Belly mower does a ragged job - why?

[bigtiller]

Several of us are reading directions written by people with poor English skills and not involved in the logic of what they are saying. It is 100% obvious that you can minimize the wear/tear/jerk by engaging the mower at a low rpm before revving it up. Duh ! The manual saying to "engage" at full throttle needs to be rewritten to say "operate at full throttle" not "engage at full thorttle."

This screen shot of a jd 425/445 manual is pretty clear. Start pto with wot.

 

[KennyG]

This screen shot of a jd 425/445 manual is pretty clear. Start pto with wot.



View attachment 710037

That's very interesting. I would think the PTO engagement system on a 4xx machine would be similar to my 2320. My manual specifically says to keep engine speed below 1500 rpm and engage the PTO, then bring up to operating speed.

 

[K5lwq]

That's very interesting. I would think the PTO engagement system on a 4xx machine would be similar to my 2320. My manual specifically says to keep engine speed below 1500 rpm and engage the PTO, then bring up to operating speed.

And this is what I would do regardless what the manual says.

 

[bigtiller]

And this is what I would do regardless what the manual says.

That's very interesting. I would think the PTO engagement system on a 4xx machine would be similar to my 2320. My manual specifically says to keep engine speed below 1500 rpm and engage the PTO, then bring up to operating speed.

I had a few 425/445's. They are gas engines. If they were not warmed up long enough and WOT, the engine would die when a 54" deck was started. After mowing for 5 + minutes the deck could be started at a slightly faster than idle speed.

The same series 455 was a diesel and it would start the deck at a cold idle.

 

[Williy]

IMHO I believe the sudden shock of full throttle
would cause excessive wear on components for
early failure so dealers can make more money???

For me will idle then turn on pto and slowly increase
rpm's until 2600 is reached then start cutting.

willy

 

[sunandsand]

Blades are out being sharpened and balanced now (Wednesday). Expect them back in a few days.

The grass isn't much over 5 to 6" tops, a few longer stragglers.

Problem is that I work (inside) during the day and can't get out to mow until early evening, and we've had thunderstorms on a daily basis. Can't mow wet grass. Once it dries out, I may take the good advice of doing it in two passes. We'll see.

As I say, "the plan" is to replace the newly sharpened blades, rev the sucker up, and go slowly. I'll report in as I progress.

PTO is engaged at idle, although it can be disengaged at higher RPMs.

I really did like the expression "as sharp as a banana". Delightful and descriptive. Gotta be careful though, them's fighting words!

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

 

[sunandsand]

OK, blades came back after a couple of delays, the guy didn't have a grinder healthy enough for tractor blades, he usually does riding mower stuff, so he had to send it out. Then he was out of town for a few days.

Picked them up yesterday evening, had a ground breaking to to go (much more fun than putting the blades on the belly mower, better food, too).

Assembled it today, 80 ft lbs on the mounting nuts, discovered that the drive shaft from the front PTO to the belly mower gearbox only goes back together ONE way, there is a blocked spline in the sliding joint so the orientation has to be correct. It looked like a burr, but when I took it outside into better light, aha, it is keyed!

Discovered FOUR grease fittings not in the manual, gave 'em each a shot as well as the ones in the manual.
(Three spindles, one tension lever, one on the bottom of the gearbox, one on each U-joiont at each end of the drive shaft, and one at the sliding spline in the middle. Manual only says four - spindles and sliding spline, I found eight. I now wonder how many "stealth" grease fittings there are hidden on the tractor?)

Put it all together, fired it up, warmed it up, set height to 3.0 inches, engage belly mower, mid range speed, revved it up and, CHARGE!!!!

Does a WONDERFUL job! Dear Bride even remarked on it - says it looks really good.

So the moral of the story is:

1) Use SHARP blades (preferably much sharper than a banana, or so I'm told ;-)

2) Crank it up to 2600 rpm

3) Go slow

4) Always check with the peeps on TBN if you have a question, they have a LOT more experience than I do!

Thank you everyone and best regards,

Mike/Florida (with the manicured lawn!)

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Nice.

Thanks for the follow up.

 

[LD48750]

Mike... at what RPM is the tach marked for the PTO?

The picture back a frw posts indicate 2800 is the recommended setting, not 2600.

 

[big bubba]

you've already expended considerable energy & time on this. get new blades installed, have existing sharpened & swap out occasionally. only way to tell if problem is blade related. don't understand the hesitation to replace
that would have been my 1st move on this whole progression
good luck