Flipping a 10' cutter over?

[Richard]

You may recall we've recently acquired a Rhino 10' cutter (TW-120)

After various conversations here and with their technical help folks, I've found out we have a couple loose ends to take care of (wrong cylinder on wheel height arm) AND the pan on the underside has a slight up/down wobble in it as though the bolt holding it on isn't fully tight.

Guy at Rhino said the pan should NOT have any wobble in it and it probably "simply needed the nut tightened"

Well... I am NOT going to put my body under this monster and try to tighten that nut when I have a backhoe/loader I can use to maybe flip it over.

Soooooooooooo, there is the gist of my question, if I were to flip this thing over would I chain the tongue end and let it roll over the rear wheels? Take it side to side? Lift the wheels end first?

(for those who don't know, I've got a full sized industrial backhoe/loader and the loader is rated at something like 6,000 lbs so hoisting it won't be an issue)

I won't be raising it to work on it while it's hanging there, I'd feel MUCH safer simply flipping it on its back so I can gain access to its belly.

I've never flipped anything this big/heavy though so thought I'd seek some wisdom here first.

 

[joebobharley]

I have flipped my 6' by welding a chain hook to the top of the metal brace that runs across the middle of the mower. I attached it to the further most edge on the right side of the deck. I then took the front end loader, attached a chain to it (In this case, the loader is chained to the far side of the mower deck.) and gently raised it, backed up and rolled it up on it's edge. At this point the deck was stable enough to be still where it could be easily worked on. I left the loader attached to it for saftety. I didn't see the need to roll it all the way over and it would have just complicated things. I left the hook attached to my deck in case I needed it later. You could always remove it when done if you didn't like it. I don't like the idea of trying to flip it from tongue to tail wheels. However, since yours is a 10', front to back instead of side to side may be a better and safer solution.

Richard

JD 4320 Cab, eHydro, 400x Loader

 

[BTI]

The only problem with flipping it by the tongue.....
At the "breakover" point it will have a decent amount of slack.
They never seem to want to go where you point them.
If a chain pops loose it can get ugly.
Side is really the same way BUT you don't have the easy rolling wheels to mess with you.
I know you said you don't want to be under the machine but....
You could use the loader to lift it high enough off of the ground to work on it then use jack stands and other things to keep you safe,
but keep the tension on the loader chain so it is a backup.
To make you feel safer.
It is spooky working under such big equipment.

BTI

 

[Richard]

I can just about guarantee the chain won't slip loose... its a grade 100 chain with a choker on one end. Not sure yet what I'd connect it to but once connected I'm convinced it won't let go.

I suppose I could perhaps try to flip it so it's simply angled backward (belly side facing up such that if it "fell" it would fall with the side I'm working on being the upside)

yeesh... guess I'll know more this weekend.

 

[john_bud]

If you have a trailer, you could drive onto it and leave 1/2 - 2/3 of the cutter hanging over the edge.

.

 

[AlanB]

I was going to say what John said, that or put it over a ditch, or a hump or something.

Rolling things like that over gets harry right at the top when it pivots from leaning one way to the other.

If it were I, I would approach from the hill, or trailer or hump or something to get me enough room to do what I wanted

 

[Champy]

I'm with AlanB on this one. My approach would be to use the old "park it over a ditch" approach. Having the cutter spanning a gap means both sides are fully supported on solid ground and then you crawl up the ditch to work underneath (unless its been raining lately).

 

[Soundguy]

If i did flip it.. i think I would flip mine over using the wheel side as the pivot.. and of course.. block the wheels to keep it from rolling on them too much.. If I had secure cribbing I'd lay it over at an angle on the cribbing AND leave the laoder attached.. otherwise I'd take it over as far as it wanted to go to rest onthe ground.. or whatever i was laying it on.

Be prepaired to see some oil dribble if it has vented caps..

Soundguy