King Kutter disc is a piece of garbage

[RedDog59]

I always have to remind myself that these implements are blacksmith type items, not space shuttle parts. Even though I'm the first generation in five on both sides of my family that weren't raised on the farm.

I have to expect a little massaging for a couple reasons. I've left the family white collar business and am trying to start a small business doing rural land tending on a limited budget. Secondly, most of my work has to be done by trailering my JD790 and implement(s) on a trailer to jobsites. I'm thankful that using tractors and implements takes a certain mindset and handyman type skills. That leaves a lot of potential customers who aren't equipped to endure what we do.

I think you're on the right track with adjusting things on that disk to make it more usable including the locking nuts on the adjusting arms instead of locknuts. Sometimes the lower priced equipment comes with small parts that really aren't right for the application but a simple substitution cures a problem.

I can't use the higher priced items like disks because they are built too good. That's right, try to load a Landpride 6.5' disk with 20" disks onto a trailer with ramps behind a 28HP tractor. The implement is too big/tall to transition the angles to load and unload. I just have to buy the cheaper stuff and use some restraint when operating them. KK stuff is pretty good but you may need to blacksmith a little from time to time.

 

[foggy1111]

Kinda resurected a somewhat older thread here. Hope your heart proceedure went well. :thumbsup:

Just wanted to say that I have a similar KK box frame disc....and I echo the OP's frustration with the disc when new. The set up on mine was horrible and it took me quite a while to get everything adjusted right too. I had to replace some of the bolts IIRC and swinging those big wrenches is no fun. Even now, this disc is not very easy to adjust....but mine has worked pretty well as I have it set up now.

Also, I think I paid $850 for my KK 5.5' Box Frame disc. I think the price you stated was pretty stout for this disc.

Seems like it would not take much more to build it right....but it is true with so many things today. I hate having to re-engineer this stuff to make it correct....sadly that is the case with many brands.

 

[Jay4200]

Spend a little more and buy a better a quality piece like Woods, Land Pride, Rhino, etc.. You spent good money on the tractor, why skmip on the implements. They take the beating.

Hope your cutter is better but don't be surprised if it isn't.
King Kutter is low quality.

I have to agree. I didn't want to spring the $1295 the dealer wanted for a Landpride landscape rake, so I looked around and found a Bush Hog brand rake for $800. After using it, I found the frame had cracked in two places, not to mention everything being lighter-duty. Bush Hog wouldn't replace the broken frame (they told the dealer to weld it - on their nickel). Too much of a pain to drag over there just for a weld job, so I fixed the cracks myself and added gussets so it won't happen again (knock on wood), BUT if I start losing lose cheepo tines...$$$$ (initial savings = false economy). I won't make that mistake again.

JayC

 

[trgo]

Re: King Kutter disc is a "MISFIT" edited

From trgo: Fast forward now to Dec. 2014

I am about to buy a 16 x 18" 3pt. disc
I am currently thinking that I will order an "Everything Attachments" box frame 16 x 18" ($1665) disc.
ETA equipment looks very nice! They build their own discs, their prices are good, and they seem like nice North Carolina folks on the phone.
I bought a King Kutter 84" rear blade last July.
What can go wrong with a blade? Not much, really!
The KK blade has a BIG made in the USA sticker! How nice!
The KK 3pt hitch bracket assembly is welded on crooked! If it had been made in China it would have likely been better built.
I did call King Kutter to complain about the workmanship, and poor paint quality. I was told: "that's the way we build em"
The 84" KK rear blade is the ONLY KK attachment that I will ever own.
I had not heard of Everything Attachments, when I bought the KK blade.
I agree with "chain Bender"!
King Kutter (KK) = JUNK !!

 

[DK35vince]

Re: King Kutter disc is a "MISFIT" edited

From trgo: Fast forward now to Dec. 2014

I am about to buy a 16 x 18" 3pt. disc
I am currently thinking that I will order an "Everything Attachments" box frame 16 x 18" ($1665) disc.
ETA equipment looks very nice! They build their own discs, their prices are good, and they seem like nice North Carolina folks on the phone.
I bought a King Kutter 84" rear blade last July.
What can go wrong with a blade? Not much, really!
The KK blade has a BIG made in the USA sticker! How nice!
The KK 3pt hitch bracket assembly is welded on crooked! If it had been made in China it would have likely been better built.
I did call King Kutter to complain about the workmanship, and poor paint quality. I was told: "that's the way we build em"
The 84" KK rear blade is the ONLY KK attachment that I will ever own.
I had not heard of Everything Attachments, when I bought the KK blade.
I agree with "chain Bender"!
King Kutter (KK) = JUNK !!

King Kutter is like many other companys.
on many of their attachments they offer light duty, medium duty and heavy duty.
If you only purchased the light duty option then that's what you will get. Light duty.

 

[bcp]

"Light Duty" should mean lighter weight components, not lighter weight components, poorly assembled, and poorly painted.

Bruce

 

[trgo]

Re: King Kutter disc is a "MISFIT" edited

The 84" blade was described in the King Kutter literature as being "Medium Duty"
Am I to understand that if I had ordered the "Heavy Duty" rear blade, the assembly would have been welded square and true, and the unpainted areas would have been properly painted?
I never considered that "Light Duty", "Medium Duty" and "Heavy Duty" would have different levels of quality control.
I am from the airline world, where "Tourist" "Business", and "First Class", ALL offer the same level of level of safety, ie: quality control.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Did you not look at the King Kutter rear blade before you bought it?

That's why I typically don't order equipment. I want to see (in the flesh) what I'm buying.

 

[transformatic]

I purchased a everything attachments 7' blade. I fell for their propaganda. It is going t need to be completely rebuilt after just 6 hours of use. I regret not spend I ng the extra $$ for a bush hog brand blade. Way underbuilt.

 

[trgo]

Nearest King Kutter dealer is 200 miles away, and he did not have any King Kutter blades in stock.
I asked if he would order one, but answer was "we will order again in the fall"
I wanted to buy in May!
It seemed kinda foolish to drive 400 miles round trip, to look at a blade that the dealer did not even have.
I bought thru Amazon, but Northern Tool placed the order for Amazon, and the blade was shipped directly to me from King Kutter.
I suppose that I could have returned the blade through Amazon, but I needed to use it.
I will have the misaligned welds cut, and re-welded.
I will not need to be reminded to NEVER buy from King Kutter again.

 

[trgo]

Oops!!
I am planning to order the Everything Attachments 16 x 18" box frame disc. ($1655)
Which blade did you order from them?
I had been thinking about flying up there (from Florida) to look at their discs, but I decided that I could trust them.
Now I am RE-THINKING !!
I think I WILL fly up there next month to see how their discs look, before I actually order one.
Thanks for the heads up !!

 

[94BULLITT]

I purchased a everything attachments 7' blade. I fell for their propaganda. It is going t need to be completely rebuilt after just 6 hours of use. I regret not spend I ng the extra $$ for a bush hog brand blade. Way underbuilt.

What blade did you buy from them?

 

[trgo]

For: 94 BULLITT

I did not buy a blade,....... the Everything Attachments blade info was from "transformic".
I also asked "transformic" which blade he bought from ETA. No answer yet.
I did look at the ETA 7' blade video, and "Ted" does describe that blade as a light/medium duty blade, for homeowner/occasional use.
The ETA blade offset arrangement does look very convenient, but it appears as though it might be relatively light construction. ("Ted" states that they tried to keep the weight down)
My concern now, after reading the "transformic" blade story, is whether I should order a box frame disc from ETA.
The 16 x 18" ETA box frame disc does appear to be well built, (3" x3" sq. tubing, and the weight is 686#) from their video & photos.
Anybody know more about the ETA box frame discs?

 

[drizler]

One thing you have to keep in mind with this "Carolina" built stuff, it' almost surely Chinese. Oh yea you can almost completely count on it in spite of all the Made In US hoopla flags and other bull they put on there. Customs law states it has to be marked for country of origin where it is easily seen by the consumer ONLY if it's made outside the USA. Items brought into the US and put together here are considered Made In US. That is why you have to be careful when buying all that off brand ect stuff made in the US. The truth is that most of the parts were just made in China as are all the welded frames ect. The same goes for Canada made. They bring the parts in by the shipload and build them someplace near the docks and mark it as made in Canada. That's why there is so much industrial activity in those port cities. There is no US Government requirement to mark the country of origin on individual pieces as it's only a component. This makes for all sorts of fraud involving Chinese industrial shipments to the US coming out of Canada. They try to beat the duty on huge shipments claiming they are made in Canada since Canadian products are duty free. This is another unintended consequence of NAFTA no one saw coming as the Chinese beat us out of many millions every year this way.
Of course none of the corporations want this being well known so they just rally around their proud made in the US claim. The fact is a high percentage of the items that are completely unmarked really are the ones actually made here in the US. Are you confused yet? Keep the faith the corporations are counting on it.:confused3:

 

[trgo]

For: drizler:

The EVERYTHING ATTACHMENTS stuff is obviously Made in The USA.
If you go to their website there is a complete video of their manufacturing facility. and it is quite interesting.
ETA may buy some materials from foreign companies, but products actually bearing the ETA label, appear to be fabricated, and assembled, by ETA "in house".
The bolts, discs, pins, rods, etc.(and perhaps even the steel), may be made outside the USA.

 

[94BULLITT]

For: drizler:

The EVERYTHING ATTACHMENTS stuff is obviously Made in The USA.
If you go to their website there is a complete video of their manufacturing facility. and it is quite interesting.
ETA may buy some materials from foreign companies, but products actually bearing the ETA label, appear to be fabricated, and assembled, by ETA "in house".
The bolts, discs, pins, rods, etc.(and perhaps even the steel), may be made outside the USA.

I'm pretty sure the steel is made in the US.

 

[Utopia Texas]

One of the reasons I buy local is that I can take the implement/ part back to where I bought it and let them fix it and make things right. Saving a few bucks buying on line and then having to weld, grind and manipulate a implement to make it work correctly is a huge waste of time. For me the aggravation is not worth a few bucks.

 

[oldballs]

I don't have any King Kutter implements, but have bought several from EA. As far as I'm concerned their products perform as they are advertised. Some of my early attachments from EA were Leinbach and Fred Cain manufacturing via EA. They too were well made. My EA box blade is well made and is fitted to my 26 HP non-commercial tractor. If I had a larger (HP) tractor or was commercial, maybe I'd look to a heavier duty product. There are a lot of KK users on TBN who seem pleased with their particular purchases......just sayin'.

 

[trgo]

Utopia Texas:

Kinda hard to "buy local" when the nearest KK implement dealer is 200+ miles away,( 400 miles round trip) and is "out of stock"
My "waste of time" would be driving a full day to return the KK product for repair, and a second full day to pick up the repaired KK product.
Oh...... and plus 80 gallons (round trip twice) of gas, for my 454 powered Suburban,...... dragging my trailer.
THAT, does NOT make ANY sense to me!

 

[trgo]

For oldballs: (I like that)

My KK 84" blade is solid, and it performs as it should!
My problem with it is that it was welded together crooked, and some areas were not painted.
They paint AFTER assembly, thus leaving the more difficult areas to paint, with no paint at all (bare steel!).

Thank you for the positive comments on the EA stuff.
I still think that I will fly up to Newton, NC. sometime next month, just to see what their stuff really does look like.