Shredding the Woolly...

[SanDucerro]

Croton Capitatus... AKA Woolly Corton, Dove Weed, Hogwort... Got a pasture full of the stuff. Tried shredding it but it just lays over and pops back up after I make a pass. Have to run the same row 2 or 3 times to get it cut. Now - this is the same shredder I set on fire a week ago, so perhaps it's the shredder. I rebuilt the slip clutch this weekend, but still not able to "Shred the Woolly" - so I need to know if anyone else has issues shredding the stuff? If not, then I'll replace the blades and try again.

 

[medic0648]

What happens if you back into some of it with the shredder running? If it lays down then it's either the blades or the weeds.

 

[SanDucerro]

What happens if you back into some of it with the shredder running? If it lays down then it's either the blades or the weeds.

Same thing. Backing up has no effect other than getting one additional pass in. If the first pass is in reverse, then it does the same thing as driving forward.

Also tried various heights on the shredder - no real change. Even when I dragged the shredder to the point it left groves in the dirt down both sides the "effect" was the same. They just lay over and pop back up after the pass. The shredder is doing ok on non-woolly stuff, not perfect mind you, but good enough. But when it comes to the woolly - FAIL... :laughing:

 

[Depmandog]

You shouldn't have any problems cutting this. Sounds to me your blades need sharpening, but don't make them "sharp".

 

[SanDucerro]

You shouldn't have any problems cutting this. Sounds to me your blades need sharpening, but don't make them "sharp".

And that's my first thought as well, but I ran down a small Huisache tree/bush and it took it out with zero issues - shredded that puppy into kindling. So why won't it shred the woolly? Seems to me that if the blades were the problem then it wouldn't cut anything - which got me to thinking that maybe this particular weed is hard to shred (hence the question). Having said that, I'm 100% positive the blades need to be sharpened. Matter of fact, I have two new blades waiting to go on. I would have just gone ahead and replaced them, but the nut on the bolt was larger than anything I had in the tool shed.

 

[Depmandog]

Dull blades still work great on brush as it shatters the stalk when it hits. But really dull blades tends to flatten out some of the tougher green stalks and grasses, laying them over instead of cutting...or cutting it 18"up on the stalk. I have has this happen with really dull blades.

Change them out and see what happens!!

 

[SanDucerro]

Update...

Decided to replace the blades. I had already bought new blades so I soaked the nuts with penetrating oil and waited a hour or so, then tried to break the nuts loose using a pipe for additional leverage. Instead of breaking the bolt loose the new drive wrench I bought earlier that morning snapped. Oh well - it was worth a try...

On to plan B - decided to pull the shreader off the tractor and that's when I noticed the slip clutch was VERY loose. Then I noticed the broken bits of friction plate all over the shreader deck. Turns out both friction plates broke and spilled their guts. Since this was my first slip clutch rebuild I'll chalk this up to the 'ole learning curve. It appears I didn't have the bolts properly toqured and didn't check them soon enough after starting to shread. I'll pay more attention next time.

Ordered two new sets of friction disks and pulled the PTO shaft off the tractor for a "proper" rebuild. Now that I know what NOT to do, hopefully I'll have better luck on round two...

 

[lostcreekranch]

You will have better luck with an pneumatic impact wrench that regular wrench and cheater bar.

Good luck!

Rick

 

[SanDucerro]

Final update: We're shredding the Woolly!

Turned out to be a multitude of issues. To start with I didn't tighten the bolts on the slip clutch enough or didn't check them soon enough afterwards. Either way they went super loose and the friction plates broke apart.

So I rebuilt for the second time, but this go round I took the PTO shaft off completely and took it to my shop at the house for a proper rebuild. Learning from my previous errors, I made sure I was tight at first and then checked early on to see what slippage I was getting. The disk had moved a bit more than I thought they should have, but I really didn't have a proper reference so I kept going for a couple more passes. Then the white smoke reappeared! Stopped immediately and took the shredder back for a retighten.

At this point I decided I might just have too much tractor for the shredder. Since the "issues" appeared after I switched from our L3130 to the comfort of the AC on the M7040 I figured I might be overpowering the SQ600. Switched back to the L3130 and now I can "hear" the squealer telling me DON'T DO THAT - which was totally unaudiable from the cab of the M7040. I surmise the M7040 has enough power to simply drag the Bush Hog through tough stuff that I would normally slow down for. As it did so the slip clutch squealed in protest - but I couldn't hear it from the cab.

At any rate - all is good now and it's back to cutting like before.

Lessons learned:
1) You most certainly CAN have too much tractor (although I never thought I would say that).
2) Gotta check the slip clutch bolts and retighten after a few minutes when you rebuild.
3) White smoke says the friction plates are slipping WAY too much.
4) Buy two sets of friction disks (you never know when you'll need the second set).
5) 10 year old dull blades "shred" just fine.
6) Woolly ain't got nothin' on a good Bush Hog...