Rotary Cutter Bush hog, no gear oil in box!

[greenmule]

Well almost nobody checks oil in hog every time they use it.Hows that.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

With 8 mowers running almost continuously through daylight hours, I have the luxury of having a full time service mechanic checking, maintaining, and lubing my mowers. They typically get greased and a look at the oil every other day. We've caught and saved a couple gearbox's by finding where seals were wiped out. (Wire wrapped around output shaft both times)

 

[Coolnorth]

With 8 mowers running almost continuously through daylight hours, I have the luxury of having a full time service mechanic checking, maintaining, and lubing my mowers. They typically get greased and a look at the oil every other day. We've caught and saved a couple gearbox's by finding where seals were wiped out. (Wire wrapped around output shaft both times)

Napabavarian, what FWJ is mentioning here is something I've been exposed to as far as wire wrapping/seal failure goes. (Wire/twine that's been mowed over or snagged on a pass by) Even bale twine (the nylon stuff) can be trouble if it wraps tight enough, it'll heat and damage a shaft seal also. Of course, there are things like stumps, hydro pole cut-offs, old barbed wire rolls - these can cause other damage - I've had a light duty riding mower that sucked up a stump on mowing at the edge of the bushline and the mandrel housing cracked enough to allow dirt into the bearings with subsequent vibration (clue) and ultimate failure.

This reminds me that I should check my B-I-L's PTO mower next time I'm by his house...

 

[EddieWalker]

Good timing on this thread. I check my gear box and grease before every use, but I only use by rotary cutter a few times a year. Mostly to knock down the new growth from spring, or if an area has been wet for awhile and gets too tall for my finish mower by the time it dries out.

My gear box was dry when I checked it last week. It was the first time to use it this year, so I just filled it up and went mowing. I haven't checked it since then, but was planning on mowing again sometime this week. If it's low or empty, I'll know the seal is bad.

What is involved in changing the seal? It's a 6ft Landpride rotary cutter. Do you just pull off the gear box and it's at the bottom of the gear box? Do you need a special tool to do this?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[jinman]

I think it is standard practice for most RCs to be shipped without oil. I could be wrong, so I won't argue this for sure. However, everyone I've bought had a placard telling me to add oil before the first use. I think they put oil in them at the factory and then drain it or perhaps otherwise grease the gearbox during assembly. If you don't have a job that requires running the cutter more than an hour or so, then I can easily see how it could last two years before trashing the gearbox.

I had a KK that lost a lower seal. I should have noticed, but didn't look through the inspection hole where it would have been obvious with all that oil on top of the stump jumper. Anyhow, the the gearbox seized up on me after about 3 hours. The heat coming off it felt like holding your hand close to a clothes iron, and it smelled burned. The next day, I was going to take the gearbox off and noticed that it was again turning freely. It seems it only seized up when it was really hot. Now, I make it standard practice when hooking up my cutter to look throuh the inspection hole to see if the stump jumper is oily. Lesson learned. . . .

 

[greenmule]

Yeah,different uses for different people,if I just used mine 2-3 times a year I probably would check it each time too.

Mine stays on from about middle of may till about mid sept generally speaking,probably use it 25-30 times during that period.

If I burn it up,have got my moneys worth out of it,its maybe 8 years old,never leaked a drop nearest I can tell.Even changed it first time this spring!

I was kinda thinking that gear box might last a little longer than you might think without oil myself,depending on how long you used it like was said,if it had a little grease in it on gears from factory,and you only used it maybe 1/2 to 1 hour at time two three times a year,it might go awhile?? Don't know,don't think I'll experiment to find out either.

 

[Matt in TN]

These things have oil in them?

 

[cowboy357]

Agreed Perfect timing for this post . Mine didn,t Come with the Oil in it new & I,ve Never even Checked it Since I Filled it Before Using it & I Just used it for a solid 8 hours of Mowing . So I Guess its Time , Thanks For The Suggestions . Bob

 

[biggerten]

Mine came without oil, the manual stated this.

Now, where did I out that manual.......?

 

[MMagis]

Good timing on this thread. I check my gear box and grease before every use, but I only use by rotary cutter a few times a year. Mostly to knock down the new growth from spring, or if an area has been wet for awhile and gets too tall for my finish mower by the time it dries out.

My gear box was dry when I checked it last week. It was the first time to use it this year, so I just filled it up and went mowing. I haven't checked it since then, but was planning on mowing again sometime this week. If it's low or empty, I'll know the seal is bad.

What is involved in changing the seal? It's a 6ft Landpride rotary cutter. Do you just pull off the gear box and it's at the bottom of the gear box? Do you need a special tool to do this?

Thanks,
Eddie

Though mine may be different (Ford 5', can't recall the model), I just had to pull the blade set and replace from the bottom. No need to pull the gear box. Quite simple actually.