finish mower bouncing help

[BrettW]

Hi,
I have a 5' finish mover that has a bouncing problem. The real wheels (back wheels) seems to bounce and spin while mowing. (I am mowing at high speed) This causes them to rip out grass when they hit.
I put a good bit of slack in the top link but it still bounces and spins. Should I take the top link off and try it? Any suggestions or explanations would be appreciated.
thanks, Bret W

 

[sweettractors]

If you dont have full floating lower hitch points and floating toplink hook point, like the one shown in the picture below? You may consider using a chain. ---Ken Sweet

 

[BrettW]

Ken,
I think the one you are showins is the one I have. I have a Mid-West 5' RFM. Is that what is in your pic? Where would I put the chains? thanks, bw

 

[Freds]

Are you sure they are ripping the grass from the bouncing? I used to have a RFM and if the wheel pivot points weren't well greased the tires would rip the grass before they got turned in the direction you were heading.
Sounds like something may not be adjusted right too. I don't recall any of my four wheels ever leaving the ground /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[LMTC]

Whether they rip out the grass when they hit or not....while the mower is bouncing up it is not cutting grass, at least not at the same level as when it is ground-bound. I would say slow down. Fixing your grass being ripped out when it lands problem will not give you a good cut.

 

[jcmseven]

Brett,

The floating top link should help the bouncing a lot. The other thing I did with my Frontier RFM that helps is I flipped the lower three point hitch link arms on the tractor to the float position. There should be a bolt and bracket on each side of the lower arms to do this. This gives you smoother movement at the hitch, which multiplies as you move further back at the mower. This allows the mower weight to move it better in contour with the ground and should eliminate the bouncing. Also, a common problem is that the top floating hitch point sometimes will over tension and will move the link arms slightly. On your mower, this would be hard to see, as the link arms are solid. My mower has link chains because I run an I match hitch, and if I lower my three point all the way down rather than 80% or so, it takes the slack out of the fulcrum and the mower will bounce over irregularities. Lift up slightly--no bounce. Finally, assuming you have pneumatic tires, you may wish to lower pressure slightly to see if that would help some. The fact that the wheels spin a lot though indicates they are not carrying enough weight, which usually means one of the other problems is occurring.

John M.

 

[teddydo]

Based on my own use, I would say you have the top link drawn in to short. The front wheels are probablly whats messing up the lawn. I suggest extending the top link and let your lift all the way down and maybe go just a little slower if it's rough terrian.......luck to you teddy

 

[sweettractors]

Here is a Midwest. They did copy some of the features from First Choice/Sicma. However, They missed a few. With a First Choice, you dont need a chain, The flex is built into the machine to compensate for toplink being maladjusted---Ken Sweet

 

[PineRidge]

Sounds to me like you're traveling too fast on uneven ground. You need to cut the speed back enough that the mower doesn't want to skip from one high spot to another.

 

[sweettractors]

I see 5 places that have "Knee" action in this Midwest design. If any or all of these are too tight? The Top part of the A-Frame cant flex or float--Ken Sweet