I think my tail wheel is too big

[RoyJackson]

ditto on shaft to forks being bent. its obvious from the pics.

Not necessarily...
The link is to a Land Pride cutter operator's manual. It should open to page 44 (which shows the tail wheel bracket):
http://www.landpride.com/ari/attach/lp/public/manuals/312-849p.pdf

And here's the actual pic I pulled from the manual. The picture shows the tail wheel fork canted back from the factory

 

[amaxwell]

Another vote for bent, or been broken and welded wrong. the top of the U bracket forks should be level ,not at an angle like in the picture. The shaft in Roy's diagram is at 90 degrees to the forks.

 

[bigtiller]

Bent ....


Pig Pile :laughing:

 

[ruffdog]

I don't think that tail wheel /fork assy came with that mower. The design does not look like all the hogs I have seen. The forks can not be 90deg to the ground because you will lose the caster effect that keeps the wheel pointed in the right direction. I would be doing some cutting and welding to correct the caster and to strengthen the design.

This is a bad design because it has some of the small shaft below the support which allows it to bend easly. Most fork designs allow the top of the fork to be parallel to the ground so there is no exposed shaft to bend. Very strange!

 

[Depmandog]

Personally I think it's bent a tad, and I would unbend it enough to give yourself a one inch clearance or so when you reverse.

 

[gwdixon]

Not necessarily...
The link is to a Land Pride cutter operator's manual. It should open to page 44 (which shows the tail wheel bracket):
http://www.landpride.com/ari/attach/lp/public/manuals/312-849p.pdf

And here's the actual pic I pulled from the manual. The picture shows the tail wheel fork canted back from the factory

Yes, some forks are canted to make them track better. However, note where the top shaft connects to the fork in the manual's posted image. It is perpendicular to the top of the fork.

The OP should heat the shaft just above where it attaches to the fork (as others have suggested). Then bend the shaft until the top of the fork is at 90 degrees in all directions to the shaft.

A simple square can be used to line up everything.

Remember, it is a "no name" rotary cutter. It appears that the rear tire mount was not engineered to track as well as a Landpride, Bush Hog, or other established brand.

 

[Zebrafive]

Agree with most posters:
1 wrong wheel, yoke assembly
2 bent (small shaft)
3 you do NOT want the fork staight up and down vertical, it needs some caster to it or wheel will not follow correctly
4 eliminate the small shaft.
5 easiest fix would be to move complete bracket assembly rearward, if you don't reinforce the small shaft it will only bend again.

To all who said these things first, I am agreeing with you :thumbsup: just putting everything together in one post.

 

[LD1]

x9 or x10 on being bent. Not the forks persay, but the shaft. Looks like someone backed into something hard with the wheel

 

[RoyJackson]

x9 or x10 on being bent. Not the forks persay, but the shaft. Looks like someone backed into something hard with the wheel

You would think that would result in ether the weld pulling or binding of the tail wheel...

 

[moored4]

Agree with most posters:
1 wrong wheel, yoke assembly
2 bent (small shaft)
3 you do NOT want the fork staight up and down vertical, it needs some caster to it or wheel will not follow correctly
4 eliminate the small shaft.
5 easiest fix would be to move complete bracket assembly rearward, if you don't reinforce the small shaft it will only bend again.

To all who said these things first, I am agreeing with you :thumbsup: just putting everything together in one post.

Yes! Me also!