2038R 72MMM is it supposed to be that LOUD!!!

ruffdog · Jul 28, 2018

My boomer MMM was quieter than either rotary cutters I had. Never had metal on metal or gear noise. You should pull the belt guards off and see what is going on. Maybe spare parts rubbing on a pulley? I left my guards off so I can clean the belt/pulley area of clippings (often).

sunnyside360 · Jul 29, 2018

Definitely a problem. I have a 72 inch mmm on a 3720 and you can barely hear it when running. Get the dealer involved.

searcyfarms · Jul 30, 2018

dealer sent email today the technician has noticed they are more noisy than usual regarding the last couple he assembled and tested. I have narrowed it down to gear noise as when you power up and let off the throttle it gets quiet as the gears freewheel/lash and the loud whine goes away. They are going to do some more checking and then advise our next steps.

Its definitely too loud and abnormal - sounds like the gearboxes have something going on inside with them - hopefully they will get it figured out.

searcyfarms · Jul 31, 2018

taking it back to the dealer tomorrow - mine is the 3rd one howling if its like the other two they noticed when setting up, they are opening a case with deere - the tech checked today there are no updates but if we are going to run it till it quits we need to have it documented - its definitely gearbox noise, under load whines n howls - like I said it reminds me of a hydro/combine whine taking off down the road high speed - if you throttle down it quits, when you throttle back up and it engages the gears/drive putting it under load it howls like a hound - its not normal, I don't have any gearbox on my place that howls like this thing and ive got gearboxes that are 60 yrs old and been a million times around in a circle - my guess is gear lash/shims or lack there of.

so we ponder, - maybe a bad batch of GBs - maybe some bad Gears, the guy doing the shims was off that day? or lost count ?

not sure but hopefully they will figure it out. I rebuilt a gearbox in my Chinese tiller last year, I purchased it with straight gears and they had issues so quit making them that way and the replacement gears are spiral beveled and I was able to get it shimmed up and it runs quiet - I am sure if I modified this deere one I could probably get it to sound quieter but that would void my wty.............so back n forth I am sure will be the deal here

jsb2b · Aug 1, 2018

I had a mower deck with a gearbox years ago. Did same thing at different throttle speeds. Wound up having too much gear lash. There was an adjustment plug that you could tighten to reduce the end play and reduce the gear lash. Quieted right up.

ruffdog · Aug 1, 2018

Straight cut are louder but have more tooth contact. The helical teeth are more fussy on set-up and do more tooth rubbing...quiet.

KYThunder · Aug 1, 2018

I have the 2038 with 72mmm, it is quiet, I can actually hear the blade hum over everything,something is not right with your set up for sure.

searcyfarms · Aug 2, 2018

ok so the latest.............the last 2 mmms they set up have been howlers...........gearbox noise - no tech bulletins from deere yet - one gearbox self destructed so far - not one of the two noisy ones, plus mine.......so that mean 3 noisy ones recently - the one that blew apart was number 4 and the description provided by my salesman at deere said the owner never mentioned it was noisy before it blew so not sure if it was or not. I said well maybe he was hard of hearing from all the noise lol.

anyway, they are researching and I said well you take it off - put me on a quiet one and deere can figure out where things went wrong before mine blows up!!! - I don't want gearbox parts flying around like shrapnel under my feet!!! or damaging something else on my new tractor ;-)

I wasn't being rotten about it just kind of ribbing him so will see what they decide, I understand things are mechanical and sometimes there are mistakes, Ive been around this stuff all my life - we all need a little grace I just don't want anyone getting hurt

searcyfarms · Aug 3, 2018

XSKIER said:
AutoConnect PTO shafts have some chatter at mid throttle settings. Additionally, you are hyper sensitive to your new tractor. Run the mower at full throttle, and enjoy.

Thanks for the info BUT - while I might be adjusting to the new normal of my unit, I am familiar with equipment of all kinds over my life time so I like to think I am fairly reasonable when something doesn't sound right.

The Technician calls me this morning and says Boy that thing was getting loud, I thought it was a little noisy when I tested it and set up the deck but its louder now and it even sounds like it has a growl with the whine now. I said uh huh..........I thought so too...........he said well you are number 4 that I have noticed and one blew up but it may have had a rough user that compromised it so jury is still out on that one. Regardless he said I replaced your gearbox with a new one and I put 4 people on your machine and had them give me their opinion and they think it sounds ok. Bring your trailer!!!

So I went and got it, I have to say it is WAY better. Not what I was thinking for quietness overall, nor as quiet at my 2210 deck BUT - this one is bigger and an auto-connect so there is my grace......At least I can hear the blades now and the tractor engine when I could not before.

The tech said this one may get louder, time will tell. I will watch closely as they are thinking possibly a bad batch or run could have contributed so might have to run through those before we really know.

Im satisfied, Deere stood behind it and the guys at the shop took care of me and have been great before on my 2210 as I have shared and they are just as great on this one. I have no concerns that I wont get taken care of if something does come up. Fingers crossed.......