Rotary Cutter bush hog not cutting

[way0utwest]

I hooked up my bush hog for the 2nd season, leveled it, and ran around the yard, but it didn't cut. The grass wasn't wet, and the blades didn't seem that dull.

any suggestions for a newbie? When I got it from the dealer, it cut fine last season.

 

[Willl]

Somebody steal the blades ?

 

[carasel]

are the blades turning? check to make sure you've not sheared the shear bolts.
they will be located in front of the gear box. at the end of pto shaft.

 

[LD1]

1. Make sure the blades turn
2. Sharpen the blades anyway
3. Make sure it is low enough to cut the grass,weeds and you don't have it raised too high
4. Make sure you are not going too fast

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm with carasel. Make sure that the blades are actually turning. It's pretty easy to break a sheer pin and not know it.

If the blades are turning, but not cutting, then they are either on backwards, or we have different versions of what cutting means.

Does anything happen when you engage the mower? Air movement from under it?

Eddie

 

[kthompson]

Eddie hits my thought on air movement. So you did connect the PTO shaft and then engaged the PTO, correct? You did run the engine to get correct PTO shaft speed (probably 540 PTO rpms). Sometimes the pto shaft is hard to see if it connects on the tractor, be sure it did.

 

[RWolf]

With a shedder (rotary cutter) I haven't heard one "not" make any noise that was operating properly. Mine make a quite noticable rumble when I start it up and my neighbors sounds like all **** is breaking loose.

 

[way0utwest]

OK, thanks for the advice. It was cutting last year, now when I run it over weeds/grass that is 1-2ft, it doesn't appear to be cutting. I've had it as low as possible, even had the front edges dragging on the ground.

The blades are on it (should have checked first) and appear to be tight. The PTO shaft rotates by hand, and rotates the blades. The are somewhat dull, but I didn't think they need to be sharp. I can touch them up with an angle grinder and see what happens there.

The sheer bolt is in place, and doesn't appear to be broken. When I run it up to 540rpm on the tractor (PTO reading, about 2200 engine RPM), it appears to be rumbling and turning, but no cutting.

I'll sharpen tonight and see if that helps.

 

[jinman]

It's possible that your blades are in a collapsed position and frozen/rusted in place with rust due to setting up all winter. Make sure each blade is free to rotate on its pivot attached to the stump jumper. Normally, when this happens the cutter really shakes due to being out of balance, but if your blades are collapsed equally and frozen, then you might not notice.

 

[cowboy357]

I,d Look Underneath Without it Running ,& Make Sure The Blades Aren,t Being Held Together From Something Rapped Around the Blades thereselves or Just Stuck . Just a Thought .

I,ve Never Sharpened the Blades on My Bush Hog & They,ll Cut Through Much thicker stuff then Your Talking about , Only Thing That keeps It From Cutting is A Log, Rock Or a Couple of Hundred feet of Barbwire fence Rapped up in Above Or around the Blades . Best Of Luck Getting it Figured out , Bob

 

[workmytractor]

How about the gear box...could it be striped out? Unlikely, but you never know. Do you have a slip clutch installed or just a shear pin. BTW I have seen where the bolt would shear, but the head and nut were still in place leaving what appears to be a solid shear pin. Might be worth looking at again.

 

[greenmule]

You mean to tell me you can't tell if blades are going round and round??

You can leave pto engaged with motor on idle,push brake and lock it,put gear in neutral,get off and look. But you should be able to see pto drive line turning,if drive line is turning but blades ain't than shear bolt.

Are you sure pto is engaged??

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Could the blades be locked together??

 

[Builder]

Maybe your prankster neighbor stole your blades to play a joke on you...

 

[radman1]

I am interested to hear the final outcome. A mower that rotates but doesn't cut and worked fine last year? Are the blades somehow locked or folded back? I have never sharpened mine and it will always at least beat the grass off.

 

[spruce Deere]

It's possible that your blades are in a collapsed position and frozen/rusted in place with rust due to setting up all winter. Make sure each blade is free to rotate on its pivot attached to the stump jumper. Normally, when this happens the cutter really shakes due to being out of balance, but if your blades are collapsed equally and frozen, then you might not notice.

I will second froze-up blades. I have also seen sheer bolts appear not "sheered" They bust anything but clean and a sliver will hold the bolt head and whats left of the bolt and nut on the yolk.

 

[way0utwest]

Thanks everyone for the advice, it's working!

everything was turning, and I thought the slip clutch was tight, but once I held onto the drive shaft and pulled on a blade, it slipped. So I re-tightened the slip clutch bolts and it's cutting.

I did touch up the blades with an angle grinder, not sharp to the touch, but about a 1/16"-1/8" rounded edge and no burrs.

 

[wedge40]

After spinning the slip clutch like that, will he need to resurface the face of the clutch?

Wedge

 

[Builder]

After spinning the slip clutch like that, will he need to resurface the face of the clutch?

Wedge

Yup, he will.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Yup, he will.

Why do you think so?

Just re-adjust to PROPER tension and go on with life. They're meant to slip. Never seen one yet that was in need of "resurfacing" after it slipped.