Mowing Damaged rotary.

   / Damaged rotary. #1  

jonc123

New member
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
8
Tractor
MX5400
Good morning,

I received my new tractor (MX5400) over the weekend and upon starting the rotary for the first time(RC1860), the tractor shook violently. I shut down the PTO, and assuming it was first time operator error and/or long grass, went through the manual and did everything again. The second time, it shook a little bit for a second but then spun up with only a slight vibration. I thought this was probably ok and took it up to 540 and proceeded to cut the field. During operation, there was always a vibration that I could feel in the wheel and dash, but I am assuming it's normal, not having ever used a rotary before. Over the course of the weekend, I kept trying trying the rotary, and every time I engage the PTO, there is a shudder, but it spins quietly after that, but with a vibration in the wheel and dash. It's not a big vibration, but it's there, and there's some noise in from the plastic and the wheel vibrates. I read a few threads over the weekend on here that seem to indicate this may not be normal, so I lifted the mower, and took a look underneath and saw the stump jumper is bent down and out. My first thought when I saw it was it looked like it was caused from a fork based on angle, width and rub marks. The blades will not spin around all the way around, but they come out. I racked my brain to figure out if I grounded or hit anything in the field that would do that kind of damage, but I was cutting at 6-7 inches, and there's no dings on the blades. The field, which is new to us, has been mowed continuously for years by the previous owner and a tenant farmer, and it's rock free and relatively flat. The last cut was in early July for hay. I attached an image of the damage to see what others think. I know I should have checked on delivery, but there were so many other things going on, I didn't think to check underneath.

Thanks
Jon
 

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   / Damaged rotary. #2  
Sounds plausible to me, not hard to break things with a heavy forklidt. Hard to tell from the photo. It could be an inspection notch or damage. Probably easier to identify as damage in person.

Most rotary cutters often shudder pretty bad on startup. The blades fold in or get off center as things shut down. It takes a second for centrifical force to pull them back out so they are balanced. But if it doesnt smooth out after 5-10 seconds, something is bent or out of ballance.
 
   / Damaged rotary. #3  
that bend/bump doesn’t look very consequencial. I have a 7 ft MF rotary cutter; is about 15 years old and has taken a beating. Was backing into the corner of a neighbor’s fenced field for the first time and ran over a partially submerged boulder. Stalled it out and actually put a gash in the mower deck from bladed being pushed up by the boulder. Started it back up, lifted it off the boulder, and kept mowing.

my point is that these mowers can take a pretty good beating with no real effect. At some point you could put dents like that in your mower, and it shouldn’t be an issue.

Yes - they do shake violently when you first engage it.

Presumably you had the mower rolling on the ground versus mowing with it lifted up.
 
   / Damaged rotary. #4  
Did you check the ujoints at the pto and the mower? Drive shaft bent?
Just a couple of thoughts.
 
   / Damaged rotary. #5  
If that is bent far enough down that it doesn't allow the blades to swing then it's pretty significant. I would contact the dealer before using it again. Maybe they'll take responsibility and replace it or press it back close to it's original shape.
 
   / Damaged rotary. #6  
Good morning,

I received my new tractor (MX5400) over the weekend and upon starting the rotary for the first time(RC1860), the tractor shook violently. I shut down the PTO, and assuming it was first time operator error and/or long grass, went through the manual and did everything again. The second time, it shook a little bit for a second but then spun up with only a slight vibration. I thought this was probably ok and took it up to 540 and proceeded to cut the field. During operation, there was always a vibration that I could feel in the wheel and dash, but I am assuming it's normal, not having ever used a rotary before. Over the course of the weekend, I kept trying trying the rotary, and every time I engage the PTO, there is a shudder, but it spins quietly after that, but with a vibration in the wheel and dash. It's not a big vibration, but it's there, and there's some noise in from the plastic and the wheel vibrates. I read a few threads over the weekend on here that seem to indicate this may not be normal, so I lifted the mower, and took a look underneath and saw the stump jumper is bent down and out. My first thought when I saw it was it looked like it was caused from a fork based on angle, width and rub marks. The blades will not spin around all the way around, but they come out. I racked my brain to figure out if I grounded or hit anything in the field that would do that kind of damage, but I was cutting at 6-7 inches, and there's no dings on the blades. The field, which is new to us, has been mowed continuously for years by the previous owner and a tenant farmer, and it's rock free and relatively flat. The last cut was in early July for hay. I attached an image of the damage to see what others think. I know I should have checked on delivery, but there were so many other things going on, I didn't think to check underneath.

Thanks
Jon

Stump jumper should not/cannot be bent.

It is not uncommon for such damage to happen by careless and/or inexperienced dealer personnel upon loading with a forklift.

Hopefully your dealer will own up to the damage (but I would not count on it).

SDT
 
   / Damaged rotary. #7  
When I bought my rotary cutter with my tractor, upon delivery I noticed the stump jumper was bent much like yours more or less.

The dealer sent someone to my place to replace the stump jumper. He told me the salesman there was using a forklift to help out loading, and that was how the stumpjumper got bent...
 
   / Damaged rotary. #8  
If that is bent far enough down that it doesn't allow the blades to swing then it's pretty significant. I would contact the dealer before using it again. Maybe they'll take responsibility and replace it or press it back close to it's original shape.

+1 ^^^
 
   / Damaged rotary.
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Thanks for the feedback. I emailed the sales person Sunday and am still waiting for him to get back to me.

Jon
 
 
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