint from? Looks like you hit something with gray paint "very hard" that cracked the weld. I'd say it's your fault. HS

 

[tractorshopper]

I'm surprised. I had the 1560 with my L3800 and tortured that thing with no problems at all. I took out a lot of 3" or larger privet. Hardly even had a dent anywhere. It's sides were more rolled than creased as yours appears to be. Don't know if that has anything to do with it. Maybe different thickness of metal?

 

[Gary Fowler]

That looks like a vibration induced crack. Drill the ends of the crack to prevent migration then weld it up and then put a reinforcement plate of 1/8" or the thickness of the deck, which ever is larger and about 3"-4" width around the entire perimeter of the bushhog and tack weld it in place. Make the top edge even with the deck top. It should stop the vibration and stop any future cracking.

 

[mddorange]

That is why I went with the 1860 so I could abuse it. In 3 years of heavy abuse, even breaking blades, I haven't had any of those problems.

 

[TripleR]

It shouldn't do that even if abused. It can be fixed by a good welder, but shouldn't have to be. I have two LP cutters with quite a bit of use in the past six plus years with no issues.

 

[Redlands Okie]

I am having a hard time thinking of what you could hit or snag that would break the weld and not bend the vertical wall below the weld. I would think a bad weld although i realize that's not common. Might as well weld it back up and paint the repair if needed

 

[LD1]

Its a light duty cheap cutter. ITs 12 gauge material.

I agree it looks vibration induced. Vibration can be caused by several things. Blades out of balance, constantly trying to mow stuff beyond its rating, or up to the max on a constant basis, shock loading everytime you start the PTO, etc.

Tractor attachments, especially rotary cutters, get abused big time. How much use has this cutter seen? Any pictures of the unit as a whole? (good indication of overall condition and how its been used).

You bought one of the lightest duty cutters on the market, and the absolute lightest and cheapest cutter that LP makes. Keep that in mind,

 

[DieselBound]

I agree with the diagnosis from Gary Fowler and LD1.

Might just be a bad roll of the dice on this unit. Yes, it's a light duty mower, but I don't believe that it ought to do this. I just parted ways with a Rankin 5' that was definitely light duty; I put 6 hard hears on it and it showed no signs of stressing like this: I did, however, tear up some of the side skirt metal from ramming stuff, then the blade getting into the act to scare it back! I would figure that I had a good 400 hours on that cutter. Replacement is an Land Pride RCR1860: used, blades are totally shot; like the clevis pin attachment, that was the primary motive for changing cutters (and am hoping that I'll be able to have this cutter do a little bit of duty behind my Kioti, something that I know I wouldn't contemplate doing with that Rankin).

Get it welded and you'll probably never be back here talking about any problems with it (as long as you understand that it's a light duty cutter and you treat it as such).

 

[JRobyn]

You've got absolutely nothing to loose by contacting Land Pride and asking if they can offer any help. I have found their customer service to be outstanding.