Mahindra 5155 Anyone?

[tpotts]

Hey all.

New to the Mahindra line as I just got a 5155 last week. Looking to upgrade my rotary cutter next to keep 25 acres of pasture under control. I know the old rule of thumb is 5HP per 1 foot at the PTO would mean about a 9' cutter on the 5155. Just wondering what size rotary cutter you all are using with your 5155. Also 3pt or pull behind?

Thanks.

 

[DaBear3428]

Hey all.

New to the Mahindra line as I just got a 5155 last week. Looking to upgrade my rotary cutter next to keep 25 acres of pasture under control. I know the old rule of thumb is 5HP per 1 foot at the PTO would mean about a 9' cutter on the 5155. Just wondering what size rotary cutter you all are using with your 5155. Also 3pt or pull behind?

Thanks.

you need to look at the cutter manuf. recommendations, depending on duty some go up to 12' on 40 pto hp.

 

[3gunr]

Woods and several others have 12 ft batwings that can be run on 40 pto hp , I have a 7ft woods that cuts great but it really sticks out behind the tractor being a single spindle,

 

[DaBear3428]

so sad day, I broke my tractor. The dealer is picking it up saturday. something broke in the front driveline. I will follow up after the dealer inspects it.

 

[Andy1969]

so sad day, I broke my tractor. The dealer is picking it up saturday. something broke in the front driveline. I will follow up after the dealer inspects it.

Well that sucks. What were you doing when it broke? What were the symptoms?

 

[DaBear3428]

Well that sucks. What were you doing when it broke? What were the symptoms?

operating on soil, grapel engaged with tree at hood height or lower, pushing straight forward with 4wd engaged, tires were free to spin. no inertial loading involved but I may have imparted lifting force with the FEL (adding loading on front axel). In low range 2nd or 3rd gear 1700 rpm. the tree about a 6" dia. was being bent forward when i heard a loud rapid clacking (like gear teeth breaking lose). i clutched and backed off immediately when i heard the noise.
I took the tractor to the shed and called my dealer who ask me to use the FEL to lift the front tires. with the tires off the ground and 4wd engaged (engine off) if i turn one wheel sometimes the other side wheel will spin and then the other side stops spinning while i hear a soft clicking coming from the area of the front diff.

 

[Andy1969]

operating on soil, grapel engaged with tree at hood height or lower, pushing straight forward with 4wd engaged, tires were free to spin. no inertial loading involved but I may have imparted lifting force with the FEL (adding loading on front axel). In low range 2nd or 3rd gear 1700 rpm. the tree about a 6" dia. was being bent forward when i heard a loud rapid clacking (like gear teeth breaking lose). i clutched and backed off immediately when i heard the noise.
I took the tractor to the shed and called my dealer who ask me to use the FEL to lift the front tires. with the tires off the ground and 4wd engaged (engine off) if i turn one wheel sometimes the other side wheel will spin and then the other side stops spinning while i hear a soft clicking coming from the area of the front diff.

Well that totally sucks. Keep us informed about what the dealership finds out and what the solution is. Hopefully it’s some one off failure and not a design weakness. One thing I do know is that they’ve been using that front axle on 4WD models in India for several years so it’s not new, only new in the US. I realize that’s little comfort to you right now. But hang in there and I’m sure they’ll make it right.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I believe (and could be wrong) that you can overload and break things on a CUT, because it's not "industrial" or "AG" quality.
That being said, I appreciate Da Bear for being straight forward.

 

[DaBear3428]

Well that totally sucks. Keep us informed about what the dealership finds out and what the solution is. Hopefully it’s some one off failure and not a design weakness. One thing I do know is that they’ve been using that front axle on 4WD models in India for several years so it’s not new, only new in the US. I realize that’s little comfort to you right now. But hang in there and I’m sure they’ll make it right.

it sucks but if it is a defect i would rather find out at 20 hrs while still under warranty than at 5 years 1 month. yes my understanding also is that the major components on the 5100 series are all assemblies that Mahindra has been using for years and they combined them into the 5100 series. funny thing is that the first payment has not cleared the bank lol

on the other hand if this is a design defect i definitely want to know now.

 

[DaBear3428]

I believe (and could be wrong) that you can overload and break things on a CUT, because it's not "industrial" or "AG" quality.
That being said, I appreciate Da Bear for being straight forward.

yes i agree with that statement, but I do not think that I was abusing the tractor and this should not have happened. if anyone can point out an issue with what i was doing please let me know as i would be interested is learning not to do that in the future.

also one reason for me buying the 5145 was that it is supposed to be just short of "industrial" quality. from the point of weight and outward appearance it is a tuffer tractor than my old ford 2000 and that thing has 6999 hours on the meter before the meter stopped working.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Da Bear, if the 6" tree was rooted in the ground, it could be problematic

 

[DaBear3428]

Da Bear, if the 6" tree was rooted in the ground, it could be problematic

i would agree if i was ramming it but i would expect that the tractor should be able to roll up to any object in low range and the tires would lose traction in soil long before the driveline let loose without shock loading. now that may be affected by load on the FEL but there was not a lot of that going on.

anyway thanks for the input and i will keep that in mind.

 

[Andy1969]

Well let’s see what actually failed. That will tell us a lot. My guess is that a gear or gear carrier housing failed. And that failure was due to a bad casting, a bad forging, or improper heat treatment. If any of these actually prove to be the culprit, it would make me feel better that this is a one off type of event. If something failed because of an inherent design weakness, that’s a different situation.

I do know that Mahindra makes that particular front and rear axle in house. And I believe that includes the ductile iron castings, forged axle shafts and gears. That’s kind of a side note but I only mention it because that’s not universally the case.
I’m certainly interested in learning what they find out.

 

[Woodstock Walt]

Just a thought, Da Bear. And believe me, I am not judging your operating practices, because that sounds like something I would do.

But depending on the circumstances, I can see how pushing on a tree like that could cause excessive strain on the front axle. Sure, it should be tough enough to allow for some slippage to occur, even while carrying weight with the FEL. But, if you were steadily applying upward pressure on the tree while pushing it with the FEL, the dynamics of how the tractor is built would cause a huge amount of pressure to be put on the front axle. Think about it-

When lifting a heavy load with the FEL, almost the entire weight of the load is carried on the front axle. When the load is heavy enough to lift the rear of the tractor, the front axle becomes a fulcrum point and supports the entire weight of the load and the tractor. That's a lot of weight, which equates to a lot of downforce on the front tires.

Say there was a scenario in which you were pushing on the tree with the FEL, applying upward pressure trying to uproot the tree, maybe enough pressure to cause the rear of your tractor to become light. That would mean the front axle has become the fulcrum point. Now if you tried to push the tree while in this scenario, the added downforce on the front tires could create significant strain on the driveline components, especially if the tires were slipping and churning for traction.

Couple of years ago a friend of mine had a front axle shaft fail on his Kubota M5660 while doing something similar. I'm not saying that's your issue, or even that the above scenario is what caused your issue. Like I said, just a thought on possible causes.

Either way, sorry to hear that you're dealing with that. Hopefully it isn't much of a hassle for you warranty and repair-wise.

 

[C79]

DaBear3428,
Sorry to hear about your break down. Please keep us informed. I just hit 16 hours on mine yesterday so if it is a design flaw or a faulty component I too would like to know what to keep an eye on now and not in another 5 years.

 

[Woodstock Walt]

On another note, I've been using mine to gather and process some firewood lately. 29 hours on the tractor so far, and I'm really loving it compared to my old 4540. It's hard to say this without sounding biased since I own a 5155. But, I've operated many different tractors in my life including compact Kubota's and Cub Cadets, CUT JD's and Mahindra's, and AG sized Kubota's and New Hollands. The 5155 is my favorite tractor that I have operated to date.

Anyways, couple pictures of the 5155 hauling firewood.

Also, I mounted a Sawhaul chainsaw carrier on my 5155 today. Seems to work really well, I like it a lot. The Sawhaul "tractor kit" comes with a large u-bolt that clamps the carrier to the loader frame. I opted to drill two holes and bolted the carrier to the loader frame.

 

[DaBear3428]

Just a thought, Da Bear. And believe me, I am not judging your operating practices, because that sounds like something I would do.

But depending on the circumstances, I can see how pushing on a tree like that could cause excessive strain on the front axle. Sure, it should be tough enough to allow for some slippage to occur, even while carrying weight with the FEL. But, if you were steadily applying upward pressure on the tree while pushing it with the FEL, the dynamics of how the tractor is built would cause a huge amount of pressure to be put on the front axle. Think about it-

When lifting a heavy load with the FEL, almost the entire weight of the load is carried on the front axle. When the load is heavy enough to lift the rear of the tractor, the front axle becomes a fulcrum point and supports the entire weight of the load and the tractor. That's a lot of weight, which equates to a lot of downforce on the front tires.

Say there was a scenario in which you were pushing on the tree with the FEL, applying upward pressure trying to uproot the tree, maybe enough pressure to cause the rear of your tractor to become light. That would mean the front axle has become the fulcrum point. Now if you tried to push the tree while in this scenario, the added downforce on the front tires could create significant strain on the driveline components, especially if the tires were slipping and churning for traction.

Couple of years ago a friend of mine had a front axle shaft fail on his Kubota M5660 while doing something similar. I'm not saying that's your issue, or even that the above scenario is what caused your issue. Like I said, just a thought on possible causes.

Either way, sorry to hear that you're dealing with that. Hopefully it isn't much of a hassle for you warranty and repair-wise.

no doubt that this could be an issue, I do not think it was but it could be, at the same time my dealer did not think that it was an issue, of course the tractor would never break if you never put a fel on it, is what he mentioned, the service manager said that they have seen problems with the drive shaft coupler not being installed correctly causing this type of issue. All I know is that I do not think that the tractor was overloaded and I was on lose packed soil with tire spin. Anyway I will keep everyone updated on what the dealer finds

 

[Andy1969]

Hopefully DaBear’s issue is simple and easily repaired and explained. That will ease our collective minds. I’ve been using mine a lot more on weekends now that good weather has finally set in. I placed and graded two triaxle loads of 2A limestone in my driveway a couple weeks ago. And this past Saturday I finally hooked something to the PTO! Normally I mow with my little Yanmar 2210D but it’s at my house still. So I had to mount my life 4’ brush mower on the 5155. Looks a little out of place to say the least So anyway I got a couple acres mowed around my place. Up to 35 hours now and not a hitch. Hopefully it stays that way.

 

[DaBear3428]

On another note, I've been using mine to gather and process some firewood lately. 29 hours on the tractor so far, and I'm really loving it compared to my old 4540. It's hard to say this without sounding biased since I own a 5155. But, I've operated many different tractors in my life including compact Kubota's and Cub Cadets, CUT JD's and Mahindra's, and AG sized Kubota's and New Hollands. The 5155 is my favorite tractor that I have operated to date.

Anyways, couple pictures of the 5155 hauling firewood.

View attachment 749071View attachment 749072


Also, I mounted a Sawhaul chainsaw carrier on my 5155 today. Seems to work really well, I like it a lot. The Sawhaul "tractor kit" comes with a large u-bolt that clamps the carrier to the loader frame. I opted to drill two holes and bolted the carrier to the loader frame.

View attachment 749070

I wish that I could make my wood fall in a neat pile like that, mine is always all over the place lol. What is that attached to your 3pt? I'm thinking that i can build a saw carrier and attach it to the grab handle placing the saw between the FEL frame and the knee shield.

 

[DaBear3428]

DaBear3428,
Sorry to hear about your break down. Please keep us informed. I just hit 16 hours on mine yesterday so if it is a design flaw or a faulty component I too would like to know what to keep an eye on now and not in another 5 years.

will do, I'm thinking that it is a one off issue but we will see.