Rotary Cutter Brand new rotary cutter busted at 2 hours use

[rdln]

I would ask your dealer why the slip clutch did not activate, but in the meantime, as suggested, replace with a low grade bolt from hardware. I remember drilling a small hole in the flat steel support strap leading from the top link to the rear of mower of my LPRC1572 to hook the pto shield chain to. I cant remember why other than I thought it was an improvement. That chain is long gone now (bought new ten years ago) yes the shield rotates but is would stop if accidentally touched.

I just remembered why I drilled that hole!
I think the chain was attached to the PITA steel hinged guard that covered u-joint at the gearbox. After the first shearbolt replacement on mine that guard dissapeared. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Rimmer]

"And is the shaft greased or something..."

Did they give you the Owner's Manual when you bought the rotary cutter??? It will tell you what and when to grease, info on the shear bolt and slip clutch, etc. If not, you can download one from the Land Pride Web site.

Yes, both the shaft and guard are to be greased.

BTW, the shear bolt on my Land Pride RCR1548 is a Grade 2 bolt, one-half inch in diameter, three and one-half inches long.

Good luck, hope you get 'er back in operation soon!

 

[Laminarman]

Thanks for the help. As to the manual I didn't see the grease part about the shaft. That question was more out of concern as to corrosion resistance. Seems to me a steel shaft unprotected rusts pretty quick, unless it's a high strength non corrossive alloy. As to the shaft guard, the manual doesn't specify how to take it off. And finally I've attached a photo of the bolt. It has damaged threads, but there's no breakage. Don't know what grade it is, there's only a little triangle on the head, no numbers.

 

[stephan]

So if you spin the PTO shaft and the blades don't spin and you have a bolt like that I would suspect that the clutch has come adrift from the gearbox. Problem there is you'd know about it cause the shaft and clutch would pull away from the gearbox. By memory mine had two nuts and bolts holding the clutch to the gearbox hidden in the plastic cover. The only other things I could imagine is all bad, very bad like splines destroyed or gearboxes broken.

On a brighter note you can spend more time with the family.

 

[jinman]

I agree with Mark regarding the shields on PHDs, chipper- shredders, and any other equipment you may be close to when you use it. I've always left those on. My complaints are strictly the ones on rotary cutters. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( And finally I've attached a photo of the bolt. )</font>

I didn't mention any big amount of money when I said it was a shear bolt did I? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif That is not a shear bolt. I think it's a grade 8 bolt (judging from color) used to hold your slipclutch to the gearbox. I can even see a mark on the shank that looks like it has had quite a bit of rotational shear force applied. It could be replaced with a shear bolt, but then that would make your slipclutch a waste of money. Most bolts that hold the driveline together should have aircraft locking nuts with the nylon insert so they don't loosen and come out like yours did. I actually use a 4" bolt for a shear pin because I can get my vise grip pliers on the end of the threads after I install the new shearbolt. By smashing the threads, I never have a nut come off and I can use cheap hardware instead of expensive aircraft locking nuts.

Anyway, the vibration on a rotary cutter is pretty fierce. You will want to keep an eye on your gearbox where it bolts to the frame of your cutter too. Often on new cutters, the bolts work loose and have to be retightened. Even the bolts on your cutter's blades and the one big one holding on the stump jumper are subject to loosening. Owning a rotary cutter often includes ownership of a very large socket set. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[OkeeDon]

Looking at the picture, that bolt is stripped. It starts about 4 threads from the end, and at 10 threads, it's actually reversed.

I think what's happened is that the nut wasn't properly tightened, and the bolt started to move back and forth in the hole slightly, putting side pressure on the nut. Eventually (and it could easily happen in a few minutes), the nut started to slip on the threads, stripped the threads on itself and on the bolt, and finally fell off. I bet if you could find the nut, the threads would be in even worse shape.

I've had it happen on category 1 hitch pins, where they bolt to the implement, and the nut wasn't tightened adequately (shame on me). Just the swing and pressure of the brush hog or box blade working from side to side was enough to strip the nut off. The bolt ended up looking just like yours. We tend to build up some serious stresses, but as long as everything is tight, there are usually no problems.

When you replace it, be sure it's torqued up nice and tight, Check the manual to see if there are torque settings, or call Land Pride. If not, just be sure it's good and snug. As mentioned above, you can double nut it, but if it has end play, it will eventually strip off even two nuts.

It will probably be no harm and no foul. Neither you nor the dealer will ever find or remember every bolt that should be tightened; sometimes failure is the only way to find what wasn't tight.

As for the guards, I had an early problem that suggested that I should remove the plastic bell closest to the tractor. There were plastic tabs that looked like they could be released by bending them slightly, similar to opening a battery compartment on a portable radio or similar. Problem was, when I reassembled it, the tabs never did hook up again. 340 hours later (on the tractor, not the brush hog -- maybe 60 hours on it), the guard is still on the PTO shaft, collapsed to it's shortest length, spinning with the shaft, and I don't really give a hoot. It's not helping anything, but it's not hurting anything, either. Like the others, I never get off while it's turning, and don't allow anyone else near it.

 

[Laminarman]

Just got off the phone with the dealer, and he reassured me the model has a slip clutch. He also then called me back after five minutes to tell me a repair person was on their way to the property to fix it and admitted that maybe the assembly technician didn't tighten the bolt properly. It indeed isn't a shear bolt. He apologized and said it will be taken care of before the morning is over. This is why I chose this dealership and NH. I have heard multiple complaints about the local Deere dealership taking days to weeks on "small tasks".

 

[Soundguy]

On my last shear bolt that died.. I did notice while replacing it that the nut was long gone. KK sells the shear pin kits with a regular nut and a lock washer.. Now! I install it like that.. then run another nut up on it and tighten the nuts too..

Soundguy

 

[normde2001]

When you get the shear pin replaced I would let the shield turn freely. As long as it spins freely on the shaft it will stop easily, and last a whole lot longer. As far as I'm concerned, anybody who is fool enough to stand beside a running rotary cutter deserves to be wrapped around the shaft and ground to bits.