Rotary Cutter Adjustment - Branson 2515H

[Sooner79]

I bought a new 2515H last week and fired it up for the first time today. I got a package which includes a 5‘ rotary cutter and a 5’ box blade. It came with the rotary cutter installed and set up by my dealer. When on level pavement, it looked to me like the cutting deck was tilted a bit too low in the front. I realize that it’s supposed to be lower in the front so the cutting is done in the front and the discharge goes to the rear. I‘ve read where it should only be an inch or so lower in the front, though.
My question is, other than lowering the rear wheel, is there an adjustment on the three point hitch that will raise the front and thus the angle angle of the deck? At about the mid height setting on the three point height adjustment lever, the front of my cutter deck is touching the ground. Any lower and it digs trenches in the soil. Neither the Branson manual (which I find overall to be very vague) or the rotary cutter manual (Titan) address the adjustment of the front to rear angle. I’ve searched the forum, Google and YouTube and can’t find an answer. My dealer says it’s set to specs but I still think it’s too low in the front. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ning]

Good question. I'm a noob at this and bought a cutter at auction, had to look up its manual online... from what I can tell, you set up the tail wheel as desired and then be careful when lowering the 3ph to have it the height you want; the 3ph on my tractor stays put where I set it.

 

[K5lwq]

You should be able to adjust the left lift arm by moving the pin to the top hole. Then adjust the right arm to level the mower. That would give you more range of motion for your 3pt lever.

Adjust the rear wheel for the height you want then lower the front till mower is level or slightly lower in the front works best.

This is the best picture I had of the lift arm adjustments. I circled the adjustments in red. Hope this helps.

 

[Fixastuff]

OP, you need to lengthen the top link. K5lwq, looks like you might need to get a longer one

 

[Bearsixty7]

Best way to visualize what to do is remove or disconnect the top link.

1) Level the cutter side to side with the lift arm that as the adjustment, usually it's the right one as shown above.

2) Using the 3 point lift, raise or lower to set the front blade to the height you want to cut, 3", 4", 5" whatever. If you have a lift stop that can be put in place so that you always go to the same height, put it in place now.

3) Set or adjust the rear wheel so that the back of the blade or cutter is about 3/4"to 1" higher than the front. (This will probably require connecting the top link to get weight off the wheel.)
Now you have set the mower level, pitch front to back and the cutting height.

4) The top link can now be connected and adjusted. Most rotary cutters have some form of flexible connection for the top lift that allows the cutter to follow the contour of the ground.
You want to connect the top link and adjust it so that there is about 2" of slack so that when you raise the 3point lever, the mower will raise the front of the cutter a couple inches before it will start lifting the tail wheel off the ground. This is what allows the cutter to follow the ground contour.

 

[Sooner79]

Thanks for everyone’s responses. I got lucky and the solution was simply raising the rear wheel of the rotary cutter one notch. I raised the cutter and lowered it onto blocks so the wheel was off the ground and it was as easy as re-positioning two rather large sized bolts and locking nuts. The cutter is now exactly 3/4” lower in the front than the rear and the quality of the cut is much better.

 

[FastEddieR]

Just saying - it's going to be "exactly 3/4" lower only when you also position your 3pt lever at "exactly" the same spot and your toplink is adjusted to "exactly" the same length and all of your tires are at "exactly" the same pressure. There are actually several factors at play with rear mounted equipment... sometimes "close enough is good enough"

 

[Sooner79]

Just saying - it's going to be "exactly 3/4" lower only when you also position your 3pt lever at "exactly" the same spot and your toplink is adjusted to "exactly" the same length and all of your tires are at "exactly" the same pressure. There are actually several factors at play with rear mounted equipment... sometimes "close enough is good enough"

I agree completely, but why not start out “exactly” where you want it, accepting the fact that it will vary based on the factors you mentioned?

 

[FastEddieR]

I agree completely, but why not start out “exactly” where you want it, accepting the fact that it will vary based on the factors you mentioned?

I have my rear wheel set so the blade is about 4-5" minimum above the ground, then I adjust the top link so I have a decent angle of attack, then raise or lower the 3pt as needed for what I'm cutting. Only thing that I "exactly" set is the left/right tilt on the lift arms - and that is "exact" only relative to the tractor, not the ground. I try not to overthink the process, it's not a finish mower after all, it's used to cut weeds and saplings in a pasture with highs and lows and rocks and stumps etc.