Mowing mower deck stalling tractor

[studway]

My John Deere 2305 and BX2660 are both the same, nothing needed beyond the built in shock absorbing effect of the belts and they do slip, just not enough for you to notice. I had a John Deere that did not have tight belts and I would smoke them on occasion; same thing on a RFM.

Ahh, so you're saying that the belts are slipping, enough to protect the gears and engine, just not enough for me to hear it or to see smoke. I hope that's the case.

 

[TripleR]

I don't know if you have had your blades off yet or not, but the blades are not keyed and are held only by the seventy-five to eighty pounds of torque on the blade bolts and will rotate on the shaft when striking an "immovable object".

Your deck has smooth, non toothed belts/pulleys, idler arm and then non keyed blades. Trust me, if a BX would break from hitting stuff, I wouldn't be on my second one. Now it should naturally be avoided, but there is a lot of give built into the system.

 

[studway]

I don't know if you have had your blades off yet or not, but the blades are not keyed and are held only by the seventy-five to eighty pounds of torque on the blade bolts and will rotate on the shaft when striking an "immovable object".

Your deck has smooth, non toothed belts/pulleys, idler arm and then non keyed blades. Trust me, if a BX would break from hitting stuff, I wouldn't be on my second one. Now it should naturally be avoided, but there is a lot of give built into the system.

That all sounds good. Thanks.

 

[art]

I don't know that you have a problem or if you are looking for one. It seems to be doing fine, sweatshirt and all!!!!

 

[rdsaustintx]

There are actually two slip points: The belt and the belleville (cupped) washer on the blade mount. You have to hit more than a little branch to make either slip. I have split rocks the size of cantaloupes with mine and it just keeps chugging along.

 

[studway]

There are actually two slip points: The belt and the belleville (cupped) washer on the blade mount. You have to hit more than a little branch to make either slip. I have split rocks the size of cantaloupes with mine and it just keeps chugging along.

Things that have stalled the tractor while mowing:

champion sweatshirt
apple tree branches (very strong, hard wood)
gopher mounds hiding in tall grass
clumps of turf dug up with a front loader on a bigger tractor by someone else on the farm who refuses to raise the bucket more than a foot off the ground as he bombs around the orchards. This person is an engineer, which should surprise no one (guess who left the sweatshirt in the orchard?).

Problem is the tree branches, gopher holes, and clumps of turf are recurring problems. I too have split cantelope sized rocks. Amazing.

Sounds like the tractor definitely has some things would happen before any gears were stripped or the engine is blown. This is good.

 

[soulasphil]

I'm surprised the mower can stall the tractor. Today I was bushhogging along the shore. I came to a place where an idiot had destroyed the stone wall by trying to climb it clumsily. There were big rocks everywhere from the wall but covered with high grass so that I didn't see anything. I was soon grinding granite in a tremendous noise. There was a lot of vibration and I thought I had destroyed tractor and cutter. But the tractor's engine never missed a beat, didn't smoke or protest in any other way. Finally there was no damage other than making the blades still duller. Several granite blocks were neatly cut in halves.

 

[studway]

Just got this response from Kubota:

Thank you for your E-mail dated 06/24/10. I have asked our Northern
Division service staff to investigate the situation and contact your
dealer. You should receive a response from your dealer shortly.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and allowing us the
opportunity to rectify you concern.

Your Original Inquiry:

I have stalled the tractor several times when the mid mount mower deck
struck an object. There does not seem to be any safety in place to prevent
this. No shear pin, no slip clutch, etc. Can I damage my gears by doing
this? Is there anything I can do, like loosening the mower belt, to prevent
it? Thanks.

Seems like a lot of people involved for a simple question. We'll see if the dealer ever gets back to me. Generally they are fantastic.

 

[radioman]

I just read this post, and thought about it. The kubota belt on the MMM is a double V'ed belt I'm sure you noticed. This gives it less of a chance to slip. I would be leery of loosing the tension, as these belts are expensive to replace. Since its basically 2 v blets webbed together, it doesnt smoke like the lesser tractors do and I like it that way. The wonly way I see how to loosen the tension is to get a weaker spring for tensioner. But are you really sure that is what you want ?

I think that you might be expecting too much of your MMM. You may want to switch to a RFM with a slip clutch if the objects are a concern.

 

[TripleR]

I just read this post, and thought about it. The kubota belt on the MMM is a double V'ed belt I'm sure you noticed. This gives it less of a chance to slip. I would be leery of loosing the tension, as these belts are expensive to replace. Since its basically 2 v belts webbed together, it doesn't smoke like the lesser tractors do and I like it that way. The only way I see how to loosen the tension is to get a weaker spring for tensioner. But are you really sure that is what you want ?

I think that you might be expecting too much of your MMM. You may want to switch to a RFM with a slip clutch if the objects are a concern.

That is one of the things I like about the Kubota. My John Deere 425 and 2305 will smoke or throw a belt before my Kubota. They still hold up pretty well though.