How Warm Should My Cutter's Gearboxes Get?

Liquidsilver · Aug 8, 2019

Molalla1 said:
Not good, you know about the "squeaky wheel syndrome" .

Haha. Yessir. I've been squeaking, but the dealer seems helpless and Titan seems hard of hearing.

I'm trying to remain a nice fellow in this...

searcyfarms · Aug 8, 2019

Liquidsilver said:
Haha. Yessir. I've been squeaking, but the dealer seems helpless and Titan seems hard of hearing. I'm trying to remain a nice fellow in this...

have they given you an ETD? is it on a boat from the East?

Turbys_1700 · Aug 9, 2019

They may not have it in stock. I'm sure they are sourced from overseas. Still looks like they could bump production of one unit to get you taken care of.

stevewarner1957 · Aug 9, 2019

As a old state highway department ROW mower. We used to have lower seals fail on our mowers. Many times to be able to finish the route we were on we would take the top plate off the gear box and squeeze tubes of regular gun grease in. This would work until we got back to the shop to replace the seal

Ford850 · Aug 9, 2019

I was thinking of this thread yesterday while running my Woods rotary cutter in heavy weeds, grass, and brush. Wondering how hot my gearbox was, I grabbed my infrared laser thermometer and checked it after 2 hours. It was 140*, but I didn't think to put my hand on it to see how long I could hold it on there.

5030 · Aug 9, 2019

At least your video didn't have the usual funky music like most do. Any time I get a new implement, I always check the lube before using it. SOP with me.

Liquidsilver · Aug 9, 2019

searcyfarms said:
have they given you an ETD? is it on a boat from the East?

No, no estimated time. They just say it's on the way. These are allegedly made in TN and I could walk there faster than this is taking. I would think they would have units on hand.

Thanks for that test on your Woods gearbox. Very interesting.

Oh. and with the freeplay I have on that shaft, I was afraid to run it anymore. It's like there's no bearing back there, and it's the input shaft.

This issue is testing how warm the skin on my neck can get, dealing with a warranty issue.

searcyfarms · Aug 9, 2019

i have had luck asking for how long before you get it and then say hey if you need me to go pick it up i can do that, i need to get it fixed im willing to help out if that is needed etc...............let them see you arent going to be a jerk and sometimes they will come free with more info and be up front - not always but its worth a shot

Liquidsilver · Aug 29, 2019

UPDATE: Well, two 40 mile trips back and forth to the dealer with a 10-foot wide load, not entertaining on small roads with oncoming traffic... my cutter's gearbox has been replaced under warranty.

After I finally talked to Titan Implement, I don't think the delay was their fault... because they had shipped a gearbox one week after my failure... and I 'think' the dealer was not there to sign for it... so an 85-pound gearbox is lost in UPS space somewhere.

Titan graciously sent another gearbox and gave ME the tracking number so I watched it like a hawk... and badgered the dealer when it arrived. He's a very small town tractor repair shop (and Titan Implement dealer) and he doesn't have a lot of help.

The dealer WAS kind enough to loan me his trailer for the transport.

Titan has a 5-year guarantee on the gearboxes, but they only grant the dealer one-hour for labor. The dealer said it took him 4-5 hours at his shop. I wouldn't have had good enough tools and big enough impact wrench for the job.

Sooooo - I mowed for about 3 hours with it, through heavy stuff. It works perfectly. After I shut it down I went back and felt the gearboxes and they all felt the same... I'd say they were less than 140 because I could hold my hand on them.

Thanks for the advice.