10' Howse cutter

[hd5]

My wife's uncle loaned me his Howse 10' three point hitch cutter 4 years ago and said I could use it if I wanted to fix the slip clutch. So I did,put new fiber discs in it etc. I got to use it about 2 hours and he said he needed it.


Lately he said he had loaned it out and it wasn't working right and if I would come and get it, I could just keep it.

Whoever he loaned to ruined the discs I had put in it. And it was corroded solid, after I got it unstuck, now it won't tighten down enough to hold for more than about 15 minutes.

So I bought more discs yesterday and need some advice. (other than don't fix stuff for relatives any more}

How smooth do the metal plates need to be? Should I stick them in my sand blast cabinet or use my table belt sander? They are pretty rusted up now.

Also what purpose does the two angled pieces welded on one of the metal plates serve? Mine are missing.. This is a picture I found on here from a few years ago.

I can weld new pieces on there if they serve a purpose, if not I would rather not...

 

[Fallon]

I believe they keep the thing from twisting apart when slipping. Not sure if there is a pin or anything to keep that from happening in the center.

 

[hd5]

I will look at again this afternoon, and see if that is a possibility. Thanks

 

[hd5]

You are right, by them being missing it was only using one fiber disc.
I didn't have room to weld new pieces on. So I threaded some grade 8 bolts almost all the way back to the head and let the bolt shank sit on the flats of the hexagonal plate.
The bolts force the clutch to use all off the fiber discs.
I mowed about 10 acres with some sweetgun and persimmon saplings and retightened it once...