Rear Finish Mower Help with 3 pt set up on finish mower

[TheJackal]

I bought a finish mower today. Think I got a decent deal on it. ($400) I'm experienced enough with my tractor to know that I don't know much and don't want to do something stupid that will break me or the tractor.

Here's the deal. The PTO shaft on the tractor has a slip clutch that extends the length of the PTO away from the tractor by enough that the driveshaft on the finish mower is too long for my lower lift bars to fit. It appears that if I removed the slip clutch, the mower would work with no modifications needed at all.

My questions are these:

Should I remove the slip clutch? I don't anticipate running 3 point equipment with this tractor other than the finish mower.

Should I find longer lower lift bars? Looks like I would need 36 inch center to center. My concern is that pushing the mower further back might be less safe. As a practical matter, the property I am mowing adjoins my house so there will be no need to lift the mower to move it to where I mow. It can just roll on the four leveling wheels.

Should I find a shorter or shorten the drive shaft? My concern here is the clearance between the mower and rear tires would be reduced. It might be enough to have no problem as long as I have the stabilizer bars sufficiently snugged up.

The tractor is my little Iseki TU1700 (that I've got about $500 in). The mower is a Del Morino SRM150 (about 60" cut).

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Ben

 

[leonz]

Please do not remove the slip clutch its there to protect your mower. You are pretty much limited to two choices, the first is that you perform surgery on the PTO shaft or the second is investing in a quick hitch that could be used on another mule at any time.

 

[TheJackal]

leonz, that looks like a great option. I'll do some measuring tomorrow to see if I gain enough length with these. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Leejohn]

That still well be to long. You sure don't want to mess up the PTO on the tractor. A quick hitch and remove the clutch would maybe do it. A finish mower with belts doesn't need a slip clutch. Do a search on how to cut your drive shaft down.

 

[kebo]

I bought a finish mower today. Think I got a decent deal on it. ($400) I'm experienced enough with my tractor to know that I don't know much and don't want to do something stupid that will break me or the tractor.

Here's the deal. The PTO shaft on the tractor has a slip clutch that extends the length of the PTO away from the tractor by enough that the driveshaft on the finish mower is too long for my lower lift bars to fit. It appears that if I removed the slip clutch, the mower would work with no modifications needed at all.

My questions are these:

Should I remove the slip clutch? I don't anticipate running 3 point equipment with this tractor other than the finish mower.

Should I find longer lower lift bars? Looks like I would need 36 inch center to center. My concern is that pushing the mower further back might be less safe. As a practical matter, the property I am mowing adjoins my house so there will be no need to lift the mower to move it to where I mow. It can just roll on the four leveling wheels.

Should I find a shorter or shorten the drive shaft? My concern here is the clearance between the mower and rear tires would be reduced. It might be enough to have no problem as long as I have the stabilizer bars sufficiently snugged up.

The tractor is my little Iseki TU1700 (that I've got about $500 in). The mower is a Del Morino SRM150 (about 60" cut).

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Ben

Can you post a couple pic's of the PTO shaft, and the finish mower hooked up to the tractor? It would help to visualize the whole setup. Also, I find it interesting that this finish mower has a slip clutch. I've seen a bunch of finish cut mowers, and don't ever recall seeing any with a slip clutch on them. I think that most mowers are built with the intention that if the blade(s) make contact with a solid object, the pulley on the spindle(s) would slip on the belt. That would serve the same function as a slipclutch. I wonder if the original PTO shaft was swapped out at some point, and perhaps the original PTO shaft didn't have a slipclutch? It's possible.

 

[atsah]

Cut the shaft, problem solved. I have the same mower, very rugged well made unit, mine also has a slip clutch.

 

[TheJackal]

Can you post a couple pic's of the PTO shaft, and the finish mower hooked up to the tractor? It would help to visualize the whole setup. Also, I find it interesting that this finish mower has a slip clutch. I've seen a bunch of finish cut mowers, and don't ever recall seeing any with a slip clutch on them. I think that most mowers are built with the intention that if the blade(s) make contact with a solid object, the pulley on the spindle(s) would slip on the belt. That would serve the same function as a slipclutch. I wonder if the original PTO shaft was swapped out at some point, and perhaps the original PTO shaft didn't have a slipclutch? It's possible.

I don't know if the PTO shaft on the mower has a slip clutch or not. I'm pretty sure that there's one on the PTO shaft coming out of the tractor. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

The problem I need to solve is to have about 5 inches more length on both of the lower lift arms. (Yeah, that's what she said. LOL)

It looks like a 3 point quick hitch may fix things or the things that leonz might take care of things suitably. At this point, once I get the mower going, I don't anticipate using the tractor for much other than mowing. I'm still working on the wife regarding moving to something bigger with 4WD with FEL, etc.

 

[boggen]

want pictures as well. you stating the PTO shaft at the tractor. and not towards the mower. (sounds odd) normally slip clutch at the implement not the tractor), what you call slip clutch might be an over running clutch (completely different), or it might be simply a PTO shaft extension.

PTO shafts generally are "bought longer" and then you need to cut them down to fit a specific tractor.

=========
be careful with 3pt hitch quick hitches, many of them you need to modify 3pt hitch implement to work with a quick hitch. (1/2" there 2 inches there... 3pt hitches are not completely standardized. meaning cutting and re-welding something.

pats easy hitch, might be something.

telescopic lower lift arms (only designed to make attaching easier, not actually extended while working an implement) you might find some lower lift arms longer for a CAT 1 3pt hitch (i assuming your tractor has)

 

[Todd727]

It is very common to have to check the PTO shaft length and cut it on agricultural equipment. This is a skill you need to learn. There is no reason to have to buy a quick hitch or remove the slip clutch.

The manual for the finish mower would've explained how to check the length. I doubt you got a manual for $400 though. Here is an example of a Bush Hog manual. Starting on page 8 are the instructions for cutting the shaft to length.

http://www.bushhog.com/uploads/documents/BHRDTH72OM.pdf

 

[TheJackal]

It is very common to have to check the PTO shaft length and cut it on agricultural equipment. This is a skill you need to learn. There is no reason to have to buy a quick hitch or remove the slip clutch.

The manual for the finish mower would've explained how to check the length. I doubt you got a manual for $400 though. Here is an example of a Bush Hog manual. Starting on page 8 are the instructions for cutting the shaft to length.

http://www.bushhog.com/uploads/documents/BHRDTH72OM.pdf

That's great information. I did find and download a manual online for the mower. It only mentioned the possible need to cut the shaft. What you shared is clear and I think that will take care of things as long as I've got sufficient clearance between the mower and back tires as explained in the manual you shared.