Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help?

   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #21  
A grade 5 bolt from China is probably equal to a grade 2 USA made bolt if you're lucky. :laughing:
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #22  
I have been using grade 5 for years and it always seems to shear when it should. I could not get anything done with grade 2, every time i hit a small clump of grass it would shear so I finally changed it to grade 5 and if I hit something it breaks like it should.
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #23  
I have a 6 ft Land Pride Rotary cutter for my 45 hp LS
I turn the PTO speed down as slow as possible but I still shear a bolt on startup? What is the deal? Should I have it lowered to come in contact with some brush to slow the blades ramping up? I was told to have it raised when starting. I don't think I ever used it without shearing at least 1. I cringe every time I turn it on.

Suggestions??

Thanks

Make sure the blades are sharp to reduce stress on the driveline. Try increasing mowing rpm and slowing ground speed. Ken Sweet
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #24  
To the OP, What's the answer to something bent or bound up under the deck surface? If you have a problem and don't solve it, even by going to a stronger grade bolt, eventually you'll break your PTO stub/gears in the rear end- then you'll wish you'd found out what the actual problem is/was.:confused3:
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #25  
A grade 5 bolt from China is probably equal to a grade 2 USA made bolt if you're lucky. :laughing:
Believe it or not, they are pretty accurate. Home Depot Bolt vs. USA Made | Offshore Suprise! - YouTube

Personally I always read the manual & follow what it specifies. There are a number of combinations that will work. But unless you read the manual you wont know what the engineers specified for that particular implementation. Just because grade 5 are specified commonly doesnt mean the engineer that designed your machine didnt specify ungraded or grade 8 for some reason.
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #26  
To the OP, What's the answer to something bent or bound up under the deck surface? If you have a problem and don't solve it, even by going to a stronger grade bolt, eventually you'll break your PTO stub/gears in the rear end- then you'll wish you'd found out what the actual problem is/was.:confused3:
I had the same problem breaking shear bolts on startup with my 6' brush cutter. Solved it with a slip clutch on the brush mower.
The problem was not the mower. The problem was the harsh startup with the electric/hydraulic PTO (even at idle).
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help?
  • Thread Starter
#27  
To the OP, What's the answer to something bent or bound up under the deck surface? If you have a problem and don't solve it, even by going to a stronger grade bolt, eventually you'll break your PTO stub/gears in the rear end- then you'll wish you'd found out what the actual problem is/was.:confused3:

Everything seem to be fine. I can rotate by hand, blades are free. Once it's mowing I'm fine......usually. I got to thinking, I hit a clump of dirt one time and it broke the bolt too. I didn't think that was right since it's supposed to handle a 2" sapling...
Also when running, it's smooth, no vibration or anything like that. I would think if something was bent, it would always shake
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #28  
What is the size of the shear bolt? Have all the bolts that have been shearing from the same batch? Some chinese 3/8" Gr2 bolts can be sheared with hand tools quite easily, they are not all equal. I scrapped a lot of bolts because of this problem.
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help? #29  
It may be normal for your setup, I would use the recvomended bolt.

My RC2072 with slip clutch calls for a grade 8 bolt which regularly shears after about 20 hours use. I engage at 600 rpm etc. But the abrupt electric PTO clutch and rocks seem to batter it enough to fail. The clutch is set loose and even then... I think its the free play in the coupler that gives things a running start before the bolt binds up abruptly.
 
   / Constantly breaking shear bolts on my cutter....help?
  • Thread Starter
#30  
What is the size of the shear bolt? Have all the bolts that have been shearing from the same batch? Some chinese 3/8" Gr2 bolts can be sheared with hand tools quite easily, they are not all equal. I scrapped a lot of bolts because of this problem.

I got the first batch at TSC....My Father-in-law picked some up at another Hardware store...Those do seem to last longer but probably my imagination.
 
 

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