Help Needed With Land Pride RCR1884 Set Up

[Sockwell]

Guys, I know this subject has been discussed many times. I've searched and gone through several of the posts, but could not find one that addressed this directly. If there is one, I apologize. I have about 25 acres that I cut about three times per year. I've just completed the first full cutting with my current setup. The setup is a L5740HSTC and a Land Pride RCR1884. I traded up to this setup last summer after the mowing had been done.

Last weekend, I had a problem that I've not had before. I broke the Stop Pin on the RC. The pin was replaced. The first time back out, I broke the pin on the tractor side of the Top Link. I'm not a complete novice, but the 1884 is the first RC I've used with this particular flexible linkage design. My other RC's either had a different design for a flexible Top Link or had chains that went from the Top Link connection point to the cutter deck. However, it's obvious that either something is wrong with the way I'm setting up the cutter or the design is flawed. For now, I tend to believe it is the former. Continuing to break things is not an option.

The pastures I'm cutting have rolling hills and terraces. When I go down the hills, over the terraces, and the tractor levels back out, the rear of the RC is still up as it comes off the terrace. The only thing I can figure is this is putting a strain on the Top Link and Stop Pin. I've gone through the set up. The RC was set with the front about 2" off the ground and the back slightly higher. Per the Setup section of the RC manual, the Top Link was then adjusted so that the Top Link Pin was in a vertical plane with the Lower Links. The Top Link lock nut was then tightened. I've done this twice, once before starting and again after replacing the Stop Pin. When doing this setup, the weight of the cutter is on the lower links and cutter wheels. I wish I had paid more attention to the position of the floating mechanism. I wasn't concerned about this because I was trying to get the pins in the vertical plane as the manual directs.

Does anyone have this particular cutter, or a cutter with a similar floating Top Link design, that can tell me what I'm doing wrong? When the Top Link pin broke, I removed the Top Link and finished (about 5 acres) without it, but that is not something I want to make a habit of doing. If I keep breaking things, the only thing I know to do is either replace the Top Link with a piece of chain or replace the two bars from the Top Link to the deck with chains. Any help is appreciated.

 

[BlacknTan]

I'm very pleased with this type of floating setup, but it has to be bolted loosely enough to allow the arms to pivot freely. Is everything mounted correctly as on page 9 of the manual? The top link pin at the tractor should not be breaking if things can pivot freely...

http://www.landpride.com/ari/attach/lp/public/manuals/312-880m.pdf

 

[TripleR]

My RCR2672 has the same setup and pull it with a L5030 and have had no problems in three years of hard use.

From my Manual:

Refer to Figure 2-2:
1. Lower cutter deck to the nominal cutting height.
2. Adjust length of tractor’s 3-point top center link such that the top and bottom hitch pins are aligned vertically with each other. The pivot hitch should be at about a 45 degree angle when adjusted correctly.
3. Lock center link in this position.

 

[Sockwell]

Thanks for the quick response. This is something I have not checked. The cutter was initially assembled, set up, and connected to the tractor at the dealership. I will check the connections on the floating mechanism this afternoon to make sure everything can rotate.