Rotary Cutter Woods Brush Hog on MF231 - I keep bending the support bars

[Steave]

That will work if the tailwheel is trying to raise. But if it try to lower (which it does just as often as it tries to raise), the whole cutter will raise and you will get an un-even cut. There just isnt enough movement in them swinging toplinks to perform satisfactorily both ways. Chains are the only way to go on rolling terrain for a good even cut:thumbsup:

You are correct, all rotary cutters operate that way. If you use the chains the mower can't lower unless you lower it with the 3PH.

 

[Steave]

PDF]



Brushbull Rotary Cutter BB48, BB60, BB72, and BB84

Not sure of your model but look at this PDF file. May help. LD1 and I appears to be saying the same thing in different words. Either way you do it the deck has to have some floating to work.

I can't get the links to work not sure what I'm doing wrong.

 

[DieselMonk]

Your top link is adjusted too long. You need to shorten it by quite a bit. Once the support bars are straight and the tractor plus mower on level ground, your toplink is supposed to be adjusted in such a manner that the the little metal swivel (that metal pice that connects your toplink to the mower) is in a 45 degree angle. No more no less. What you show in your pictures is what you get when the toplink is too long and you backing up in either something solid, or trying to go backwards from level ground up a hill.
If you run out of adjustment on the toplink, then you have the wrong toplink to start with... those come in different lenght.
I had a woods bush hog on a MF 165 and on this NH TC55DA. Never had problems bending anything while things are proper adjusted and I have more and steeper hills than you have.

 

[LaVoie Equipment]

Badski. Couple things going on. We sell the WOODS cutters and have only seen this issue once. Two things are going on.
One, as everyone said top link appears to long. Top link swivel piece needs to be at about a 45° angle after you determine your cut height. So adjust to that dimension. Second, do I see two pins in the swivel link? Take the one in the middle out. I would say it is WAY TO LONG. This has come in contact with front bars and bent your long arms. And while we are here shorten top link pin. That can cause same thing! That is where we see it. Customer loses short pin we supply and installs to long of pin. Third, tighten sway control chains. Limit sway.

Lastly - go order new bars or pick up some steel 1/4" steel for new bars. Once they are bent - they are bent and straightening is wasting your time. They will bend easier next time.

I will try to post a picture tomorrow.

 

[badski78]

Thanks again for all the great advice. You folks really help a novice like me.
Tony L - there are 2 pins. When I bought the tractor, BH, etc a few years back - it came that way. I just left the pin in.
I'll pull that out when I get home. Good thing I'm done for the moment with the fields. It will give me some time to fix this.

 

[soulasphil]

Those are some serious chains on your JD

The chains came with the brush hog; the thing weighs 305 kg so they should be strong. But they are not all that strong, I used them once to try and pull my previous tractor out of a mud hole and they broke neatly at the first try !

 

[BlacknTan]

This gentleman (LaVoie) is 100% correct. Another fix would be to weld a stop across the top of the U shaped pivot to limit it's downward movement to above "overcenter," and have the U link pivot upwards and back. That way, no pins can come in contact with the A frame of the cutter. Woods uses this system on the newer BB X series, and it works very well.

Pay particular attention to page 14 in the manual...

http://www.woodsequipment.com/uploadedFiles/Products/Manuals/MAN0632.pdf

Notice how the two ends of the pivot point can never reach alignment. This ensures that the pivot will always rotate in the desired direction during compression, or when the back end wants to be higher than the front.. In this case, UP. Be sure all the bolts that need to pivot during movement are loose enough to do so, buit not too loose. As for the bars, I'd straighten them and weld in some reinforcement along the bends. A bush hog can never be too stout, IMHO!

But, all that said, you can rotate down and through the A frame if you can be sure there is no interference..

Good luck.