Bent my bush hog or 3PH ?

[bebster]

I noticed after a lot of bush hog cutting with a medium duty 5' rotary cutter on a 35HP JD 4410 that the cutter was a couple of degrees at an angle to one side. I suspect that something has gotten out of alignment when I was backing into some heavy brush.

Has this happened to anyone, and would welcome any suggestions on what I should do now? It seems to run ok, but I'm a little concerned about the possible lateral stresses that might be on some of the 3PH bars as a result.

 

[chim]

Silly question, but it pays to get the simple things out of the way first. Are your 3PH arms adjusted and is the adjuster clipped or jam-nutted to keep it from moving? If there's a loose turnbuckle (or it wasn't set right to begin with) the lift arms may simply need adjusted.................chim

 

[DK_Farms]

I have noticed on my MX6 that when cutting 12 inch or so grass, like in a pasture, my cutter seems to cut slightly higher on the right side (facing forward) than the left side. It not as apparent when cutting brush or real long grass. I went to great pains to make sure my cutter is exactly level when hooked up but I have to lower the right draft arm slightly to get a level cut. So once again I parked the cutter on the shop slab floor and made sure it was level left to right and front to back while in cutting position. I have it set for 3 inches so that puts the skid plates about 2 inches from the floor. I started the tractor, engaged the PTO, and brought it up to 2600 rpm. Once I got to PTO speed I noticed the left side had dropped and was almost touching the floor and the right side was up 1-1/4 inches. Apparently the torque from the PTO is twisting the cutter. If it does this to a heavy duty cutter, I can't imagine how bad it would be on the light duty stuff. I don't think my old LX cutter did this but then I only had 20 hp to spin it up. I don't know if this might be your problem, but it sure was an interesting observation.

 

[bebster]

Thanks, guys. I've checked both points made, and will post some pictures for further clarification. On this post is a picture from the rear. You can see the MX5 is skewed to the left a bit.

I recently had a bad experience with backing a boat trailer over a log at while turning, and man, did the long leverage of the trailer put a force on the hitch couple and bent to badly. Granted that's lightweight metal, but I guess it's given me a respect for the forces at play. Then again, I don't have enough experience with the strength of a 3ph and how it reacts under strain. I'm sure it's stronger, but not sure how much stronger.

 

[bebster]

Here's a picture looking down while standing on the seat.

 

[Glenn9643]

I don't see any "check-chains" or horizonal stabilizers on your hitch. Most tractors that I've seen have some sort of stabilizer to center your implement and restrict sway from left to right (and help keep things off your rear wheels). The "angle" of the cutter is apparent in this picture and it seems to me that (on my tractor) I would adjust the stabilizers to center the load. Without that, I don't know if you can get any aftermarket from JD?

 

[bebster]

This picture is a photoshop composite of two photos I took while standing above the rear tires and looking down at the adjusting arms. When the dealer delivered the unit he attached it, but the right side is ONE HOLE MORE EXTENDED than the left! (You can see 4 holes on the Left, while 5 are on the right) That would of course swing the attachment to the left. I sure hope that explains it! Hopefully this is a lesson that doesn't cost too much (unlike some of my other learning experiences).

 

[bebster]

Glenn, I think they just weren't visible in the photo. Check out the next photo, as I think that this is what you are referring to, and as you suggested, they clearly need adjusting by one hole.

 

[Glenn9643]

That's it. I couldn't see them in the previous picture. I've found that things generally work better if I adjust the linkage as snug as I can to hold the implement centered behind the tractor and reduce sway. You may have to pull the pins from both sides and start over. You'll probably need to have the bush-hog supported by the hitch just off the ground about level so that you aren't fighting its weight. Go to the tail-wheel and swing to to the center and then select an adjustment on one side and then the other. Hope this works.

 

[Soundguy]

As another pointed out.. the angle on the 3pt is apparent.

I see where you mention that one arm is adjusted further out than the other.. once you correct that.. look over the geometry again... It is not rare to bend a 3pt arm.. and it only takes a couple of degrees bent to extrapolate to a few inches after a few feet of length. Geometry problem.. etc.


Good luck.. I hope it is just an arm and leveling crank adjustment.