Hybrid Rotary Cutter Proof of Concept

[350c]

Maybe depends on the property being mowed. When I mow my pasture, I set the height once and don't touch the rockshaft lever again until I'm done mowing.

I'm jealous of your terrain! Rotary mowers, which most refer to as bush or brush hogs, are primarily used for clipping/clearing ground that is very undulating, with saplings, rocks, etc. For fields that are smooth and clean enough to set once and go, we usually cut for hay or use a finish mower to clip it, using the rough areas for pasture--those areas where if the cattle didn't travel both ways on the hillsides, they would have shorter legs on one side. LOL Another advantage to the trail type mower is weight doesn't quickly shift to the rear of the tractor, which is pretty important on our hillsides.

 

[scootr]

Very interesting thread. A lot of R&D went into this project and it's nice to read a complete explanation of what is happening when the wheel row fails to stand up and get cut. I have 50 hp so I primarily use an offset flail. Higher blade speed and slower ground speed allows time for more lifting of the single tire track. For rough stuff I found an old 5' BH and fitted it with chains. For very tall stuff I use a 5' BH on the front of the SS.
Keep up the good work

 

[dieselscout80]

Sorry hadn’t had time to hook it back up and measure it.

It is a 114” wide mower 57” to center. On my TC45DA the left tire measured from the center of the drawbar is 18” to inside and 34” roughly to the outside edge.

The streak seems be from almost the outside edge of the left tire to say 30” to most of the way to the outside edge of the cut, but not the whole way.

Next week I will hook it up again and see the actual measurement of the streak.

I haven’t hooked it up yet, but had time to measure it and the mower.

From center of PTO it is 18” to the inside tread lug/bar of the left rear tire.

Attached are some pictures of the mower with black tick marks from center of gearbox to 18”, 34” and the center of the outside spindle on that side.

 

[dadohead]

From center of PTO it is 18” to the inside tread lug/bar of the left rear tire.

I'm sorry, I don't know what "it" is. I also dont see the "black tick marks" and what they represent.

Here's all we'll need:

• A pic (or your visual description) of the tractor/mower (shot from the rear) with a stripe coming out.
• How stripe aligns with LH tractor tire (full width? Starts at tire center and goes out beyond tire to edge of mower? etc)
• How it aligns with LH mower spindle (10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 10-11:00 position maybe???) Best guess or pic (stop tractor, snap pic with stripe from rear)
• Confirm spin direction of LH spindle (CW, CCW?)

We'll get to the bottom of this!

 

[dieselscout80]

I haven’t hooked it up yet, but had time to measure it and the mower.

From center of PTO it is 18” to the inside tread lug/bar of the left rear tire.

Attached are some pictures of the mower with black tick marks from center of gearbox to 18”, 34” and the center of the outside spindle on that side.

Sorry it was not clear.

From center of the PTO stub shaft on my tractor it measured 18” to inside of the left tire lug and then from the PTO center it’s 34” to the outside of the tire lug (lugs are the parts of a R1 tire that grip and press the grass down).

Also it is 37” from the center line of the PTO shaft out to the far left spindle (about inline with the Woods decal).

If you expand the last picture I wrote those measurements in black marker on the belt cover/guard.

 

[dieselscout80]

Here are some more pictures and the last one has measurements written on it with black marker.

- the tire path from center of mower/ PTO shaft 18” out to 34”

- streak is in the tire track and out to the center of that spindle

In the last picture the blade rotation at the front of the mower is going to the right side of the picture (outside edge of the mower deck).

Hopefully I am making sense.

 

[dieselscout80]

I just realized shifting to the left will be easier than I thought. I forgot that my center drawbar can be moved left or right until I scrolling through some TC45 photos I had saved see attachment. I will try that next mowing.

Hopefully the u-joints won’t scream too much.