New JD 3520 : she's a beauty !

[soulasphil]

Thanks Cocre, when I read you, it seems obvious : neutral off. Especially as I learnt on another thread that the dash has to receive that information from yet another safety switch, a good protection from being run over by your own tractor.

[soulasphil]

Mowing with the MMM is a pleasure!
pic 1 : New blades give an impressive result even though it is only very coarse grass. Installing the 60D Autoconnect is fast and just requires driving the tractor with precision.
pic 2 : the front link is caught in the 2 hangers.
pic 3 : the coupler has come on to the gear box, the hydraulic hose has been connected to the black QC (FEL curl).
pic 4 : the height adjust link provides numerous positions in 13 mm increments.
pic 5 : of course, with all that grass in the air, breathing becomes difficult.

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Thanks for posting. I have been waiting for someone to post about real world experience with autoconnect. While I'm sure that it cost quite a bit$$$, this would be an invaluable sytem for somebody who doesn't have the strength to hook up implements.

Great looking tractor, great looking place you have. Hope you are getting more rain than we are.

[soulasphil]

I'm extremely satisfied with my 60D Autoconnect. Although I'm not young any longer, I still have some strength, but those thick steel mowing decks weigh a ton. The wheels will only go in one direction (generally not the direction you want) and crawling under the tractor soon loses its charm. With this new generation you only have to drive the tractor very carefully where it is expected and it connects instantly.
The only glitch I discovered was that when disconnecting the deck, the spring rod which extends the front link got caught somewhere, the pin broke and the big black spring shot out. In the manual, this problem is said to occur because of the loader and is supposed to be treated by adding washers on top of the spring. I have never been able to watch what happened under the tractor but have found a very simple solution : I simply remove the pin before removing the deck and all goes well (I would have to remove the pin to fold the link for storage anyway).
As for rain, we haven't had any to speak of for over a month and the countryside is very dry.

[WilliamBos]

Originally Posted by soulasphil

I'm extremely satisfied with my 60D Autoconnect. Although I'm not young any longer, I still have some strength, but those thick steel mowing decks weigh a ton. The wheels will only go in one direction (generally not the direction you want) and crawling under the tractor soon loses its charm. With this new generation you only have to drive the tractor very carefully where it is expected and it connects instantly.
The only glitch I discovered was that when disconnecting the deck, the spring rod which extends the front link got caught somewhere, the pin broke and the big black spring shot out. In the manual, this problem is said to occur because of the loader and is supposed to be treated by adding washers on top of the spring. I have never been able to watch what happened under the tractor but have found a very simple solution : I simply remove the pin before removing the deck and all goes well (I would have to remove the pin to fold the link for storage anyway).
As for rain, we haven't had any to speak of for over a month and the countryside is very dry.

And how does the PTO line and connect?? Seamless?? My Dad had a Ford LGT 165, and we loved the drive on deck. Wish MF had that system.

[soulasphil]

It's not all that easy to explain and the pictures in the manual are not very good. In practice, you lower the hydraulic lift system and the PTO coupler at the forward end of the transmission comes down on the right hand side in front of the deck's gear box. When you drive slowly forward, the coupler gets on the splined deck's shaft like any other transmission. In fact, I sometimes have to shake the deck a bit to have the locks engage completely when I haven't driven perfectly straight over the deck, but the transmission always gets straight in first time. The only trouble is there are three grease fittings on the driveshaft which are supposed to be lubricated every 25 hours ...

[soulasphil]

I've been mowing with my JD 60D this afternoon, so I took the opportunity to shoot a few pictures to better explain the autoconnect process.
pic 1 gives a general view of the lift and coupling system
pic 2 shows the mid PTO shaft coming from the back
pic 3 shows the female coupler at the end of the shaft and its guiding support which will slide on the top of the deck
pic 4 shows the male coupler on the deck's gear box
pic 5 shows one of the two locks that will hold the deck firmly in place
pic 5 shows the locked position with the deck in place. Lift mechanism in the background, connected either to one of the FEL's lines or to the 3rd SVC at the back
Hope this will give a better understanding of this system which, IMHO, is a great step forward.

[Kyle_in_Tex]

This is really a neat system. I can see it as giving a disabled person the opportunity of still taking care of a bigger place.

Thank you for taking the time to post this....Kyle

[soulasphil]

Today the weather was better and I started trimming a 200 metre laurel hedge I hadn't cut for two years. The job started with carrying the trimmer from the barn to the convenient branch to hang it from while I installed it on the 3 point hitch. I then cut one side in two passes, everything going fine. Then I tried to cut the top of the hedge and found out the branches had grown too thick for the cutter bar. I will have to cut it once more by hand. I will have to cut it more often in the future if I want to use the trimmer. It grows at least one metre a year !

[sargex595]

Originally Posted by soulasphil

No FEL today, but weights on the front to counterbalance the rotary cutter. The four wheel drive makes the tractor very easy to handle and there is plenty of power.

Is the mirror on the (grab handle?) made by John Deere or is it a after market mirror? I have a X595 with the grab handles and would like to install one on mine.

Thanks,

Curt.