Taylor Pittsburgh 240 rotary cutter troubles

Conservation · May 24, 2010

The sholder on the bolts for the blades was a little generous. The blades are probably a bit worn there. So I stepped over to the lathe and took just a little off. That took the slop out of the blades, but left just enough room so that the blades will move freely. Still think the mount is the trouble.

Damifino · May 25, 2010

If the gearbox bolts where it attaches is solid, check the mount and look for bending of the metal around gear box where it mounts.

I was thinking, if you plowed into a heavy mound of sand, you could also have hit the stump jumper so hard it could have put serious stress on the welded spline where it attaches to bottom shaft of gear box.Also gear box shaft.

If your deck is flat in the area of the stump jumper, take a tape measure and check clearance from top of stump jumper to bottom of deck.

Rotate several revs and recheck, this is a rough way to check but will help isolate the problem.

If your mount is loose, you should have felt that when grabbing the stump jumper and trying to rock it back and forth.

kebo · May 25, 2010

If it turns out that the gearbox mntg frame or plate is bent, you might be able to get by with using shims to adjust the angle that it sits at rather than going at it with a sledgehammer, pipes, and all sorts of other ways to bend it back true.

If your gearbox is held in place with 4 big bolts, then maybe the right amount of shims (washers) would level it back out. One option to consider anyway. Good luck.

Conservation · Jun 13, 2010

Just a miserable update. The stump jumper is not perfectly straight, but isn't the problem. I can probably straighten it a bit using the press.
The problem is that the gear box mounting area has flexed terribly. I straightened it up a bit, which improved it, and welded where the factory did. Mowed heavy for an hour, and then hit one mount, and the mount area bent badly. I am shocked that I have used this for 5 years, and bought it used....and haven't had this trouble with it til now. The deck material is pretty thin IMO. I actually thought about getting a new one, but most I saw weren't any heavier duty, and were $1000 or more. What I really need if I ever get this fixed is some sort of roller in the middle front to keep it from burrying the front into the dirt when the rear tires dip into a dip or hole.
I have the blades off now, and am having trouble with the simplest of things: Getting the cotter pin out of the castle nut that holds the stump jumper on. The short end was broken off, and bent over. So I straightened that the best I could. The pin will not budge. I am considering drilling out the end to free up the pin. I'm sure the jumpper will be a thrill to get off the shaft when I get the nut off.
I think I will look at removing the stock mount and building a beefier one between the frame rails. This project is not starting off well!

Kyle_in_Tex · Jun 13, 2010

pinch the loop with some dykes and pry it out

Conservation · Jun 13, 2010

Kyle_in_Tex said:
pinch the loop with some dykes and pry it out

I did try that. Finially I twisted the ends off, and pulled the nut off. Threads look ok. I need to drill the hole for the pin out though. I'll have to search for that hole! LOL!
After getting the gearbox off and the stumpjumper, I think the stumpjumper is OK. Gearbox does not appear to have runout. The combo does not run 100% true, but not bad. I can't see where the trouble lies. The jumper is pretty difficult to measure runout on because of its size.

As soon as I got the gearbox off, the problem was obvious. The mounting plate was cracked at every bolt hole. One was pulling up badly. One had a big chunk that fell off in my hand. My plan is to cut the entire mounting pedistal off and get one fabbed up for it, and then weld it in. I may get a plate for the base, and weld that in for extra strength. I can drill a bunch of holes in it and rosette weld them to join the top and bottom. Then set the new pedistal in, allowing for the extra thickness of the plate. This has turned into quite the fabrication job, but I wasn't impressed with the new ones, or their prices. So I need to get this done quick so that I can knock down the tall ones!:confused2: It's a little more work than I would like to do with my 110 welder, but I hate to stick anything, so I will do multiple welds if I have to. I want it to be strong when I am done.