How Warm Should My Cutter's Gearboxes Get?

[Liquidsilver]

My six foot cutter has a gearbox that calls for 90wt gear oil. I would call it a noisy gearbox, generating a pretty noisy hum... but even on hot days cutting tall stuff, I'm surprised it never gets very warm. It's never given me a problem either.

I also have a fairly new (less than 20 hours) 10-foot, twin spindle cutter that has three gearboxes. The manufacturer says they're factory filled and maintenance-free. Recommended lubricant is EP-0 grease. These boxes seem very quiet.

BUT, Saturday I heard a strange squealing noise, looked back and the left gearbox is squealing and smoking, like rubber smoke. I killed the PTO and rolled it up to the house, praying I'd just picked up some rubber or rope that was causing the squeal. Nope. The seal was pushed out on the propeller shaft of the left gearbox and when I grabbed the shaft, it moves like there's no bearing in it. Great.

Video of it here: Titan 1810P Left Gearbox Failure - YouTube

So, I've lost a gearbox on a basically new cutter (Titan 1810P) and I'm hoping warranty will take care of it. It's not portable, but it's too dang new to have to tear into it. I have an email in to the company.

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Anyway, my question... these 3 gearboxes are way quieter than my six-footers ONE gearbox, but all three of them were equally HOT. Almost too hot to hold your hand on. That's NOT like my 6-footers box, so it's making me wonder, did the factory NOT lube any of the boxes?

 

[k0ua]

My six foot cutter has a gearbox that calls for 90wt gear oil. I would call it a noisy gearbox, generating a pretty noisy hum... but even on hot days cutting tall stuff, I'm surprised it never gets very warm. It's never given me a problem either.

I also have a fairly new (less than 20 hours) 10-foot, twin spindle cutter that has three gearboxes. The manufacturer says they're factory filled and maintenance-free. Recommended lubricant is EP-0 grease. These boxes seem very quiet.

BUT, Saturday I heard a strange squealing noise, looked back and the left gearbox is squealing and smoking, like rubber smoke. I killed the PTO and rolled it up to the house, praying I'd just picked up some rubber or rope that was causing the squeal. Nope. The seal was pushed out on the propeller shaft of the left gearbox and when I grabbed the shaft, it moves like there's no bearing in it. Great.

Video of it here: Titan 1810P Left Gearbox Failure - YouTube

So, I've lost a gearbox on a basically new cutter (Titan 1810P) and I'm hoping warranty will take care of it. It's not portable, but it's too dang new to have to tear into it. I have an email in to the company.

---

Anyway, my question... these 3 gearboxes are way quieter than my six-footers ONE gearbox, but all three of them were equally HOT. Almost too hot to hold your hand on. That's NOT like my 6-footers box, so it's making me wonder, did the factory NOT lube any of the boxes?

It is not unusual for gearboxes to be shipped dry. It is up to you the owner to make sure the gearboxes are full of the proscribed fluid before you place it into operation. In any case whether this was dealer prepped or not or filled at the factory or not, it is ALWAYS up to the owner as final inspector to make sure the gearbox has the proper fluid in it.

 

[RickB]

If the cutter was purported to be dealer prepped then you should be covered either by Titan for the seal failure or the dealer for ineptitude in checking or filling the boxes. If you bought the cutter at a discount Ag retailer like Rural King or Tractor Supply the responsibility for filling or checking the gearboxes will probably revert to you.

 

[Texasmark]

+1 on shipments with dry gearboxes. Most have a caution tag telling you to fill and what to use....most any implement/tool with a gearbox. I always check mine just to be sure and here in Tx. I use 140 not 90 that is usually recommended.

 

[Overtaxed]

I have 5 different cutters that I use. All of them using different gear boxes, all of them with vastly different applications and HP ratings (from cutting trees with the Baumalight to light duty finish mowing). I'd say all of them range in the "little warm" to "very warm" category when running. None of the get so hot that I can't keep my hand on them. The hottest I'd say, it's like a car painted black sitting in hot sun. It's hot, but not "stove hot" (100's of degrees), more like "shower turned up too high" hot.

 

[mcfarmall]

As a general rule of thumb, no pun intended, if you can hold your hand on it indefinitely, then the temperature is less than 140 degrees F. At or above 140 you won't be able to lay your hand on it for more than a second without feeling pain.

 

[cdb2]

My six foot cutter has a gearbox that calls for 90wt gear oil. I would call it a noisy gearbox, generating a pretty noisy hum... but even on hot days cutting tall stuff, I'm surprised it never gets very warm. It's never given me a problem either.

I also have a fairly new (less than 20 hours) 10-foot, twin spindle cutter that has three gearboxes. The manufacturer says they're factory filled and maintenance-free. Recommended lubricant is EP-0 grease. These boxes seem very quiet.

BUT, Saturday I heard a strange squealing noise, looked back and the left gearbox is squealing and smoking, like rubber smoke. I killed the PTO and rolled it up to the house, praying I'd just picked up some rubber or rope that was causing the squeal. Nope. The seal was pushed out on the propeller shaft of the left gearbox and when I grabbed the shaft, it moves like there's no bearing in it. Great.

Video of it here: Titan 1810P Left Gearbox Failure - YouTube

So, I've lost a gearbox on a basically new cutter (Titan 1810P) and I'm hoping warranty will take care of it. It's not portable, but it's too dang new to have to tear into it. I have an email in to the company.

---

Anyway, my question... these 3 gearboxes are way quieter than my six-footers ONE gearbox, but all three of them were equally HOT. Almost too hot to hold your hand on. That's NOT like my 6-footers box, so it's making me wonder, did the factory NOT lube any of the boxes?

My Titan flail was shipped dry and had several visible warnings to fill the gearbox before use, but it sounds like maybe they handle the gearboxes on your cutter differently? Seems like if they advertise it as being factory filled then their warranty should take care of you. My experience with their customer service has been pretty positive so far. Just takes a couple of days usually for a reply.

EDIT: Oops, different Titan. Good luck on your issue anyways!

 

[Liquidsilver]

As a general rule of thumb, no pun intended, if you can hold your hand on it indefinitely, then the temperature is less than 140 degrees F. At or above 140 you won't be able to lay your hand on it for more than a second without feeling pain.

That's good to know. I'd say the boxes are right at 140 then, or just above that. The gearbox on my 6-footer never gets much warmer than ambient.

I agree that I should have double checked the lube in the boxes, but the manual was fairly explicit about being factory-lubed. (copied pic from manual)

The selling dealer called me back and doesn't think there will be a problem getting it replaced under warranty. I just wonder how long.



(This is Titan Implement in Tennessee.)

 

[k0ua]

That's good to know. I'd say the boxes are right at 140 then, or just above that. The gearbox on my 6-footer never gets much warmer than ambient.

I agree that I should have double checked the lube in the boxes, but the manual was fairly explicit about being factory-lubed. (copied pic from manual)

The selling dealer called me back and doesn't think there will be a problem getting it replaced under warranty. I just wonder how long.

View attachment 612131

(This is Titan Implement in Tennessee.)

That is pretty plainly written. I find it odd that they use a "0" grease instead of the typical gear lube. People put cornhead grease "0" in gearboxes all the time when the seals leak, but normally new stuff has gear lube in them...

 

[Liquidsilver]

I'm still REALLY curious about checking the lube in the OTHER gearboxes when I get back out there.

Incidentally, I'm using a 55-horse tractor and the center gearbox is rated for 125 HP and the side gearboxes are rated at 100 HP. Can't say I was overtaxing it... and I wasn't mowing super heavy stuff.

Dealer now says a new gearbox is on the way, but I have to get the cutter to the shop. It's 1700-pounds and it's an hour away. Guess I'm borrowing a trailer.