Need Help Avoiding Turning too Sharp with E12 Batwing Mower

[DanielDD]

The rear tires are at their widest, which is somewhere around 7 feet (5090E tractor). As far as not greasing the PTO shaft, I am hesitant do that that as I am a novice and I pay particular attention to the factory specs as far as greasing is concerned. I think it is just going to have to come down to more seat time in order to gain the experience necessary to make turns that don't compromise the interference between the cutter and the rear tractor tires.

 

[CobyRupert]

Yes, grease the PTO joints. That was a joke. Ok, a bad one. You don’t want to hear them rattle.

 

[EddieWalker]

How far is your draw bar extended? I don't have a batwing yet, but it's something that I plan on getting one of these days. I have never heard of this before, so I'm interested in it.

 

[hosspuller]

I've got 90 acres. I needed something bigger than a standard rotary cutter. I realize some of you are making light of the situation and I'm good with that. Looking out the back window doesn't give me the kind of sight lines I need in order to avoid rubbing the back tire. This most usually happens when turning left. Hosspuller mentioned overlapping turns, which I have been doing in order to save time.

Just to be clear, I don't make sharp turns in my pattern. More like sweeping turns. What is missed gets cut the next pass. With trees and obstacles, I try to get them with multiple passes from different directions. Think pole bending around them. Here's a better description of my overlap pattern.

Zamboni Pattern

 

[Rustyiron]

Eddie is on track with the draw bar. Often there are 2 positions (in/out) as long as your within the pto shaft's length, which you should be fine with a batwing, pull out the draw bar to it's longest position. You might just want to spray a small circle of weed killer around the trees base. Trimming with a batwing is kinda silly and you'll eventually end up with tree damage.

 

[DanielDD]

John Deere set up my tractor and batwing, so I'm assuming the drawbar is set correctly. I believe the drawbar is as extended as it can be. Here is a picture....

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And yes, that is the wrong hitch pin. I have since corrected that little matter..

 

[3Ts]

John Deere set up my tractor and batwing, so I'm assuming the drawbar is set correctly. I believe the drawbar is as extended as it can be. Here is a picture....

Ohhhh, ye of misplaced faith! I made the same assumption on my equipment that the dealer delivered (new). Fortunately not to much damage before I figured it out. And that's on 2 different makes of tractor.

Get the owner's manual out and check it!!!

 

[Rustyiron]

Somewhere I've seen a dimensioned diagram of the tractors PTO shaft and the draw bar pin distance that gave me the impression that it was a standard for PTO powered, drawbar pulled implements.
I'm thinking that it was a batwing mower. It may be this simple. You may have to get deep into the "weeds" to find this info for either the tractor or mower but Deere has a lot of owners manuals online.
Several of my tractors I could pull a (big) pin and slide the d/b in several locations. This was accomplished from underneath the rear and not standing AT the rear end.

 

[Gee Ray]

Why can't you turn to see the tire and the tongue of the mower as you turn? May help if you learn to sit part way twisted to see better.

The other thing is mount a camera and screen to see the area better.

 

[DanielDD]

Why can't you turn to see the tire and the tongue of the mower as you turn? May help if you learn to sit part way twisted to see better.

The other thing is mount a camera and screen to see the area better.

A camera and a monitor are probably going to be my best bet. I haven't looked to see what is available for that particular application.

Sitting in the cab and trying to twist in the seat (with the seatbelt on) is difficult at best. Plus its hard to see over the rear tire fenders. Pretty much impossible from my vantage point...