Had a scare

[getut]

I was bush hogging this past weekend with my recently repaired cutter and started feeling a vibration, it felt nothing like the heavy wobble before the repair I posted about before. I stopped and started the cutter a few times to verify that it was coming from the cutter and finally picked it up and headed back to the pole shed to give it a good look. I didn't notice it at first because the resistance from the very high grass was enough to keep it pulled back into position, but as soon as I got back on to the main lawn, the whole cutter swung over and was about an inch from rubbing the left tire.

Finally got to where I could check it out, it was a simple fix, but vines had jerked the keeper pin out of the tractor side of the left 3 point hitch lift arm. The arm had came off the pin and the weight of the cutter had it pushed way up under the tractor.

I had a distinctly sick on my stomach feeling thinking at first I had tore up my beautiful tractor. I felt much better when I saw how simple the problem was. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JerryG]

Did the same thing with a cutter on a few years ago. First thing that I thought was Oh, heck what did I break now. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[SkyPup]

I always wire wrap my pins when working in heavy brush to avoid this occurence.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Robert. I'm happy to hear you didn't have a more serious problem. The other day, a pin got pulled out of my landscape rake at the lift arm, and I didn't notice it until I started to back up with the rake just a little too low. That allowed enough pressure to bend the top link and one of the pins on the rake.
I also lost one out of the a lift arm where it mounts to the tractor while boxblading one day. The whole arm was just hanging off the BB and I thought at first that I had broken it in two!
I like Sky Pup's idea of pinning the clips. Makes perfect sense. John

 

[getut]

I've only got like 1 of the original style keepers left.. the ones that have the spring loaded circular hoop that goes around the end of the pin.

I've been replacing everything with standard keeper ping and kotter key bent all the way around. I even went with nut and bolt (and used a center punch to make a rough spot on the threads of the bolt) on the wheel shafts of my finish mower.

 

[beenthere]

I too, had that happen - just once, and that was a convincer to me to put bolts in place of the pins, and used lock nuts to secure them.
I believe it was here on TBN where I read someone breaking the casting on the opposite side as a result of losing the keeper pin and the main pin. That would not be fun.

The brush has a way of destroying those rings that keep the pins in place. Now I have the i-Match, and have cotter keys to keep its pins in place. Not relying on the ringed safety lynch pins anymore.

 

[Morgan1952]

Well folks, this seems like a common problem. I too have had this problem, I lost two from the arms on the 3pt and one out of the ROPs. I still use the safety pins with the rings but now I have a teather line attached to the tractor and I check them freqently to make sure they are in place. The teathers are heavy plastic coated cable. I haven't lost one since.
Bob

 

[To20Chris]

I keep losing the standard cotter pins (actually, I guess they're not cotter pins, don't know what you call them), like the ones on the bottom of the swinging drawbar limiters. They just get dragged of by grass or snow or mud. I haven't lost any of the circular snap ones though.