Woods Finish Mower Issue

[tagslg]

Good afternoon,

I have a Woods RM550 finish mower that has started mowing poorly (see attached pictures). I know the grass is pretty long in the pictures, but I used to be able to mow this height of grass at a pretty fast speed and it wouldn't miss a blade.

All the wheels are set at the same height (4" cut I believe), the blades are OEM part number 18881 and installed correctly, the belt is OEM, I'm mowing at 540 PTO and traveling at a reasonable speed. It was looking like the grass was getting pressed down by the tires and not getting sucked up so I tried OEM 34615KT high suction blades and then some aftermarket super suction blades and that didn't help; might have been worse actually.

It mows poorly even on shorter grass and only does better if I move at a complete crawl. But again, this thing used to tackle tall grass at a good speed and not miss anything. The mower runs smooth, it's not bogging down, spindles seem fine, doesn't have any obvious damage to the baffles, etc. I've had two different tractor repair guys look at it and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?

 

[RjCorazza]

That's pretty dramatic. You've tried different blades, so in my mind that leaves something is going on with the right spindle height or rotation.
Can you post some photos of the underside, and take some blade height measurements?

 

[Runner]

Looks like you are mowing extremely tall grass, like more than 10" down to 4". I'm amazed it's doing that well. How does it do on shorter grass?

Kind of looks like it might be a belt tension issue that is letting the right spindle slip or something.

Have you made any changes to rig before it started missing the grass?

 

[tagslg]

Thank you for the replies. Here are some pictures under the mower; I'll get some blade height measurements and deck height measurements and report back later.

Runner, it does okay on shorter grass but still misses if I move at a normal speed; the only time it cuts decent is if I go really really slow. Looks like it might be the forward swipe of the right blade not cutting. Not sure about belt tension or how I would check or adjust that but the belt seems to be in good shape; if it was slipping would the belt be wearing out? I do not have extensive experience working on this type of equipment.

This has been going on a couple seasons now; been trying different things over time and nothing has helped. I didn't change anything on the mower before this started - in the fall it was cutting fine, in the spring it started doing this. However, the first cut I did that spring was way too late and grass was about knee high and this is my only attachment so I had to mow with the 3pt adjusted so the front wheels were up a little bit. But I'm just mowing an all grass field and I didn't hit anything so I'm not sure what that could have messed up.

 

[Smokeydog]

Front of the mower deck should be 1/2” lower than the back. Back wheels tread usually wear faster.

On my woods rd7200 the taper lock that holds the pulley sheave to the spindle shafts has two 1/4”x20tpi bolts that can shear if the blades hit something hard. Causes the blade not to cut as much. Also wearing out the taper.

Belt tension spring does wear out but usually breaks.

 

[tagslg]

Thanks, Smokey, I'll have to look into the manual to see if I can locate the bolts you're referencing and see if I can figure out if they're broken.

All the wheels are set at the same height and I measured the lowest part of the deck edge on all corners: Front Right is 3.5", Front Left is 3.25"; Back Right is 3.25", Back Left is 2.75". (right being the discharge side) On pavement, the right rear tire is just slightly off the ground.

Not sure I did this correctly but I measured the blades with them positioned front to back using the Oregon blade height measuring tool on a reasonably flat driveway; measured near the tip of the cutting edge:
Right Blade: 3 3/8" and 3 5/8"
Middle Blade: 3" and 3 1/8"
Left Blade: 3 1/2" and 3 1/4"

Does any of this look far enough off to be causing the issue I'm having?

 

[careyo63]

I use a RD1060 Frontier 2001. It's made by woods! Your Blades look to be in good shape. I'm thinking the drive belt may not be very tight. High grass and side discharge. I use High lift blades also. ASC AGRI supply Co.. They seem to last longer. Those look to be straight blades and new. I had belts break and wear and that's what my guess is. My Belt tension Is spring loaded and the belt stretch maybe the problem. Thinking I would pull the cover and have a look.

 

[oldnslo]

A poor man’s way of checking for belt slip is to pull the safety covers and then paint a line on all three spindle pulleys referencing a fixed location. Run the mower not cutting anything for a few minutes and shut if off. Check marks on spindle pulleys to see if they are all close to being on same phase. If yes go cut some grass and check again, maybe leave cover off to see if it looks like one of them is slowing. Shut mower off and check pulley position again.

Not 100% fool proof but might provide additional info on cause.

 

[duffer]

Definitely something going on with right side. I agree with oldnslo, test to see if your right pulley is rotating at a slower speed than the left. I'm reaching here, but could the spindle shaft be broken inside the housing? Or maybe the key that fixates the pulley on the shaft is disintegrated or stripped? Can you rotate the blade and hold the pulley in place?

I think someone earlier suggested checking your belt tension. Might be something that easy.

 

[Tinhack]

I'd be leaning toward belt slip. Perhaps caused by worn pulleys. I had to replace the pulleys on my old Woods ZTR mower. It was old when I bought it then used it for another 10 years. I'd probably still be using it (15 years later) if the left trans didn't eat itself. The pic is after I rebuilt the engine and splashed some paint on it.

 

[EddieWalker]

To me, it looks like you have the wrong size blades. I would double check the manual to see what the length is supposed to be, and measure what you have in there.

On my zero turn, I found that the high lift blades left a horrible cut. I went back to the factory blades, and I've been very happy with them.

 

[careyo63]

I used straight cut blades for a few Yrs.. I cut a few property's with them. They lasted much longer but the cut was nowhere near as nice. 5WP1001510KT is the correct Straight Blade for the Frontier. But a Big difference in price. 83.75$ Straight and that was in 6/2012 and I just paid AGRI Supply 44.97 for a set of High lift. The high lift wear is Terrible but the cut is so much better and why I use them. Both the 5103 and The Yanmar is Rear discharge so that makes a huge difference also. My front Yard with H.lift! 3rd pic. Keep up with Carey's yard......

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[Smokeydog]

Single bolt blade mounting takes specialized hardware and techniques.

Like to two bolts blades on my RD7200. Gator blades also work and wear well.

Just a little tilt forward from level makes a significant difference. Not only in cut quality but also reduces hp required. Increases travel speed.

 

[tagslg]

Thanks for all the replies. The blades on there are Woods 18881 which are listed as medium suction 20 3/4" blades; tip to tip they measure a little shorter than that. Attached some pictures of how close they get to each other.

The left pulley is smaller than the center and right (discharge side) pulley. I marked the center and right pulley and mowed about 100' and afterward the marks were no longer aligned so that seems to indicate some slippage right? So maybe either a worn pulley or belt tension issue or maybe something internally broken in the spindle (it does run smooth)? Any guidance on checking belt tension or adjusting belt tension? Not sure what I'm looking for here and I don't see any information on checking or adjusting belt tension in the manual.

The section of grass it is missing is not the whole width of the right blade. Could slippage cause that right blade to cut okay on the outside backward swipe but not cut on the inside forward swipe?

 

[sandman2234]

Front of the mower deck should be 1/2” lower than the back. Back wheels tread usually wear faster.

On my woods rd7200 the taper lock that holds the pulley sheave to the spindle shafts has two 1/4”x20tpi bolts that can shear if the blades hit something hard. Causes the blade not to cut as much. Also wearing out the taper.

Belt tension spring does wear out but usually breaks.

Ummm, Smokeydog, on a taper loc bushing, the key between the spindle and the bushing is what would shear if you hit something hard. If there are taper loc bushings that are keyless, I am not aware of them. Are you sure?
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

I would do a couple of things. I would find the adjusting tensioner, which is probably a spring loaded tensioner or it has a threaded bolt that adjusts the tension on the belt. Going to require removal of the guards over the belt. Double check that it does move back and forth with a lot of effort. I would remove the belt(s) and spin each spindle by hand to make sure that they are rotating freely with no rough spots. Grease them and check again just for laughs. When you belt is off, your tensioner should move past the point where it is sitting with the belt on. If it doesn't, remove belt and make sure it hasn't stretched past the maximum length allowed.
As you noted, the spindles out of sync with each other is probably from belt slippage, now you need to figure out how it is doing that.
David from jax

 

[sixdogs]

Are the blades on upside down?

Check this Woods video and the blades appear to be mounded different.

 

[eco88]

Sharpen the blades. Speed up rpms, slow down tractor speed when mowing. See if any if it makes a difference.
How's your alignment? All the arms and body on the mower straight?
I've hit with mine few things in the past, enough to bend it slightly out of alignment. Hasn't been cutting the greatest since. Need to hammer few corners and arms back straight

 

[Smokeydog]

Ummm, Smokeydog, on a taper loc bushing, the key between the spindle and the bushing is what would shear if you hit something hard. If there are taper loc bushings that are keyless, I am not aware of them. Are you sure?
David from jax

Not sure if the OP spindles are made like my Woods 7200RD. If my memory is correct and is always questionable. Features double taper roller bearings. Large nut provides bearing preload to the inner taper bushing keyed to blade shaft. Tanged, bendable tab lock washer secured the big nut. Two bolts lock the pulley taper pulley sheave to the top the shaft.

I’ve only had the two bolts shear twice in over 27years. Affected spindle not cutting well. We mow rough ground with plenty of limbs, rocks, roots and healthy weeds we call yard.

Only needed to rebuild one spindle after 25 years. Grease carefully. Can easily over grease and push out seals and lead to early bearing failure.

 

[Jaygyver]

It looks like you have a spring loaded belt tensioner so there is no adjustment to that other than the spring breaking and nothing would spin then.

Gone thru every scenario In my head but can't think of why it would cut offset like that.

Clean the bottom spindle and check if the mounting bolts are loose or the housing got cracked?
That would account for the offset cut with the one blade.
Measure the 3rd blade at both tips from the ground then rotate it 180 degrees and measure again?

I've had my blade bolt loosen up on one blade and would cut ok in thinner grass but get ugly when it hit the thicker stuff, drove me up a wall as I could rotate all the blades moving each one individually by hand.
You've replaced the blades a few times now so doubt if it's that.

Doesn't account for the offset cut tho.