How much damage am I likely to have done to my new tractor?

[bigtiller]

It's like that first door ding on your 6 day old, brand new car. It hurts like the dickens but it's not enough to stop it from working.

 

[4570Man]

Ok thanks folks. I'll pull the mower deck off and have a good look as suggested. I'll definitely be walking my fields before mowing in future. It's actually only been 2 weeks since I last mowed, but its been so hot and humid here the grass is already 18 inches high!

Aside from the strain on the mower, can someone please explain to me what having a tractor stop-dead like this can do to the tractor/engine? What tractor parts are being stressed exactly? What kind of repairs might I be up for if they keep doing this? (hypothetically...I WON'T keep doing this!!)

Also, why doesn't this brand new Kubota mid-mounted mower attachment have a slip-clutch or shear pin??

They don’t need a shear pin. It would just be a nuisance to fix a non existent problem.

 

[4570Man]

You could have bent the blades but you could also bend a spindle and have the blade hitting something underneath or cut at an angle.

It’s possible but not likely. Commercial mowers don’t bend spindles every time they hit something hard.

 

[ericm979]

Shouldn't the belt drive slip or at least cushion the impact to the engine/transmission?

Are you using the MMM for rough mowing? Sounds rough to me if you're hitting objects big enough to stall the tractor. It might be better to use a rough cut mower like a flail or rotary cutter on the 3pt. Those are designed with swinging blades in case of contact with large objects, and they have shear pins or slip clutches as well.

 

[4570Man]

Shouldn't the belt drive slip or at least cushion the impact to the engine/transmission?

Are you using the MMM for rough mowing? Sounds rough to me if you're hitting objects big enough to stall the tractor. It might be better to use a rough cut mower like a flail or rotary cutter on the 3pt. Those are designed with swinging blades in case of contact with large objects, and they have shear pins or slip clutches as well.

It’ll cushion the blow but it has enough grip to stall the engine. Also the center blade on a Kubota is direct drive, no belt.

 

[MoArk Willy]

I'm curious as to what you are mowing with a belly mower that got you into this situation.
The belly mower is a finish mower by design, not a bush hog.
You may consider getting a bush hog for your initial cuts in an unknown area.
It might just save you some $$$$ in the future.
By your own admission you have been fortunate 3 times.
Your luck won't last forever.
Have you got a FEL on that machine?
You can take a ride around the area with the FEL a few inches above the ground to check out the area first.

 

[CausticUrbanCoast]

I'm curious as to what you are mowing with a belly mower that got you into this situation.
The belly mower is a finish mower by design, not a bush hog.
You may consider getting a bush hog for your initial cuts in an unknown area.
It might just save you some $$$$ in the future.
By your own admission you have been fortunate 3 times.
Your luck won't last forever.
Have you got a FEL on that machine?
You can take a ride around the area with the FEL a few inches above the ground to check out the area first.

If you read above, OP said a small tree stump he though he could clear and a random branch he did not see.

 

[xrjohndeere]

Determined to make it last a lifetime, I've been religiously cleaning, greasing, servicing and maintaining my new Kubota B2301 since I bought it earlier this year.

I've been warned that you never want to "stop-dead" the PTO during operation, hence why rotary-tillers and such have shear pins/slip-clutches.

Yet somehow I've managed to "stop-dead" my new tractor 3 times by hitting immoveable objects with my mid mount mower. It appears the MMM does not have a shear pin or anything. One time was on a low tree stump which I stupidly thought was low enough for the mower to go over (no it was NOT). The other two times were on large branches which had come down in the long grass, which I failed to see. In each case BANG the blades stopped-dead and instantaneously stalled the tractor

The tractor still appears to be working, however I can't stop cringing as I wonder how much damage I might have already inflicted on my new baby.

Can anyone tell this lay-man just what kind of damage / premature wear I may have caused?

Little to none. Check blades and spindle. If bent blade replace. Spindle turns free and doesn’t cause a vibration you are good to go. The mid mount mowers do not use a pin or slip clutch because the big belt that drives the pulleys will act as one. The belt will absorb the shock and the engine just stalls. If you had more hp the engine would not stall and the drive pulley would just slip on the belt until you shut it off or the belt burned and broke. I have been mowing commercial for years with zero turns and small tractors like yours. I have hit lots of stuff and stopped dead more than I can count. The only causality was blades. Rear implements is a different story. Make sure you have slip clutch set properly or the right shear pin. I shelled out the pto gears on a 1023r John Deere sub compact running a tiller. $1800 snafu.

 

[s219]

I've never killed the engine on my tractors suddenly with an impact like that, but I have stalled them out a few times with my wood chipper, when the wood feeds too fast and bogs down the motor. It's more of a gentle stall I'd say. Only happens with cutoffs from my sawmill -- I think they are a little too much for the HP available.

 

[bigtiller]

I hit the "man-hole" cover in the front yard for my rural water water shut-off. Killed it instantly.