Leejohn
Elite Member
Post some pictures the way you have them hook before you start mowing.
Bending telescopic stabilizer on 3pt hitch
- Thread starter NRR
- Start date
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I put a set from a B3030 on my B3200 and bent them twice before I realized what the problem was.
Full lift of the three point was forcing the end closest to the tractor to rise up and contact the housing below the PTO. Some small witness marks on that piece was the clue. A few minutes with the 4 1/2" hard wheel taking some material of the tractor and some Kubota grey and all is well.
Full lift of the three point was forcing the end closest to the tractor to rise up and contact the housing below the PTO. Some small witness marks on that piece was the clue. A few minutes with the 4 1/2" hard wheel taking some material of the tractor and some Kubota grey and all is well.
boggen
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pictures?
sway bars / stabilizer bars / stabilizer chains what ever you want to call them. help reduce the swinging action errr dog tail wagging back and forth. behind the tractor. for bush hogs it can at times almost be a requirement.
are you backing up into things "brush" and like and coming in at an angle and causing forces to just push the mower deck to the side and bend things? is bush hog digging in as you backup? it does not have to be the deck digging into the dirt but any wheels that are the bush hog digging down into the dirt.
sway bars / stabilizer bars / stabilizer chains what ever you want to call them. help reduce the swinging action errr dog tail wagging back and forth. behind the tractor. for bush hogs it can at times almost be a requirement.
are you backing up into things "brush" and like and coming in at an angle and causing forces to just push the mower deck to the side and bend things? is bush hog digging in as you backup? it does not have to be the deck digging into the dirt but any wheels that are the bush hog digging down into the dirt.
OP
NRR
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- Kubota MX 5000, Caterpillar D6C, Ford 1510
Thanks for the input. Sorry about the delay in reply.
Heres a picture of the bent stabilizer. As far as I can tell all attachment points are tight and even. There is no slop. The only thing that comes to my mind is that maybe I don't enough play in my top link. I mow all together about 40 acres of sheep and horse pasture to even things out after the animals have been through. I am in Northern California and the fields are far from flat and even.
Leejohn
Elite Member
Are you only running with one stabilizer? Why not show both sides? For that beening bent that much the other side had to brake a pin, bolt, or it's 1 or 2" longer now. It also looks like it's not on the same center line as the lower link. It looks like there is another hole lower then the one you have it mounted in. If it's not on the same center line as the lower links it well lockup or bend something. You just might be mounting it wrong.
Thanks for responding, NRR. Several of the earlier replies, mine included, presumed the bending was side-to-side; your pictures clear that up. Your MX5000 has the same lower link setup as my tractor and based on the picture and I'd agree with your assessment that it looks like the cutter deck is going up and down more than your top link configuration allows.
Most cutters have some mechanism to allow for some limited up and down motion as the tractor and cutter travel over uneven ground, but they're usually not intended for really rugged terrain. If your cutter has such an adjustment and you've got it set up correctly, it could be that your ground is just too rough and you'll need to adapt your toplink setup with that cutter.
There are plenty of discussions of that topic if you search here on TBN, but here's one very recent thread with good comments.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/258532-stupid-newbie-owner-questions.html
I can't improve on what the others said. Hope this helps.
Most cutters have some mechanism to allow for some limited up and down motion as the tractor and cutter travel over uneven ground, but they're usually not intended for really rugged terrain. If your cutter has such an adjustment and you've got it set up correctly, it could be that your ground is just too rough and you'll need to adapt your toplink setup with that cutter.
There are plenty of discussions of that topic if you search here on TBN, but here's one very recent thread with good comments.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/258532-stupid-newbie-owner-questions.html
I can't improve on what the others said. Hope this helps.
Having read all the responses there are good ideas put forth.
I have a slightly "greener" tractor than you do in the 60 hp range. I ended up bending both of mine (90 degree bend) in the first 15 hours of use in very heavy brush cutting/clearing (up to 2+ to 3" woody stems) in rather rough terrain in which I was moving most of the time at less than 0.25 mph (yes that is not a typo) and having to back the cutter into the brush as no sane person would drive a tractor forward into it. I have a Woods brush cutter. I purchased 2 more since I did not have the ability to bend them back at that moment in time. I used them for another 4 years and had no problems before I bent a single one at about 15 degrees. Never really convinced myself why because I was never able to tie it to any specific action.
In a conversation with my dealer I found out that in the interim period the company redesigned the link so that instead of the flat bar (like yours) they changed it to a round more robust bar link. Supposed it was done because they had very significantly bad reports from the field with just the problem I encountered and you with yours. The dealer told me of one commercial customer that had been with them for 25 years that was bending them once a month. Just information.
boggen
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*rubs chin* i wonder if you are "binding" them sway bars. by simply raising and lowering the 3pt hitch.
below image is from Double HH Quality Products - Don't Compromise... Demand Double HH
i have seen it many times, the stabilizers are not on the exact same center line (the connection point on tractor itself) is lower than the connection point of the lower lift arms. the result... is if you raise the 3pt hitch lower arms you basically just bend the living daylights out of the stabilizers and/or the lift arms. which ever is weaker built will bend in the up and down fashion as your image shows NRR
if you look at your stabilizers, you have a generic round bolt or pin holes, and then you have long oval shaped holes in the stabilizers. try putting a "pin" with some washers on both sides. through those long oval holes. so when you do raise the 3pt hitch with stabilizers on. the pin will allow the stabilizers to slide. and extend or contract as needed within those long oval shape holes...
as soon as you place a bolt into the "small" generic round holes and physical lock the stabilizers from adjusting you turn the stabilizers into "stay straps" that greatly reduce how far you can lower or raise the 3pt hitch would bending the stabilizers and/or the lower lift arms.
i have seen a few stabilizer bars that are a round rod, with a spring setup. to allow some movement to extend / contract something like a hyd cylinder but limited movement of how far it can extend / contract.
======================
you might also try unhooking the bush hog from tractor. and then get someone in the seat of the tractor to raise and lower the 3pt hitch. while you, kinda hold the stabilizer bar right were it would attach you might find you might be able to adjust the "turn buckles" aka (lift arm leveling assembly) in above attach picture so that the stabilizer bar and lower lift arms were they would attach come in a better "arc" to each other as the swing up and down together.
other words, all you are worried with is keeping the hole in the lift arm and hole in end of stabilizer bar lined up as the raise and lower. you will find a "sweet spot" pending on if you shorten or length the "turn buckles" for the lower lift arms. of were the 2 holes line up. along with adjust the length of the stabilizer bar.
below image is from Double HH Quality Products - Don't Compromise... Demand Double HH
i have seen it many times, the stabilizers are not on the exact same center line (the connection point on tractor itself) is lower than the connection point of the lower lift arms. the result... is if you raise the 3pt hitch lower arms you basically just bend the living daylights out of the stabilizers and/or the lift arms. which ever is weaker built will bend in the up and down fashion as your image shows NRR
if you look at your stabilizers, you have a generic round bolt or pin holes, and then you have long oval shaped holes in the stabilizers. try putting a "pin" with some washers on both sides. through those long oval holes. so when you do raise the 3pt hitch with stabilizers on. the pin will allow the stabilizers to slide. and extend or contract as needed within those long oval shape holes...
as soon as you place a bolt into the "small" generic round holes and physical lock the stabilizers from adjusting you turn the stabilizers into "stay straps" that greatly reduce how far you can lower or raise the 3pt hitch would bending the stabilizers and/or the lower lift arms.
i have seen a few stabilizer bars that are a round rod, with a spring setup. to allow some movement to extend / contract something like a hyd cylinder but limited movement of how far it can extend / contract.
======================
you might also try unhooking the bush hog from tractor. and then get someone in the seat of the tractor to raise and lower the 3pt hitch. while you, kinda hold the stabilizer bar right were it would attach you might find you might be able to adjust the "turn buckles" aka (lift arm leveling assembly) in above attach picture so that the stabilizer bar and lower lift arms were they would attach come in a better "arc" to each other as the swing up and down together.
other words, all you are worried with is keeping the hole in the lift arm and hole in end of stabilizer bar lined up as the raise and lower. you will find a "sweet spot" pending on if you shorten or length the "turn buckles" for the lower lift arms. of were the 2 holes line up. along with adjust the length of the stabilizer bar.