Re: I\'ve never heard of using a piece of chain to.....
Beenthere: Thanks for explaining your NOT comment. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Seriously, tho, I suggest that using a length of chain in place of a toplink is not a very good idea. As I stated before, I have used one and chose a different method after one mowing season.
It seems that those fellas who typically choose a chain instead of a solid toplink are usually trying to overcome some specific problem – mainly needing more mower flexing. In my case, the problem was super hilly ground with lots of creeks and hills to mow. With a chain system, I could let the mower flex all it wanted while mowing up and down those hills and it would remain pretty level with the ground. BUT, my mower was an old one and it had a A frame tower with a SOLID, not moveable toplink attachment point. Also, I needed check chains between the tractor toplink bracket and the tractor lift arms to maintain a constant mowing height. Boy, I had chains going everywhere on that old mower! Anyway, the chain method did a pretty good job for me, but I was extremely careful and even then, I did wipe out a set of u joints due to all the mower flexing.
What I want to emphasize is this:
Chain in place of a solid toplink can work just fine under certain circumstances, but a chain method has the potential to be dangerous in some circumstances, too.
For example, the most dangerous situation I could imagine would be an operator using an old mower with 2 point style or with no A frame tower support (or a inadequate one which is all bent up or was removed) AND it was used on an older tractor with no ROPS, AND an operator mowing at excessive ground speeds AND inadvertantly hitting a hidden stump in the grass making contact with the front part of the deck. The result of this combination COULD be that the deck might pivot forward at the lift arm pins, breaking the PTO shaft then the deck coming further forward making contact with the rear of the tractor - POTENTIALLY striking the operator.
My concern is that when the PTO fails, the momenum of the still swinging mower blade and a now free, swirling PTO shaft (or pieces of it) could possibly clobber the poor operator!
With that in mind, I suggest, if possible, that readers here at TBN consider the following:
-If your toplink A frame tower is solid with no moveable bracket installed, then fabricate a moveable bracket for your mower - just like all the modern ones on the market have today. Or look at my photo for some ideas.
-Keep your ground speed very low while hogging in tall, unknown areas. You never know what you could hit. (My buddy hit a small fawn with his bush hog one time…yuck!)
-If you’re using a toplink instead of a chain, your potential for bending/breaking the PTO shaft is considerably less because the toplink and the A frame is acting as a kind of a limiting device for how much the rear of the mower can be raised into the air.
So, it seems to me that the toplink is in place is primarily to –
- allow raising the rear wheel off the ground to transport the mower freely,
- limit the flexing of the mower minimizing undo stress on the PTO shaft U joints
- AND lastly, maybe a tiny bit of assurance from it flipping up, should you hit an obstacle.
dwight
