Bush hog tail wheel not pivoting?

[Kenfyoozed]

I have a 5' bush hog and For the life of me I cant get the tail wheel to pivot while in use. I think the tail wheel fork is bent about 1/2 inch to one side but the pivot pipe isnt. It spins wildly when there is no pressure, as when in transport position, But once the wheel touches the ground it wont pivot when the tractor turns? What am I doing wrong?

 

[brin]

There is a grease zerk there on the pivot pipe...have you greased it ? Other than that , you mention some bending and it could be that when you lift the bush hog with the 3 pt. off the ground it spins freely and then when you lower it to the ground as the tail wheel hits the ground - under the weight - it then binds the shaft on the tail wheel against the inside of the pipe..So if that is the case you will have to bend the pipe that holds the tail wheel rod back into place. Does that make sense ?

This may sound weird but if you somehow have bent the tail wheel bracket out away from the tail end of the bush hog , even just a little , so it is not completely vertical then that binding could be taking place. Something as simple as lowering your bush hog a backing up and ramming a tree with the tail wheel bracket could fix it...I stress could...I have done things like that and had success.

 

[George2615]

I had the same problem with my tail wheel after loaning it out to a friend. Seems he backed into a tree bending the tail wheel bracket. If it was raised it would spin any way you want it to but when down it wouldn't turn. I used a 3' pipe wrench and a 4' cheater pipe slid over the handle to straighten it out. I found that the pivot pipe the wheel spins on has to be somewhat level (straight up and down, perpendicular to the ground) so the wheel can turn easily. If it is bent forward, backward, or to either side the wheel won't turn with weight on it.

 

[CharlieS]

Another possibility is you have your toplink too short.

 

[CCWKen]

Or maybe the battery voltage is low.

 

[Soundguy]

any slop in the spindle to pin.. if so it could be binding.. especially if the pin/axle is bent.

soundguy

 

[Ford850]

I had mine act like that even after greasing. I pulled the cotter pin and dropped the wheel off and found the problem. The grease was only flowing to the top half of the shaft. When I raised the mower, the wheel dropped and would spin freely on the top half of the shaft. When I lowerd the mower the shaft pushed up and locked up on the dried out lower half.

I cleaned the whole assembly with penetrating oil and a wire brush, regreased, and it works like new. Now when I regrease it, I always raise the mower until the wheel is dangling, grease, lower the mower, grease some more.