Rotary Cutter Questions

[Al Ryan]

Hello all.

I have a Frontier 2060 rotary cutter. I bought it recently for my John Deere 3039r tractor. What's bugging me about it is that it throws all the grass and dust debris up on the back of the tractor. The debris gets in everywhere. It's got a chain guard on the front and back. The mower discharges out the back but it also blows all this crud out the front. My tractor has a cab but if it didn't all this stuff would end up on the back of my neck.

Now Frontier sells a rubber shield that can replace the front chain guard. I bought it, installed it...and absolutely no difference.

The cutter is angled properly, just a slight tilt down in front.

It's a problem, not only because it takes me hours to clean all the debris from all the nooks and crannies around the lift arms and back axel; but I'm replacing cab fresh-air filters after almost every mow job.

My old tractor was open operator and my old rotary cutter, a Kodiak, didn't throw all this crud up on my back.

And suggestions? Thanks.

 

[jaxs]

Sound's like this has been a problem Frontier has been seeing all along,else why do they sell rubber shields when chains have proven effective for decades. Before throwing in the towel,make sure (A) blades are not up-side down and (B) blades are rotating in right direction.

 

[1010]

Tip speed is so fast now days it just can't be avoided for the most part. JD's blow it all over the tractor and implement.

I keep a leaf blower handy just for this reason.

 

[sunnyside360]

I had a Frontier 2072 cutter used with a John Deere 4320 open station tractor. It had chains on front and rear like yours and never had issue like you described. Had it set to cut about 4.5 inches on front and 7-7.5 inches on rear. I was happy with the performance but sold it to buy a larger mower.

 

[Al Ryan]

Sound's like this has been a problem Frontier has been seeing all along,else why do they sell rubber shields when chains have proven effective for decades. Before throwing in the towel,make sure (A) blades are not up-side down and (B) blades are rotating in right direction.

Thanks for getting back to me. Good point about the rubber shields. Blades are fine, going right.


Thanks all, for the replies. I guess I'm just going to have to deal with it.

I have an old Frontier 72" grooming mower that works great, runs smooth, discharges everything to the rear. I guess I'll just be using that more often.

 

[Zebrafive]

Sound's like this has been a problem Frontier has been seeing all along,else why do they sell rubber shields when chains have proven effective for decades. Before throwing in the towel,make sure (A) blades are not up-side down and (B) blades are rotating in right direction.

The rubber shield is a cheaper option than chains, and some go that route to save $$$. I would want chains.

 

[ruffdog]

"The cutter is angled properly, just a slight tilt down in front"

How much are we talking here? Try a larger amount...like 2-3".

 

[bigtiller]

"The cutter is angled properly, just a slight tilt down in front"

How much are we talking here? Try a larger amount...like 2-3".

I park my Frontier 2060 mower with the front resting on 4x4's and the back resting on 6x6's. When I put it back on, I adjust the i-Match hitch to the mower so that when I pick it up it has a 2" slope to the front. I have the tail wheel set on the lowest hole so the rear rides as high as possible.

I have the same complaint as the OP when mowing the waterway in years with corn. Bean years isn't nearly as bad but beans don't have near the amount of stover that corn has.

 

[joecdeere]

my bush hog has chains, but I also put a rubber strip across the front in front of the chains to lower the dust, really helps when it's dry!

 

[Al Ryan]

The rubber shield is a cheaper option than chains, and some go that route to save $$$. I would want chains.

Well...on this deal here the rubber shield didn't work any better than the chains. Doesn't matter if the grass is dry or wet, it still blows up on the back of the tractor. I took off the chain guard on the back of the cutter to help with rear discharge, but it still didn't stop the crud coming out the front.

"The cutter is angled properly, just a slight tilt down in front"

How much are we talking here? Try a larger amount...like 2-3".

It's between 3 & 4" higher in back now. That's how I had my old one and it was fine.


I'm going to meet with the service manager at my Deere dealer next week and have him file a report with the factory and maybe we'll figure out what's going on.

 

[bigtiller]

I'm going to meet with the service manager at my Deere dealer next week and have him file a report with the factory and maybe we'll figure out what's going on.

I'd be interested to hear what he has to say, keep us updated.

 

[topstoy]

I have the same cutter with rubber flaps and I get some debris on my 3 pt but never any as high as my seat. But I do have a smaller tractor, 2520, so maybe that is the difference. Do you have the imatch? Maybe the extra couple inches away from the tractor is the difference.

 

[Cperk]

Well...on this deal here the rubber shield didn't work any better than the chains. Doesn't matter if the grass is dry or wet, it still blows up on the back of the tractor. I took off the chain guard on the back of the cutter to help with rear discharge, but it still didn't stop the crud coming out the front.





It's between 3 & 4" higher in back now. That's how I had my old one and it was fine.


I'm going to meet with the service manager at my Deere dealer next week and have him file a report with the factory and maybe we'll figure out what's going on.

I had the 6’ frontier. Same stuff getting thrown up front as you. Only I have an open station. Grass all over me! Lol! When the deck broke (2008) model, I bought an mx6 (2018)
model. I have no more debris up front. It all comes out the back. I think it’s a design flaw in the frontier line.

 

[Spindifferent]

What's bugging me about it is that it throws all the grass and dust debris up on the back of the tractor. The debris gets in everywhere.

I find that more debris is flown forward toward the tractor as the height of the cutting blades is increased. Have you tried different cutting heights to see if there is any difference? Also, the type of grass and the dryness of said grass will affect the distribution out of the cutter. Light, dry, fluffy, tall dead grass may fly more than dense and green wetter grass.