Bent Rotary Cutter Deck - Can it be Fixed?

[chim]

Is there some unpleasantness going on with the two circled welds, or is it just dirt?

 

[repete]

That thing needs grease for the rear wheel. If it were mine it would be a black mess.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

The nature of the beast is that rotary cutters get banged, bent and abused. I've straightened, unbent, re-bent, cut, welded...you name it on mine. It still does the job.

 

[fishdoggy]

I no longer hook up the top link on my mower, I am doing grass trails or hay field, don't need to back over anything and hold the wheel off the ground.

 

[homedad]

They're not surgical. If it spins without hitting or vibrating too much it'll probably cut.

 

[AntiqueIron]

Greetings. I was not careful enough when I bought this used Land Pride RCR1248 (heck of a deal!) and did not notice that the deck is bent in a slight U shape on the left side. See the pics with the 6' level. I'm not sure how (or if) it will cut in this condition, but if it does fine I won't worry about it much.

Is there a simple way to bend it back into shape?

Also, it came with a horseshoe shaped top link that I 'think' will work with my quick hitch. Should I be trying to source a floating top link for it, or will it work fine as-is?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Jim

Probably a hot take from me…

But… seeing as there’s no “ring” of dents where rocks get flung up and beat the top up, the paints not all chipped and flaking like you’d see from impacts…

I’d betcha that hawg came that way from the factory.

Send it, and fugettaboutit!

 

[RayIN]

The nature of the beast is that rotary cutters get banged, bent and abused. I've straightened, unbent, re-bent, cut, welded...you name it on mine. It still does the job.

Yep,I have a 5"X2" exit hole in the side of my rotary cutter where a blade broke at the bolt. Took a lot of speed and force to make that hole through 1/8" sheet steel. I tried to pound the jagged edges back into the hole but I wore out first.
When it broke the whole tractor and cutter shook violently before I could push the clutch in all the way. During replacing the blades I checked every bolt tightness. All 4 bolts holding the gearbox to the deck were very loose.