King Kutter Top Link

Farmwithjunk · Nov 3, 2005

I got a chuckle out of the "stray pick-up" "the cat, not the wife" line!

I get a laugh or two at work every day too. Some of the folks in our office think I'm straight out of a scene from "The Real McCoys". One woman, who sees herself as the epitimy of sophistication, makes cracks DAILY about me and my lifestyle. She calls me Zeke the farmer. What's really funny is that she's the ultimate redneck. A walking-talking Jeff Foxworthy punchline.

Back when I was in highschool and then in the army, it used to feel insulting when someone called me "farmer". Now I take it as a compliment.

My, how our priorities change with age.

milkman · Nov 3, 2005

I see there are different scenerios going on here, Number one is a tractor with a bush hog with a chain for a top link hitting an object and the bush hog flipping up and over onto and injuring the operator of a tractor. Number two is a tractor with a bush hog with chain for a top link hitting an object and the tractor front end coming up and the tractor flipping over on the operator, now that I know happens. Number one I don't see happening.

cleatus · Nov 5, 2005

I guess I don't fit in this converision as I have FEL on tractor with tri cicle front,no ROPs and no brakes. What saftey features other than brain.

Soundguy · Nov 6, 2005

Don't worry.. sounds like your tractor already has the most important safety feature / protective device installed ( brain).

Plenty of people get killed every year on tractors that are dripping with safety features.. simply cause they didn't use their brain for a few seconds..

keep that old iron going!

Soundguy

GuglioLS · Nov 6, 2005

Very interesting - Here is my 2 cents worth:

To solve the problem of a "flexable" top link when mowing I installed a hydraulic top link, the valve has a FLOAT position. When mowing I place the valve in float and the cylinder extends / retracts as needed when mowing up & down dips. Works great. No chains, no removing / installing / adjusting various top links. Just move the hydraulic lever into the float detent and all is good.

jinman · Nov 6, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Very interesting - Here is my 2 cents worth:

To solve the problem of a "flexable" top link when mowing I installed a hydraulic top link, the valve has a FLOAT position. When mowing I place the valve in float and the cylinder extends / retracts as needed when mowing up & down dips. Works great. No chains, no removing / installing / adjusting various top links. Just move the hydraulic lever into the float detent and all is good. )</font>

Many of us have hydraulic toplinks with piloted check valves. On those type cylinders, the float position would not work. Your float position works great for a straight hydraulic toplink, but I'm not ready to give up my rock-solid piloted check valve toplink. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

thescubasmith · Sep 3, 2014

I think my next rotary cutter WILL NOT be a King Kutter. I wore two other 5' hogs slap out before I got my 5' King Kutter. Both were lightweight economy mowers, as is the King Kutter. But I never bent the lifting arms on either of them. Not once. Now I have a KK and I'm spending time replacing the lifting arms...for the second time. I'm also spending time here on TBN trying to figure out how to keep it from bending again. Add this, remove that, weld something, add bracing, replace the top link and lifting arm braces with chain, etc., etc., etc. Granted, replacing these components with chain may well solve the problem of the lifting arms bending forward on the mower. But it also removes the versatility of that hydraulic top link I love so much.. And then there's that safety factor everyone's talking about. Oh, and let us not forget about the TIME we've all spent on the subject. We should be using our equipment, not spending hours and dollars having to engineer design flaws out of it.
This isn't the only thread at TBN about bent arms on KK mowers. And TBN isn't the only forum with threads about them. It seems to be the norm, not the exception with these cutters. Perhaps the best advice we can all take is to haul our KK rotary cutters for scrap...and buy something else next time.

Ford850 · Sep 4, 2014

thescubasmith said:
I think my next rotary cutter WILL NOT be a King Kutter. I wore two other 5' hogs slap out before I got my 5' King Kutter. Both were lightweight economy mowers, as is the King Kutter. But I never bent the lifting arms on either of them. Not once. Now I have a KK and I'm spending time replacing the lifting arms...for the second time. I'm also spending time here on TBN trying to figure out how to keep it from bending again. Add this, remove that, weld something, add bracing, replace the top link and lifting arm braces with chain, etc., etc., etc. Granted, replacing these components with chain may well solve the problem of the lifting arms bending forward on the mower. But it also removes the versatility of that hydraulic top link I love so much.. And then there's that safety factor everyone's talking about. Oh, and let us not forget about the TIME we've all spent on the subject. We should be using our equipment, not spending hours and dollars having to engineer design flaws out of it.
This isn't the only thread at TBN about bent arms on KK mowers. And TBN isn't the only forum with threads about them. It seems to be the norm, not the exception with these cutters. Perhaps the best advice we can all take is to haul our KK rotary cutters for scrap...and buy something else next time.

Are you sure you have the top link hinge assembly installed correctly? It should allow the rear to flex up or down quite a bit, relieving any stress on the arms. If it is not adjusted right, or installed backwards, the side arms can get bent forward when the rear end tries to ride up over something.

DK35vince · Sep 4, 2014

Ford850 said:
Are you sure you have the top link hinge assembly installed correctly? It should allow the rear to flex up or down quite a bit, relieving any stress on the arms. If it is not adjusted right, or installed backwards, the side arms can get bent forward when the rear end tries to ride up over something.

I'm wondering the same thing.
He claims bent King Kutters hitch's are the norm, but I don't recall ever reading any issues.
The only way my King Kutter brush mower hitch would bend is if I didn't have the mowers swivel link on for the top link to swing through.