Mowing Cutter death trap

[Kodiak45]

I looked at the shaft last night and it appears that there is a threaded hole going down into it as if it was held in by a bolt and it just came loose. This seems odd, but no pins on the sides of the shaft. I’ll see if I can get some pictures later today

 

[CliffordK]

That is kind of what I was thinking.

It reminded me a bit of the swivel on my Dad's vise that had been a problem for years. I finally took it apart and found a bolt in the middle that had simply come loose. I put it back together, and it works great.

Perhaps you can work with your shop and see if you can find new seals for it at the same time, and then get it back to an oil bath.

 

[zzvyb6]

It occurred to me that the shafts are not put together wrong. Remember the caps were missing from one of the yokes. Photo shows its the PTO tube yoke. I'll bet some 'yoke'al replaced that piece and was not only careless with the bearing end caps, but also with the yoke alignment. Probably sawed off the old yoke and slide a new one on the end of the tube. So hopefully all this went together good and we get confirmation.

 

[Texasmark]

Recent used purchase of a 10’ offset John Deere cutter at 1000pto. This thing scares me and I lean forward when running cause I think the pto shaft is going to explode. Is this normal from the video. Most of the noise is coming from the loose shield. I’ve ran plenty of implements with pto’s and never been worried. See picture of the hookup orientation at cutting height along with the video. I can spin the shaft by hand and no bearings feel loose or anything else alarming.
Not sure what I should expect, but I don’t like the fear of a yoke going through my head.
Any thoughts from experienced users of batwing cutters or anything close?
Should I be worried and if so what do I need to do in order to correct?


View attachment 3712635

I've had PTO shafts separate while cutting do to a malfunction elsewhere. There never was a problem as the shaft falls to the ground and the spinning keeps it in the area of the ground.

 

[Kodiak45]

Well I finally got around to taking the cover off. It looks like the shaft/spindle just loosened up in the gearbox. I found the bolt and washer at the bottom. The teeth are a little chipped. Looks like I can just replace the seals and bearings on the cutter spindle and I’ll be all set. The horizontal shaft bearings are a little loose so I’ll do those as well but… How do I get this horizontal shaft out of here. Bearings on each side of the gearbox but I don’t see a pin or snap ring that I need to remove in order to replace those bearings and get the shaft out..
View attachment IMG_2901.jpg
View attachment IMG_2903.jpg

 

[LouNY]

Does the shaft go clear through on the left side of this pic?
If so a big hammer and a large brass punch, to drive it out of the pinion gear and on out.

 

[GrandpaSmurf825]

That doesn't look as bad as I thought it might. Looks like you have a 1418 Rotary cutter. Here are a couple links for parts. One to John Deere and another after market. Looks like the nut came off the shaft end possible because of bearing failure? The bevel gear doesn't look terrible. Hopefully with some bearings, seals, and maybe a nut a retainer you can reassemble and be back in business. Check the other gearboxes though.

https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/navigation/equipment/3207/level/2/snp/MTk0MTIzOkNIQVBURVJbMTA2MTojQlVTSU5FU1NfUkVHSU9OLDUyNTQ6I0NBVEFMT0csMzIwNzpFUVVJUE1FTlRd

1418 - CUTTER, ROTARY OUTER GEAR CASE (RIGHT-HAND OR LEFT-HAND) (SERIAL NO. -007500) [C23] EPC John Deere R41041 AG CCE online :: AVS.Parts

avs.parts

Looks like several got you squared away on the PTO shaft. Someone mentioned getting a shaft from Vevor. If you are driving something running slow like a post hole digger or something that doesn't require much above idle that might be okay. I personally don't want a 1000 RPM PTO letting go at full throttle at the far universal joint because I was saving a few dollars. Also the newer equipment guards work much better than the old ones. The plastic may seem cheap many times and it probably is. However it doesn't get dents that keep it from sliding smoothly and they don't rust. There is nothing more dangerous than an unguarded PTO shaft. Fortunately they are rare these days and that's good.