Bought a John Deere 613 Rotary Cutter

[MBDiagMan]

Thanks for the response JCB.

As far as beating up the back, I'm SURE that I won't be as tough on it as the person who used it before. That said, I DO sometimes back under low hanging trees and such and did bang in my old once. If I didn't sometimes back it into places, I probably wouldn't worry about the stiffener.

Also I would expect that 413 would be tougher in the back because the span is not as long as it's larger cousin.

I do tend to overkill when I fire up the welder.

 

[MBDiagMan]

I worked on the shredder yesterday and today. I cut the entire rear portion out and welded in new 1/8" plate. It was a little challenging because the center and right portion of the rear are angled back, while the left portion is vertical. You can see this in the pictures posted above by JohnDeere3720. It was a challenge, but I like a challenge.

After getting it all fabricated back into place, I welded 2" X 3/8" strap around the back. I then used a brush and a quart of implement paint to try and seal it from the weather in an effort to keep it from rusting away.

I forgot to take pictures before I started so I will take some pictures of the metal I cut out and the end result and post them. If it's not raining tomorrow I should get the pictures up then.

After the fabrication work, I pulled it outside my shop door so I would have more light while painting. Just as I finished it began sprinkling. I put it back in the shop for the night.

The fabrication OR the paint work won't win any car shows, but I think I now have a very good shredder to use for minimal cash outlay.

 

[beenthere]

...................If I get it straightened, I am planning on stiffening the whole rear edge with 2 inch angle. Do you think this will be enough meat, or should I use something bigger.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have the 513, and I like to back into brush with it. Had the same problem with the rear skirting. I had my welder pound it back and weld on 1.5" square tubing along the lower edge and the angled sides. It is just enough to be able to back into heavy brush and strong enough to lift or stop movement. Works great. Your angle iron may just do as good as the square tubing.

 

[MBDiagMan]

beenthere,

Your welder did some nice work. It looks great. I thought about square tubing, but I used bar stock as described in my post above yours. The chains look like an interesting and effective solution as well.



I was off all week and did not have a way to post any pictures until I got back to the office Monday morning. That changed yesterday when my wife brought me an iPhone. I will post the pictures below.

The pieces of metal on the left and right lying on the ground are the pieces I cut out. This was all that was left of the rear skirt. I forgot to take pictures before I started cutting.

I'm kind of proud of my work with piecing the plate together in the original angled configuration.

Here are the pictures:

 

[beenthere]

You ought to be dang proud of that fabrication job. Looks great, and like it will do the trick, no problem.

:cool2:

 

[MBDiagMan]

You ought to be dang proud of that fabrication job. Looks great, and like it will do the trick, no problem.

:cool2:

Thanks a BUNCH for the compliment!

A few years ago, I could not have done such good fabrication work. I spent most of my career in the automation software industry until my particular niche went away and I was too old to start over in another industry.

When I grew up my Dad was in the Fork Truck business much of that period so I ended up learning about maintaining and repairing fork trucks. I now live in a sparsely populated area and ended up with a chance to work doing contract fork truck repair in a very large plant with a fleet of about 80 fork lifts.

Little did I know that I would spend as much time repairing crash damage as I would troubleshooting electric motor controls and repairing hydraulic systems. The fork truck drivers participated in a daily demolition derby. As a result I did LOTS and LOTS of major repair to crash damaged fork trucks. My fabrication and welding skills improved probably by a factor of 10. I now work in the same plant, but now for a major automation company with an office in the plant. I have a pretty nice job that's really cushy compared to the fork truck job. That said, I really kind of miss all the fork truck work. I was in great physical shape and it was a low stress job in that when I went home it was completely out of my mind.

When I worked in the fork truck shop, I worked like that all the time. Since I'm not used to it now, last Monday and Tuesday on this project about killed me. Of course, I'm no longer a spring chicken either.

Thanks again for the compliiment. I'm very proud of the outcome.

 

[MBDiagMan]

MB,

I've got a 413, and your 613 is probably tougher than you think. I don't know how you really plan to use your 613, but I use mine fairly tough at time and can't think of any situation I've been in where I'd need 2" angle on the back.

If I was cutting and patching mine, I'd maybe add a piece of flat bar for a stiffner....maybe, but really don't think I'd need to consider angle iron.

Good luck,

Joe

I followed your suggestion and used 2 X 2 X 3/8 bar stock as a bottom stiffener. It worked out great. Thanks for the input.

 

[two_bit_score]

Thats not to promising, i got a pretty good bend in the rear lip, i think it was run into a stump. Any advice on straitening it out effectively? I need to get it fixed up. The pictures show it best.

Couple of suggestions:

Tree, chain, come along

buy a porta power at harbor freight

hi-lift jack, tree and chain

heat will help but make sure the underside is clean of caked on grass, etc.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[simonds]

I have bent mine too. Almost everytime I mow out in the wood lot. It is mostly locust trees and has been thinned out a couple times for fence posts. There are many stumps in there and I always seem to back into one of them.
I just find one that is the right height and back up and drop the mower over it and jerk foward a few times in low range, and 4wd. It pulls the deck back out so I can continue mowing. The deck doesn't look very pretty on the back but I will probably do it all over again next time anyway.

 

[jenkinsph]

Doc,
The repairs look great, nice save.:thumbsup: