Bought a John Deere 613 Rotary Cutter

[MBDiagMan]

I ran my old Rotary Cutter, an off brand that I don't remember and it's name is long since worn off, for 24 years. It is now more weld than original metal and currently needs more repair.

I found and bought a John Deere 613 for very reasonable money. It has been used very little and the only thing wrong with it is that it was backed into something bending the right rear apron inward. It appears very light duty, but I won't be using it near as much or working it as hard as the old one.

My plan is to hopefully pound out that apron. I hope I don't have to cut it and fabricate something new. It's pretty thin so I'm hoping that I can simply flip it over with my front end loader where I can get at it with a big sledge.

If I get it straightened, I am planning on stiffening the whole rear edge with 2 inch angle. Do you think this will be enough meat, or should I use something bigger.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[sweettractors]

A picture would be good. Ken Sweet

 

[MBDiagMan]

I will pick it up Saturday. I'll get some pictures then.

Thanks Sweet!

 

[Johndeere3720]

I have a 413 brush hog thats in need of fixing up. Im interested to hear your experience with your 613 and congrats on the purchase. Sometimes, it is good to retire old machinery. Pictures welcome. :thumbsup:

 

[Verticaltrx]

We used to have a 513 and I believe they are actually considered medium duty by Deere. It also had the rear lip bent inward a bit and it is tougher than you might think to straighten it. A little heat will certainly help, I doubt you'll just knock it back into place with a sledge (the curvature there makes it pretty springy).

The thing that I liked least about it was how closed in the deck was. There really isn't any opening for the material to come out so it has to be shredded over and over and come out the bottom. Good because it makes less residue, bad because it took more power to run than any other 5' cutter I've used. With that said it got many years of use and aside from bending a few things never had a failure. Just traded it off on a MX6 to go with a new 5045E.

 

[MBDiagMan]

That's what I was afraid of with hammering the apron. My Dad passed away in February and had a Porta Power. I haven't been able to find it anywhere in his stuff. I might end up tieing a chain to it and tugging on it with a tractor.

I will be running this one with my new 5045D.

As I understand it rotary cutters, or shredders as we call them around here, are intentionally closed in for the purpose of thoroughly cutting the material to drop in back on the field. Kind of like a mulching lawn mower. You're right, they do take lots of power.

Thanks for the responses. I hope to post pictures soon.

 

[Johndeere3720]

We used to have a 513 and I believe they are actually considered medium duty by Deere. It also had the rear lip bent inward a bit and it is tougher than you might think to straighten it. A little heat will certainly help, I doubt you'll just knock it back into place with a sledge (the curvature there makes it pretty springy).

The thing that I liked least about it was how closed in the deck was. There really isn't any opening for the material to come out so it has to be shredded over and over and come out the bottom. Good because it makes less residue, bad because it took more power to run than any other 5' cutter I've used. With that said it got many years of use and aside from bending a few things never had a failure. Just traded it off on a MX6 to go with a new 5045E.

Thats not to promising, i got a pretty good bend in the rear lip, i think it was run into a stump. Any advice on straitening it out effectively? I need to get it fixed up. The pictures show it best.

 

[sweettractors]

Thats not to promising, i got a pretty good bend in the rear lip, i think it was run into a stump. Any advice on straitening it out effectively? I need to get it fixed up. The pictures show it best.

What would happen, if you lowered the cutter over a short stump and used the tractor power to bump it out as you go forward? If this was tried, I would suggest being VERY careful in low gear. Ken Sweet

 

[MBDiagMan]

Haven't gotten pictures yet, but on the right side, mine looks very much like JD3720's. As it turns out, mine has at least that much damage on the left and in the middle.

The good news is that everything else on the machine is in good shape and has never been welded on. My old one was approaching a point where it was more weld than original material.

I plan on getting some light plate and simply cutting out the back and rebuilding it from scratch. Once the plate is all in place, I plan on using 2 X 2 X 1/8 angle around the bottom to stiffen it unless someone tells me I need something stronger than 2 inch angle.

I like Sweets suggestion for fixing the one in the picture. If you can find a stump somewhere it might get the job done, but do it in small gentle tugs at first to see what happens.

 

[JCB]

MB,

I've got a 413, and your 613 is probably tougher than you think. I don't know how you really plan to use your 613, but I use mine fairly tough at time and can't think of any situation I've been in where I'd need 2" angle on the back.

If I was cutting and patching mine, I'd maybe add a piece of flat bar for a stiffner....maybe, but really don't think I'd need to consider angle iron.

Good luck,

Joe