Broken KingKutter Brush hog

[davep]

I have a new KingKutter 6ft 60hp brush hog. On the first whole day of use, the frame that attaches to the 3ph bent all out of shape. (see pictures).

I got the dealer to replace the "A" frame. He said he thought the problem was caused by the iron bars pushing the frame forward when going over very rough ground where the tractor went down and the mower went up. He recommended replacing the bars with chains so that they didn't push on the A frame. I replaced the bars with chains as recommended. (see picture).

On the second day of use, almost exactly the same thing happened again. (another picture).

Can you tell me what is going wrong?

BTW - in both cases the top link had to be shortened AFTER the A frame bent, in order to pick up the mower to get it home. The top link was not short like thi when the bending happened.

 

[davep]

Side view of bent A frame ...
the top link had to be shortened AFTER the A frame bent, in order to pick up the mower to get it home. The top link was not short like thi when the bending happened.

 

[davep]

Brushhog with chains replacing the bars -- before it bent up the second time!

 

[davep]

All bent up again!

 

[gamble77]

Your top link looks like it is not set right. It should be set "straight" and the yoke that it attaches to should not be up that hight. What size tractor are you using, it looks fairly large?

 

[Cactus]

Are you backing the tractor up and pushing it into a heavy brush pile etc.? I have a JD 513 bush hog and I bent the crap out of it by backing up and pushing it into some heavy brush and pushing on a log.Surely your KK is not getting bent up while going in a forward direction ???

 

[JoeinTX]

The little "floating" top link attachment piece on the shredder appears to be backwards in your pictures. I do believe that it should be mounted to flop forward all the way down and stop in the straight up position from the front rather than vice versa, as you have it now. This allows more play in its motion, and from the pics, the frame appears to be bending at exactly this point.

Second, what exactly are you doing with this shredder. Admittedly, it should take a whole lot of misuse to do this kind of damage....but.
Also, the first pic's damage appears to be different to all the rest: side-to-side damage versus front/back. Are dragging the shredder completely on the ground on this rough ground or are you floating it off of the ground a little bit?

 

[JerryG]

What your dealer suggested, works on some mowers, but not yours. The reason that it didn't work was because the "A" frame has to be able to pivot. Put the bars back on after they are straightened. Then replace the third arm with a chain. That will take care of your problem. I know that we will have several that will say that it isn't safe to replace the third arm with a chain, but we have discussed it more than once in the past. No one here has ever personally known anyone that was ever hurt by using the chain.

 

[JoeinTX]

Honestly, I've been using shredders for many years and I've never, ever needed the A-frame to pivot to prevent damage. Cutting old fence lines, overgrown fields, briars, and survey lines....the 3-pt mounting frame should handle anything the rest of the shredder can. If it can't, what is the use of the unit as a whole?

Again, we need to know more about what you were doing with it before we can really make agood guess as to the reason for the problem....

 

[vetteman]

I have a KK just like yours 3 yrs use never had that problem I use a kubota 4310.Works great only thing is I wish I had a slip clutch.

 

[JohninCT]

I believe that JoeinTX is correct that your top link pivot is backwards. I've attached a pic of how mine (48 inch size) looks. The manual seems to show it this way but it wasn't completely clear (at least to me when I put mine together). I haven't had any probs with it though... it works fine.

John

 

[getut]

DaveP,

I agree it looks like the top link is wrong. Where do you live in NC?
If relatively close to me in Salisbury, I'd be glad to come by check it out with you.

 

[djradz]

I had a little trouble understanding what Joe said in his first post (yes, I'm slow) but I think he's hit the nail on the head. Put the back links back on, but attach them to the upper bolt hole. The swinging yoke should be attached to the lower hole so that your tractors top link attaches to it and the pair hang DOWN and swing forward and back from this down position.

 

[Soundguy]

Gosh.. I've got a 5' KK hog.. smaller.. but same geometry and layout.

The irst damage looks like a squash or blowout.. like you backed into something, and the lift arms spread. The damage after the chain install has the front bent down.. you hit a stump while going forward?

I used my 5' hog on my EX-NH 1920.. admittedly too much tractor for that hog.. it should have been a 6' hog.. but I did some rough stuff with that mower.. even made a few wide turns and toop out fence post.. all without a single bend to the frame. Somethings not right.

I agree with the others.. the floating toplink connection needs to flop forward.. not up or back.

Also.. I can't tell form the pics.. but how long is your pto shaft.. is your shaft too long and bottoming out?

Soundguy

 

[kensfarm]

I agree that the top link is set up wrong.. it's a floating top link.. the top link should hang inside the "A" frame.. not above it. But it seems.. you had to back up into something.. or made a sharp turn while the mower was against an unmoveable object(tree).. to get the frame to bend like that. It def. wouldn't bend like like from straight back & forth mowing.. unless your front section of your mower frame is heavily dragging the ground.. and bent while you were turning around. Sorry about the problems.

Second Thought:
"All bent up again! "

Did you check the PTO shaft length.. w/ the mower 3pt hooked up(do not hook up the PTO).. raise the mower to full height.. then see if the PTO shaft is short enough to still attach to the tractor's PTO.

 

[Charolais]

I have a 7 ft. heavy duty KK. The top link setup is the same as the one in the picture. One of my tractors doesn't have a locking device for the top link and it would turn while in use and the top link would continue to get longer. When I went over a terrace with the cutter raised the back wheels made contact with the top of the terrace and put a little bend in the end of the top link. On that tractor I stopped using the top link and just let the wheels run on the ground and use the lift arms to raise and lower the deck. It works fine like that for clipping pasture.

I took the pivot piece off and tried to turn it around like some of you are suggesting. It won't work like that without some modification. If I use a top link that can be locked in after it set up I have no problems.

From what I experienced and saw in his pictures it could very well be the same problem. My 7 ft. unit has some very thick steel in those brackets so my top link took the damage. If I had had a smaller lighter duty cutter it could have very well bent just like those in the picture. If the top link didn't bend the brackets would have to. That would mean the pivot piece got pushed back and the welded on stop at the bottom of the pivot bracket hit the underside of the top link. Then the pressure was on the arm brackets if the top link was stronger than those brackets. Clear as mud. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif In short if the tractor front end is going up hill and the cutter is going down hill (a dip in the land) that top link pivot bracket will hinge back till the bracket stop hits on the underside of the top link. Something's gotta give after that.

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds very possibly for the first damage.. that squashed 'blown out' look.

Soundguy

 

[JerryG]

Joe,
You missed something. I was speaking about the A frame would need to pivot IF he used the chains like the dealer said. The A frame is solid with bracing on this mower. When he installed chains from the A frame toward the back of the cutter it removed all rear bracing from the upper area of the A frame.