When do you let the 3ph stabilizers float?

[Glowplug]

Sigh. I swear that my mechanic told me to have the mower higher in front! I've -never- mowed with it higher in back!

That's the accepted standard for setting up a mower -- approx. 3/4" to 1" higher in the back. Only in certain rare circumstances would you want to briefly mow with the front set higher than the back. One such time would be if you have very tall thick weeds. Even in that situation though, what I would do is raise the deck and mow twice with the deck levelled the right way -- with the rear higher than the front. Mow once at maximum height, then mow again at desired height.

 

[dillo99]

Sigh. I swear that my mechanic told me to have the mower higher in front! I've -never- mowed with it higher in back!

Given that the land is VERY rough (1'+ trenches, gullies and furrows over ALL of it) I think that I'd want to lower the wheel (raise the deck) some before trying to mow like that!

Glow Plug is definitely right on lower in the front vs. back. The reasoning is pretty simply - if set this way the blades cut the material just once. If the mower is lower in the back then the blades have to cut the material several times as it moves through the mower (taking a little bit more off with each rotation).

If you are mowing any thick stuff you will notice a big difference between the two options.

 

[grizer]

Hey guys, read and repeat advice is very easy and dont require much thought, does it, (just kidding)?

 

[Doc_Bob]

Sigh. I swear that my mechanic told me to have the mower higher in front! I've -never- mowed with it higher in back!

With my Bush Hog (rotary cutter) I can cut with the front end higher than rear or vice versa per the owners manual.
Bob

 

[charlesw]

With my Bush Hog (rotary cutter) I can cut with the front end higher than rear or vice versa per the owners manual.

Yeah, well, some day I hope to have one of those (manual, that is). But Bob... Everyone else here is saying that your manual is smoking crack! What's up with that???

 

[Glowplug]

I have downloaded and read just about all the Rhino rotary cutter manuals. They all say that the mower deck should be levelled so that the front is slightly lower than the rear.

 

[N80]

For what its worth, the sway links on my L4400 give you three options. 1) No pins, sways at will through entire range. 2) Pin in single hole on both links, which leaves little or no sway at all. 3) The inner bar of the telescoping sway link also has several slots rather than just a single hole. This allows you to use a pin and restrict sway but still allows some side to side movement.

 

[Cacinok]

With my Bush Hog (rotary cutter) I can cut with the front end higher than rear or vice versa per the owners manual.
Bob

doc hopefully your bush hog has protective chains or some other mechanism to prevent sticks or rocks from getting thrown forward. it is my understanding, that safety is a big reason, to have the front lower than the back, so that nothing gets spit forward. personally i have seen rocks and sticks get thrown at least 40'-50' easily out the side and back of my bush hog.

lots of great info in the middle of this thread.

 

[Glowplug]

doc hopefully your bush hog has protective chains or some other mechanism to prevent sticks or rocks from getting thrown forward. it is my understanding, that safety is a big reason, to have the front lower than the back, so that nothing gets spit forward. personally i have seen rocks and sticks get thrown at least 40'-50' easily out the side and back of my bush hog.

lots of great info in the middle of this thread.

Well I guess safety is one thing. A good thing too! But probably the primary reason the front of the mower deck is usually set lower is related to wear on the blades. If the front is lower than the rear the blades cut once. If the front is higher than the rear the blades cut the full thickness of a blade of grass but do so many, many, many times. With the deck set with the front higher the grass is cut almost an infinite number of times, triming off just a miniscule length of grass each time, as opposed to cutting once with the front set lower. The final result is grass cut at the same height. And even though the mower is only cutting a tiny length of grass with each pass it is still cutting the full thickness of the grass. So, as you can see, the wear on the blades would be incredibly more with the front of the mower deck set higher. Besides, I guess you could get clobbered in the noggin with a rock too!

 

[Sully2]

For what its worth, the sway links on my L4400 give you three options. 1) No pins, sways at will through entire range. 2) Pin in single hole on both links, which leaves little or no sway at all. 3) The inner bar of the telescoping sway link also has several slots rather than just a single hole. This allows you to use a pin and restrict sway but still allows some side to side movement.

Its the same on my little B3030...but Im TOTALLY confused here...lol

Should they be FREE to move when using any ground engaging impliment ( plows; disks; even rototillers??) and pinned to NOT MOVE when Im using the 3 pt hitch for other things?

 

[Doc_Bob]

doc hopefully your bush hog has protective chains or some other mechanism to prevent sticks or rocks from getting thrown forward. it is my understanding, that safety is a big reason, to have the front lower than the back, so that nothing gets spit forward. personally i have seen rocks and sticks get thrown at least 40'-50' easily out the side and back of my bush hog.

Yep, has a set of chains. Also, I sit up about 5 feet from the opening of the Bush Hog. Still, always a chance. I don't wear a hard hat yet .
Bob