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.

 

[fourbrads]

I call mine a "floppy link" it came on my Bush Hog rotary cutter ...

View attachment 4110665


View attachment 4110666

It gives it quite a bit of "float" with that slot ... And can handle quite a bit of kinking it up, before it will raise the lower 3 pt arms ...

Fascinating. Never saw one like that before!

 

[fourbrads]

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

View attachment 4111443

I didn't notice anything before. I will go out and check that it was just a trick of lighting. Thanks!

 

[fourbrads]

Well, the verdict is in...

After ordering a new tailwheel yoke, because, this:

New vs old:

It cut just fine. No noticeable left/right height difference in the cut.


Finally, here's the Messick's floating top link installed to give me the float I needed for my hilly pasture:

Thanks to all for the recommendations!


Jim

 

[chim]

I'm not familiar with that floating toplink, but it looks like it would work better with the QH hook removed. As it is now, the rear of the deck can't go any higher. the pin is already bottomed out in the hook. The rear could drop very slightly (only enough to get the link pieces straight).

 

[fourbrads]

I'm not familiar with that floating toplink, but it looks like it would work better with the QH hook removed. As it is now, the rear of the deck can't go any higher. the pin is already bottomed out in the hook. The rear could drop very slightly (only enough to get the link pieces straight).

Good call. Although I went through the setup procedure, I didn't get it completely dialed in. Here's the setup instruction set (kinda weak):

And here are my results...Just as shown and much more flex at the top link:

And this is the off-ground condition:

 

[chim]

Your second picture with the hook lowered looks better.