Rotary cutter: Can we fix it?

[grsthegreat]

my rotary cutter has 2 sets of shear bolts....one on the pto shaft and one at the gear housing. The gear housing shaft is the one that always breaks.

You may have to look under the plastic protection shroud to see the empty shear holes. It looks to be where the pto shaft slides into the mower gear box. (see page 22 from link below)

from farm king site

PTO shafts with shear pin - Loosen the outer shield on the implement end of the
PTO and push the gearbox shaft through the end yoke. Using snap ring pliers,
put the snap ring on the end of the gearbox shaft. This is what keeps the PTO
shaft on if the shear pin breaks and the cutter should not be used without it.
Insert a ｽ x 3 ｽ Grade 2 bolt with a lock nut to act as shear pin and replace all
shields.
PTO shafts with slip clutch - Note: All PTO shafts with a slip clutch are shipped
with the slip clutch disengaged. There are four socket set screws on the inside
of the clutch assembly which are all turned out as far as they go to engage the
clutch. Disengage by turning set screws in fully. The clutch should slip if a hard
object such as a stump or rock is hit by the blades.
Caution: Always be certain that the PTO shaft is disengaged and the tractor​

brakes are locked before making this or any other adjustment.

http://www.farm-king.com/manuals/le-RCutter/rcutter-s2-2004.pdf

 

[rmaa]

Good news! At least as far as this situation goes..... It was the bolt that broke. We will get a new one and hopefully that was the only problem!

Thanks all! :thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

good luck.

if that's all it was.. it did it's job.

rememebr to repalce with only gr2 hardware though..

soundguy

 

[kebo]

And don't forget to check the fluid level in the gearbox, if you haven't already done so.

 

[rmaa]

So, Sadly, the broken bolt was only a symptom of the main problem, which turned out to be a useless gear box :thumbdown:

It is mighty expensive to replace, about half the cost of a brand new mower, but we figured that was better than buying another used mower and possibly running in to the same problem with a bad gear box :confused2:

As much as I would have loved to save that $120 labor fee and replace the gear box ourselves, we just couldn't get the stumpjumper off. Ugg, we tried everything, all the suggestions from this thread: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/99329-removing-stump-jumper-3.html, nothing worked (it almost looked like it was welded on there!)

Probably we did get it loossened for the mechanic, because they said they managed to get it off.... Still waiting for them to finish though so we can get back to mowing the fields. I'm gonna be pissed if it ends up being more than they said it was.......

 

[Soundguy]

yikes.. too hard of a shear bolt and gears chipped or?


soundguy

 

[rmaa]

yikes.. too hard of a shear bolt and gears chipped or?


soundguy

Mechanic says it looks like there was a point at which it was run without gear oil.... I don't know, but this is why I hate buying used. It seems we always get something that ends up costing just as much as a new one

Good news though, we are back to mowing pastures. Bad news is it hasn't rained in a long time. People at work look at me like I am crazy when I complain about no rain.... Some folks just don't get it

 

[Soundguy]

no rain here either... we need a tropical storm.

i got my ford 4600 and mower ready to mow for this season and have used it once...

soundguy

 

[Johndeere3720]

Sounds like quite a project. I have had my fun with shear bolts and taking apart gear boxes. In fact I had to take apart the gear box on my tiller last Saturday to replace a seal and a bearing and took the PTO shaft off a mower on Sunday because the shear bolt had sheared and the shaft was rust welded. It was so rust welded that two pickup trucks couldnt pull it apart and neither could the skid steer and the tree. So i brought it down to the dairy farm and they are working on getting it pulled apart. :thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

sounds like the old clapped out servis (rhino) mower I bought.. just about every part on it is almost wore past use.. but with grease ont he box and alot of welding rod it sure does beat down the brush good.

soundguy