Mowing Use rotary mower without tailwheel?

anojones · May 4, 2009

I have a light duty Deere LX5 rotary mower and I've bent the tail wheel and the bracket holding the tail wheel so now it won't rotate and just digs into the ground. I've taken off the tail wheel assembly and don't have the heat or a big enough hammer to get it back into shape. Can I just mow without the tail wheel? Any downside or damage I'm gonna do? I'm not even sure what the wheel is doing for me when it's working right.

kebo · May 4, 2009

Probably won't hurt the hydraulic lift to run the mower without a tailwheel, but I wouldn't do it. Unless you have extra weight on the frontend that's gonna make the front end lighter all the time, which could make the steering a bit tricky. One purpose of the tail wheel is to help give a consistent cutting height.

Soundguy · May 5, 2009

I deally the tailwheel carries part of the mower weight, and the 3pt adjusts front height.. you loose alot of 'adjustment' control from your right hand by not using the tail wheel.

got a plumbers torch? you'd be surprised what patience and blue flame can do.. that and a pipe wrench ont he end of a 4' pipe.. lotsa leverage..

soundguy

Bird · May 5, 2009

I suspect this is another of those situations in which "Yep, you can do it, but you ain't gonna like it."

radioman · May 5, 2009

Bird said:
I suspect this is another of those situations in which "Yep, you can do it, but you ain't gonna like it."

i agree.

anojones · May 5, 2009

I'll try the propane and see if I can bend it back, if that doesn't work I'll buy a small MAPP torch.

Turkeyman · May 5, 2009

I have done the same thing to my MX-6 twice. I will not use it without a tail wheel and it took a lot of heat to get it back working the first time.

TrippleT · May 5, 2009

I would either get a torch and heat it, or take it to the local welding shop.
It was designed for the tailwheel so it needs to be there. As Soundguy pointed out you could lose a lot of adjustment to. I also think you would be stressing your lift arms to a degree. Just my take on it.

Soundguy · May 5, 2009

anojones said:
I'll try the propane and see if I can bend it back, if that doesn't work I'll buy a small MAPP torch.

have some patience.. metal heats up pretty slow the larger it is.. but it holds heat real good.. let it 'soak' for a good 5-10 minutes.. then start bending on it..

soundguy

stevem5215 · May 5, 2009

I've bent the wheels on the finish mower a couple times. A BFH sledge can do a pretty good job on them but I've broken at least one doing that and had to buy a new U bracket for the wheel. But it is doable.

Steve

AndyMA · May 5, 2009

TrippleT said:
I would either get a torch and heat it, or take it to the local welding shop.
It was designed for the tailwheel so it needs to be there. As Soundguy pointed out you could lose a lot of adjustment to. I also think you would be stressing your lift arms to a degree. Just my take on it.

I'd be heading to the local welding shop of I didn't have the tools. It's amazing what a good torch, large vice and hydraulic press can do in a few minutes. Eben though I have all of the above I quite often go to my favorite repair guy.

Amdu

greenmule · May 5, 2009

This is your chance to go buy the ox/act cutting outfit you always wanted.

anojones · May 6, 2009

I got it working with some propane and a BFH- it's not straight but it rolls and tracks OK. When I'm done mowing I'll probably just bring the assembly to a shop to straighten it.

Soundguy · May 6, 2009

another good tool / tip is a bottle jack and a piece of chain.. that and a couple pieces of heavy bar stock to use as a form.

soundguy

Jimbrown · May 6, 2009

Guess I am dumer than dog snot But every one I knew in south Texas took the tail wheel off the day they got em We never mowed pasture with wheels on the things.

Soundguy · May 6, 2009

without the wheel your tractor carries all the weight.

if they were meant to be used full time without them.. I'm sure the engineers that designed them and the co. that sells them would just not add them, and save a buck!

I don't 'need' a seat on a tractor.. i could just stand in the op platform all day and work.. but heck.. the engineers put a seat on.. so it must be usefull for something right?

soundguy

Johndeere3720 · May 7, 2009

Soundguy said:
without the wheel your tractor carries all the weight.

if they were meant to be used full time without them.. I'm sure the engineers that designed them and the co. that sells them would just not add them, and save a buck!
soundguy

[B]I agree!Check out my new thread[/B] http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1659512#post1659512

kthompson · May 7, 2009

Sure the tail wheel carries some weight. But it also help the mower ride over humps and low spots and prevents issues when backing up.

RalphVa · May 7, 2009

Every year, I remove the blades from my LX4, sharpen them (bush hog blunt edge sharp anyway, mainly sharpening out rock digs, etc.) and put them back on. Have to remove the tail wheel for this to access the bolts. Supposed to retorque the bolts after a bit of usage. So, I run around without the tail wheel and bush hog a bit, particularly bushes and stuff where I'd like to lower the unit onto them. Then retorque and put the tail wheel back in place.

I often shorten the top link all the way and run around with the LX4 lifted all the way just to keep that silly tail wheel from whacking the ground periodically and making a lot of noise. The raised bush hog gives plenty of back weight for any loader work, too.

My other way of keeping the tail wheel quiet is to remove the top link and to attach a chain (just to keep it from dropping off the edge of creek banks). Tail wheel stays on the ground all the time then. I usually do about 50/50, top link or chain, depending on my fancy and maybe not wanting to monkey with adjusting the length of the top link every time I want to run the bush hog.

Ralph

flusher · May 8, 2009

anojones said:
I have a light duty Deere LX5 rotary mower and I've bent the tail wheel and the bracket holding the tail wheel so now it won't rotate and just digs into the ground. I've taken off the tail wheel assembly and don't have the heat or a big enough hammer to get it back into shape. Can I just mow without the tail wheel? Any downside or damage I'm gonna do? I'm not even sure what the wheel is doing for me when it's working right.

I'd take it to my local muffler shop. They have torches for straightening your bent parts.