Help with Caroni TL1500 Flail Mower

[brock1313]

Hello,

First time posting anything in a forum so bear with me. I just purchased a Caroni TL1500 used. It's in great shape, however I'd like to get started off on the right foot with it. I'd like to check the tightness of all the bolts and can't seem to find the torque settings anywhere. I've looked through the owners manual and also the internet to no avail. Is there a general rule of thumb when it comes to torque settings or is it brand specific? Also, how much grease and what type is optimal?


Thanks,


CB

 

[BukitCase]

Brock, first of all WELCOME to TBN; you would probably get more action in the generic "attachments" forum on this - meantime, here's a generic torque chart
https://www.fastenal.com/content/me...nt-library/Torque-Tension Reference Guide.pdf

Note that there are several different grades of metric hardware, it's usually marked on the head. metric versions of grade 2, 5, 8; also note that, unless specified OTHERWISE, bolt torque values are usually spec'd DRY - if there's any lube on a fastener and you torque it to those specs, you'll usually hear a "snap" sound; that's your fastener becoming TWO PIECES. BTDT...

I have the TM1900 Caroni - works well behind either of my 40-45 horse tractors. The TM series has 3 drive belts, where the TL series is lighter duty and has 2 belts.

Lube - they only spec a 80-90 weight for gearbox, and EP-2 grease for grease points. Check out the only manual I know of, here
https://www.agrisupply.com/images/art/ownersmanual.pdf

on pages 13, 17-18. Pretty vague on most things.

If you haven't already, adding a hydraulic top link to your tractor will make you wonder why they even SELL 'em without - example - for your flail, they tell you to set the skids for cutting height; but I find it works a LOT better to set the skids all the way UP, then adjust toplink length so that, on level ground your flail knives hang down 2-3" above the ground. (This is with the rear roller sitting ON the ground) If you have the hydraulic toplink, you can eyeball how much the shaft sticks out from the hyd cylinder, and know that a SHORTER stickout is getting you closer to "rototiller" mode.

If you see little brown grooves where you mowed, you're trying to rototill (and will need to order new belts IMMEDIATELY :=) and lengthen your toplink.

Grease - any zerks you find under the belt cover, go lightly - 1 or 2 pumps of a manual grease gun is plenty; more, and that funny colored stuff all over your belts and cover is grease mixed with chaff from whatever you're mowing. Do NOT neglect the other zerks tho, it's fairly common to replace bearings in the rear roller if you don't keep 'em greased. Probably even moreso for the tranny and drive bearings.

The gearbox has a dipstick attached to the filler cap, should be checked about 20-30 hour intervals til you get a good feel for usage. Standard 80-90 gearlube is fine.

'bout all I got, enjoy... Steve

Oh, I don't know what your experience level is, but when you're using a PTO driven implement like a mower, tiller, etc, you need to set your throttle so the PTO is running at 540 rpm - if that makes your TRAVEL speed too fast or slow, change HST range, NOT the throttle...

 

[Nikkorott]

I have a Caroni TL mower as well. BukitCase has given you some good info. The only thing that I would add is that the bolts holding the blades on use elastic stop nuts. I don't torque those. Just tighten them to where you have a thread exposed. It makes a miserable job, a little bit less so.

 

[BukitCase]

Nikkorott, good point on the knife bolts - I don't think I'd like to see what happened to the clevises (or how the mower worked) if someone torqued THOSE bolts = BTW, if replacing parts on the rotor I would recommend replacing those Nyloc nuts (trade name) - Agrifab used to carry most replacement parts, not sure what they carry now. So far, everything I've messed with on my TM1900 is metric. BTW, you can start an 8mm x 1.25 Nyloc nut on a 5/16-20 bolt, but it'll bind up in about 1-1/2 turns (that's the size on the belt cover, at least on the TM series)

I don't think I'd trust "generic" clevises on the rotor, but then I occasionaly (on purpose) set my toplink short enough to "rototill" when I'm pissed enough at stubborn blackberries, so far I've not lost any rotor parts but I'm sure it's gonna happen eventually ... Steve

 

[brock1313]

BukitCase and Nikkorott,

Thanks a ton for all the great info. Everything was tight and right. I went ahead and changed the gearbox oil just to be sure it was good to go. Used the mower this morning and I gotta say that it's a beast! What was an all day job (mowing an orchard and running trails) took about an hour and a half. I'm actually looking forward to mowing our pasture tomorrow.
I will definitely be looking into a hydraulic top link in the near future. While I enjoy exercise as much as the next guy (getting on and off the tractor), it'll be nice to fine tune whatever implement I'm using from the operators seat.


Thanks again,

CB