Sharp Again!

[rockinbbar]

Took some slack in projects to level, tune, service, grease, and sharpen the blades on my 12' rotary cutter today.

Cutter is a 12' Modern Ag "Viper" batwing cutter. I pull this cutter with a NH Powerstar 75.

It is sweat inducing work to say the least. But things just run better, cut better, and have less serious problems when I do this periodically.

This time will be less intensive than the next time... Next service it gets, also gets all the gear boxes drained of gear lube and cleaned, then replaced with Corn Head grease. That ought to make a mess.

These blades are over 2 years old now, and still in decent shape. Sharp as all get out now. Cutter is now leveled and tuned so that I can cut the next project at about an inch and a half off the ground level.

How often do you guys go through your cutters, etc., like this?

I only wish my 15' cutter would be as easy and precise to tune, and have the blades last as long as this 12' cutter.

 

[deserteagle71]

My cutter is only a 6', but I grease all the fittings and touch up the blades about every 20 hours of operation. Main thing for me is to loosen up the blades so they swing freely - mine have a tendency to build up dirt between the stump jumper and the blade where it pivots.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I haven't done anything to mine, really. Unless you count pulling out the bobwire or cable that gets wrapped up in the spindle occasionally. The underside of the spindle has always stayed dry, so I consider the gearbox "leak free" (so far). Next spring will be 7 years, not sure how many "hours" on it.

It's only a 6' single spindle. I've never sharpened the blades, and don't intend to. I go through way too much brush and trash with it to have "sharp" blades.

Curious why you're switching to corn head grease, do you have a seal leaking?

 

[LD1]

Mine is a 8' twin rigid deck so nothing to really tune.

But I do sharpen the blades 2-3x per season.

I check oil levels and grease everything beginning of season.....and about 2x-3x per year as well.....whenever I sharpen my blades.

But lots less maintenance on a single rigid deck cutter

 

[rockinbbar]

I haven't done anything to mine, really. Unless you count pulling out the bobwire or cable that gets wrapped up in the spindle occasionally. The underside of the spindle has always stayed dry, so I consider the gearbox "leak free" (so far). Next spring will be 7 years, not sure how many "hours" on it.

It's only a 6' single spindle. I've never sharpened the blades, and don't intend to. I go through way too much brush and trash with it to have "sharp" blades.

Curious why you're switching to corn head grease, do you have a seal leaking?

I'm going to corn head grease for a couple of reasons.

The first is on this Viper cutter, the right gear box absolutely throws standard gear oil out the vent hole. I mean I can fill to the full level, and by the end of the day, it's low again, and I have a mess all over the right wing deck. This is caused by the gear box construction, and where the vent hole is located, in conjunction with the direction the gears are spinning...

The left and center gear boxes are spinning one direction, but the right side, the direction is reversed, and slings thin oil out that vent hole.

I talked with the factory rep and asked him if it would hurt to pump some HD red grease into the box to thicken that oil so it wouldn't sling out as bad. He said to go for it, it wouldn't hurt anything. So I added about a half a tube of red grease, and it had the desired effect. It still vents air, but has sowed the leakage WAY down.

The other reason I'm going to corn head grease is to give out of warranty gear boxes a better chance of surviving when a seal does go out. It's not easy to check seals all the time, especially the center bottom one. Just added insurance.

 

[rockinbbar]

The main destruction cause of my blades getting worn badly, chipped, or rounded at the end cutting edge is "ground strikes".

Ground strikes is when the spinning blades hit dirt or rocks due to uneven terrain, or unexpected hills like gopher mounds or construction unevenness.

A 15' or wider cuter will do this often, while my 12' rarely does. Just the nature of the beast. The 12' is shorter, in both width and length, and conforms to terrain changes better than a wider cutter, thus not striking the ground as often. (Like a short wheelbase vehicle navigates uneven terrain better than a long wheel base does.)

I try and raise the deck with my rear remote controls if I see the deck and blades won't clear an obstacle that would cause a ground strike. But you won't see them all.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a 12 foot Titan batwing that I pull behind my 70 hp tractor. I've hade it two summers now and I've been impressed by how nice it cuts. I haven't touched the blades yet, but I do have a few chips in them. I'm probably just going to leave them alone and replace them when the cut isn't as nice as it is now. I'm still sneaking into wooded areas with it and trying to turn them into grassy areas, so there is going to be more damage to the blades when I do this. Eventually I'll just be mowing grass, and that would cause less wear and tear on the blades.

I've had two issues. One of my gear boxes became loose and shook all over the place before I turned it off. This destroyed the threads on my bolts, so I had to buy new ones. I coated them n red loctite to help keep them tight. This was a horrible job since I couldn't hold the wrench on one side and turn on the other side. I had to wedge the wrench into position under the deck and turn the bolt on top of the gear box. The wrench would come loose and fall to the ground, so I had to wedge it into position over and over again. Access to those bolts was also horrible. I could barely get them the turn just a little bit before having to reposition my wrench. Four bolts took hours to install!!!!

My other issue is that one of my decks doesn't like to lower on it's own. I don't have a grease fitting where the deck hinges, and I'm not sure why it doesn't like to come down like the other deck. It's a minor frustration.

How do you clean all the debris off of your batwing after you are done mowing for the day? I tried using a broom, but it's not very effective. I'm thinking about buying a cordless leaf blower to do this and somehow keeping it in my cab so I can do this out in the pasture, before I get back to my house. I hate cleaning it off where I park it because it just builds up and creates a mess.

 

[rockinbbar]

I have a 12 foot Titan batwing that I pull behind my 70 hp tractor. I've hade it two summers now and I've been impressed by how nice it cuts. I haven't touched the blades yet, but I do have a few chips in them. I'm probably just going to leave them alone and replace them when the cut isn't as nice as it is now. I'm still sneaking into wooded areas with it and trying to turn them into grassy areas, so there is going to be more damage to the blades when I do this. Eventually I'll just be mowing grass, and that would cause less wear and tear on the blades.

I've had two issues. One of my gear boxes became loose and shook all over the place before I turned it off. This destroyed the threads on my bolts, so I had to buy new ones. I coated them n red loctite to help keep them tight. This was a horrible job since I couldn't hold the wrench on one side and turn on the other side. I had to wedge the wrench into position under the deck and turn the bolt on top of the gear box. The wrench would come loose and fall to the ground, so I had to wedge it into position over and over again. Access to those bolts was also horrible. I could barely get them the turn just a little bit before having to reposition my wrench. Four bolts took hours to install!!!!

My other issue is that one of my decks doesn't like to lower on it's own. I don't have a grease fitting where the deck hinges, and I'm not sure why it doesn't like to come down like the other deck. It's a minor frustration.

How do you clean all the debris off of your batwing after you are done mowing for the day? I tried using a broom, but it's not very effective. I'm thinking about buying a cordless leaf blower to do this and somehow keeping it in my cab so I can do this out in the pasture, before I get back to my house. I hate cleaning it off where I park it because it just builds up and creates a mess.

View attachment 826679

I hear ya!

Keep those blades touched up with a flap disk and angle grinder! They'll cut better, and much, much cheaper and easier than replacing blades!

My big Woods 15' cutter has grease fittings on the drive shafts of the wings. I hit those daily! Never a problem.

This Viper cutter doesn't have them, so I have to loosen the driveshaft from the gearbox, extend them out, clean off the sludge, and grease the shaft by hand, then re-connect the shaft to the gear box. Not a clean, fun job... But if you don't keep those shafts greased and sliding easily, they can bind up, and bend the drive shaft when raising the wings with powerful hydraulic flow. Not a great road to go down, so try and grease the drivelines. I remove that lawyer induced cover from all my cutters before I use them. That gives me much better access to U-joints and fittings, and the shafts themselves.

I had one gear box get kinda loose on the Viper when new. I tightened them all for the first couple hundred hours I used the cutter... I'd check tightness every other day or so. After that, they have stayed tight for the last couple of years. Those gear box bolts work better and less frustration is involved if can tack weld that bolt from the bottom. Saves lots of cussing.

I use a powerful gas leaf blower on the deck every day when done. Blow off the tractor as well. Keeps things better all around.

 

[5030]

I never sharpen the blades on my Land Pride flat back shredder or my Land Pride bat wing shredder. I replace them every 2 years. Agri Supply has then and they aren't all that expensive plus I replace the pivot bolts as well but you'd better have an impact wrench capable of removing them and tightening them as well. SOP for me.

 

[Alan W.]

I have a little 5’ King Cutter that the lock washers on the gear box bolts shattered and the bolt head was under the stump jumper.
Lower seal was leaking a bit so I pulled it apart and replaced the bolts with grade 8 and used lock nuts.
Coated the shaft with never seize and remounted the stump jumper with new blades and bolts.
I too touch my blades up periodically. If you dont its hard to get them sharp again without resorting to the big grinder.