Rotary Cutter Brand New Land Pride RCR1242 shaking too much??

[737]

Those of you running these little Land Pride Rotary cutters how much vibration is normal?
this is my first tractor, and my first rotary cutter. I purchased a RCR1242 from my dealer new, I lower the RPMs to idle, engage rear PTO and it comes on with a dramatic bang. At this point it's shaking a bit. When I run it at 3000 RPM (for PTO 540) the whole unit is shaking more than i think may be normal. But having no experience or nothing to compare it to, im not sure... The steering wheel, console on the tractor is shaking, my hand and wrist are shaking as this thing is running, is this normal? Ive used walk behind brush hogs before and they are pretty smooth! While shooting this video, it is shaking more than it appears even in the video

The blades swing freely, the stump jumper is secure.

RCR1242 vibrations - YouTube

 

[Vaquero]

That's not normal.
Are the blades the same size? Something is out of balance.

 

[737]

Ok im glad i checked. the dealer assembled it for me, and i just picked it up, brought it home and hooked it up. Was pretty surprised, not what i expected. The blades are the same size, they swing freely, the disc in the middle is tight with no movement. I can turn the shaft or the blades by hand and they move smoothly. I have it disconnected from machine right now. Not sure what to do.

I thought maybe i put the shaft halves together wrong but it appears they can only go together one way.

 

[BRMyers]

Wow that is a rough start. mine shakes a little when starting(RCR1272), but nothing like that.

 

[darmstrong2319]

I couldn’t tell but is the gear box loose. I’m not sure what is wrong but its not good.

 

[737]

Thanks guys. The gear box seems tight but I will check. I’m going to remove the shaft covers and have a better look. My gut is telling me it must be something at the rear CV? The blades spin very smoothly when the are moved by hand, doesn’t feel like anything is binding when I rotate the disc from below. The video does not fully portray the amount this thing is shaking.

 

[David Wayne]

If thats a new machine I would have the dealer come out and show him. Dont do something that might void your warranty.

 

[737]

Took the shaft shields off to see what's going on. When I change the height of the cutter it vibrates less, particularly when raising it up high. Once I lower it to my desired cutting height, it shakes like crazy. Here is a photo of the distance between the back of the rear CV and the outer shaft. Does this look correct? The dealer cut the shaft length for me without my machine. Maybe he cut this shaft measuring from a tractor other than a BX?

The dealer where I bought the cutter is about 2 hours away, so I may have to haul this thing back to him.

This is the overlap with the blades cutting 4" high.

 

[747driver]

I suspect this is your problem ^^^^. Do you have the manual for the rotary cutter ? If so it should say in it what you need to do to properly fit the pto shaft connection. Its all about taking the proper measurements when hooked up to 'your' tractor. The manual will give you those measurements.

 

[737]

Another thing, the blade tips can be pushed up about a half inch from their resting position by hand. maybe i should remove the blades off the cutter and run it to see if it vibrates?

There is at least 18' inches of shaft overlap.