L6060 Sway Links

[SDT]

I bought an L6060 in Jan 2016 for mowing duty with a Woods BB720X 6' cutter. This is a heavy cutter and I use it on steep ground with many trees. I am routinely turning sharply and reversing direction to mow around and close to trees. I'm very good doing so so rarely hit trees with the mower, but it does sometimes happen.

I use limiter chains to hold the cutter such that the skid rails are just above a hard concrete surface I have my position control stop set just below this level. I have the sway controls set so as to limit side to side movement of the mower as much as possible. Because the 6060 uses a pin/hole system, I cannot set side to side movement to 0 as I could with my MF that used a turnbuckle system. As a result, the mower sometimes slides side to side 4"-6" at the tailwheel as the CG shifts on my steep ground.

Recently, the sway control mechanism on the lift side broke and I did not notice it immediately because the limiter chains prevented excessive side to side movement of the cutter. Kubota replaced the broken part under warranty but I inspected it closely upon removal. A retired engineer, who, in a previous life, once did failure analysis for GM, the design of the broken part looks questionable to me.

I believe the shock loading induced as my mower shifts side to side on steep ground over stressed the sway control mechanism resulting in steel failure. Because I did not immediately notice the failure and continued to mow, all side to side motion of the mower was being limited by the unbroken right side mechanism until I noticed the failure, probably an hour or so. I have been expecting the right side mechanism to fail due to over stress but so far it has not. B to B warranty ends in January.

I like my HD Woods 6' mower and do not want to replace it with a lighter one.

Anyone else experiencing sway control mechanism failure on L6060 or similar tractors?

SDT

 

[jeff9366]

I have an L3560.

Hogged all day today with 60" Land Pride RCF2060.

My ground is flat. I leave a little slack in the rigid stabilizers so when I encounter a tree the whole tractor absorbs the encounter-force, not primarily the stabilizers.

Mowing hills may require your 'tight' setup. We shall see what others post.

I speculate that slight slack is designed in by Kubota engineers for a reason.

Is your tail wheel in continuous contact with the ground?

 

[bdhsfz6]

I also noticed the excessive play in the pin style drag link sway mechanism on both my old L3430 and new L6060. It is indeed annoying and, as you've discovered, can cause failures with heavy implements. So far, I haven't broken one though with my 6', 900 lb brush hog on the hilly uneven ground I maintain. What I do to limit the sway is to offset the drag links slightly to one side and make sure the pin on each side fits in a hole, NOT the slot opening in the sway control link. It isn't perfect and you may already use this technique but it does eliminate some of the play.

I found out the hard way that it is possible to have too little sway. I broke one of the turnbuckles on my old B7100 when I had them set too tight. The manual recommends having some play in the 3pt hitch to keep the drag load off the anti sway mechanism.

I saw a post here a year or so back on replacing this sloppy pin system with a heavy duty turnbuckle. I'm not sure what tractor was involved though. I tried a search but came up empty.

 

[SDT]

I also noticed the excessive play in the pin style drag link sway mechanism on both my old L3430 and new L6060. It is indeed annoying and, as you've discovered, can cause failures with heavy implements. So far, I haven't broken one though with my 6', 900 lb brush hog on the hilly uneven ground I maintain. What I do to limit the sway is to offset the drag links slightly to one side and make sure the pin on each side fits in a hole, NOT the slot opening in the sway control link. It isn't perfect and you may already use this technique but it does eliminate some of the play.

I found out the hard way that it is possible to have too little sway. I broke one of the turnbuckles on my old B7100 when I had them set too tight. The manual recommends having some play in the 3pt hitch to keep the drag load off the anti sway mechanism.

I saw a post here a year or so back on replacing this sloppy pin system with a heavy duty turnbuckle. I'm not sure what tractor was involved though. I tried a search but came up empty.

I believe that less shock stress would be applied to the sway control mechanisms if the system could be adjusted to eliminate side to side movement, as could be done with both of my since divested MF tractors utilizing turnbuckle style sway links.

Not too happy with the sway control mechanisms on either my L6060 or the similar system on my M9960.

SDT

 

[jeff9366]

Is your Woods tail wheel in continuous contact with the ground?

Tail wheel in contact with ground will diffuse sway energy, as the wheel pivots and as it moves over the ground in a vector from the tractor. I speculate 25% of kinetic sway energy is diffused away from stabilizers with tail wheel on the ground.

Using a chain as a Top Link should allow adjustment so tail wheel is on the ground almost all the time. You may need to experiment with different bolt-pin adjustments at the tail wheel, then revise limit chain adjustment at the tractor.

 

[SDT]

Is your Woods tail wheel in continuous contact with the ground?

Tail wheel in contact with ground will diffuse sway energy, as the wheel pivots and as it moves over the ground in a vector from the tractor. I speculate 25% of kinetic sway energy is diffused away from stabilizers with tail wheel on the ground.

Using a chain as a Top Link should allow adjustment so tail wheel is on the ground almost all the time. You may need to experiment with different bolt-pin adjustments at the tail wheel, then revise limit chain adjustment at the tractor.

Yes, except when cresting rises.

The issue is not hitting trees with the tail wheel, but rather, (I believe) metal fatigue resulting from side to side impact loading of the sway mechanisms as the heavy mower moves side to side as I turn sharply and reverse direction on steep ground.

My M9960 also has pin/hole sway links but fortunately, it is used mostly on rather level ground with few obstacles. Moreover, due to the geometry (luck) of the M9960 links and my Woods BB840X mower, currently used with the M9960, I was able to adjust the links such that there is almost no side to side movement of the mower.

Unable to do so with the L6060/Woods BB720X.

SDT

 

[JWR]

I also noticed the excessive play in the pin style drag link sway mechanism on both my old L3430 and new L6060. It is indeed annoying and, as you've discovered, can cause failures with heavy implements. So far, I haven't broken one though with my 6', 900 lb brush hog on the hilly uneven ground I maintain. What I do to limit the sway is to offset the drag links slightly to one side and make sure the pin on each side fits in a hole, NOT the slot opening in the sway control link. It isn't perfect and you may already use this technique but it does eliminate some of the play. ...

I agree. I use a MF2660 with a 7ft model 297 Bush Hog which weighs 1460 lbs. I too jockey around until I can get both sway bars to have "pin in hole" and not in slotted hole. Even so, I sheared the grade 5 3/4" bolt that holds the sway bar to the lower link (on one side.) Have around 200 hrs on the hog and 360 hrs on the tractor. Have no clue what happened or even when it happened -- just discovered the sway bar dragging the ground when I came in from the field. Clean shear. First time it ever happened. On the Massey this bolt is not tight tight but rather leaves a little slop for slight but necessary movement of the sway bar relative to the lower arm. Uses a "jam nut" on the hardened bolt to keep it in place without having it tight against the arm or the bar.

 

[CalG]

Be aware that the sway chain/bar length may be ideal at the operation position (lift height),but much too short when the implement is in the carry position. During the carry may be when the metal is loaded to failure.

Check on the idea any way. Some sway chains /bars are pivoted on the same rod that carries the lower lift arms. Some are not. I don't know about the L6060.

 

[oosik]

I have a 1000# Rhino 950 rear blade on my M6040. I've had no problems but I do have the sway links snugged up. They allow about 2" of movement in either direction from dead center. Having a lot of movement allows the build up of force/momentum and could cause damage. I know I don't want a bigger blade than the 950 on the back.

 

[MHarryE]

I have a L6060 which replaced my L5740, both having the same linkage system. I bought a LandPride 6 foot cutter with the L5740 which continue to use on the L6060. I clear out some pretty bad areas, bounce off trees mowing in reverse getting into tight spots. I have also carelessly neglected to pin both links after hooking up (blamed on old age). Never had a problem. The harder shock loads mine gets, however, is when gathering up large round bales. Going over rough ground, especially rough ground on sidehills, really loads up the links in impact load as the bale swings side to side. Also no problem. I do like the link design on my M7 better. They are screw adjustable like the top link. It also has sway limiter blocks on the tractor that the arms can rub against removing all load from the adjustable links when the implement is raised.