Mower operation

[swreeder]

Greetings everyone

Long time tractor owner with a question that has bugged me for a long time on and I‘ve never found a good answer or a resolution.

I have two mowers for my tractor. I have a 6’ rotary cutter and a 6’ articulating flail mower with hammers.

When I setup either one of these mowers, I do so on a level concrete pad, set the height, put a stop on the 3 point lever control and set up the top pin on the hitch. What I find very frustrating mowing with either one of these setups in this rugged hilly country is that I am constantly working the 3pt height to keep the implement from digging in or riding too high and keeping a fairly consistent cut height. Always feels like I need a third hand to operate this and it forces me to mow at a snails pace. On flat ground, its not a problem, but I have hardly anything flat.

What am I missing or is just the nature of mowing with a 3pt hitch attachment?

 

[DK35vince]

A picture would help.
Do you mowers have a pivot link where the top link mounts ??

 

[scootr]

When the 3 pt is dropped it can float up if the terrain requires it do so.
It sounds like you need a chain toplink to allow the mower to follow the terrain?

 

[swreeder]

When the 3 pt is dropped it can float up if the terrain requires it do so.
It sounds like you need a chain toplink to allow the mower to follow the terrain?

true, but it to me It only “floats” up when the the front of the implement starts to hit dirt, by then its too late in my experience.

 

[oldnslo]

What am I missing or is just the nature of mowing with a 3pt hitch attachment?

I believe that how 3 point system works. They do not have height control for attachments being carried.

 

[swreeder]

Pictures of the top link attachments, and just as a test I tried both without the top link attached to see what happens and the only difference I noticed is I could not pick up the implement.

 

[ericm979]

The green rotary cutter has a toggle in the bars from the top of the hitch to the back of the mower. That is supposed to pivot to allow the mower to pivot on the lower pins and tilt up in the back. This is good when you back into a hill or drive forwards into a dip. Sometimes the bolts are too tight and that will prevent the link from moving and letting the mower deck pivot. The toggle, if it is working, has the same effect as a chain top link.

My rotary has the same type of pivot and I wind up running it so the 3pt lower arms keep the front of the mower up and the rear wheel follows the countour of the ground. The back of the mower should be closer to the ground than the front when on a level surface. If the front of the mower is digging into the ground you're running the 3pt too low.

I don't have a flail but my understanding is that the rear roller should let the mower follow the contour of the ground and keep the blades out of the dirt.

 

[LouNY]

All the flail mowers I'm familiar with have shoes on the sides, mine are set so the shoes make contact with the ground and the rear roller is in contact and then the lift arms will float with the mower.

 

[swreeder]

The green rotary cutter has a toggle in the bars from the top of the hitch to the back of the mower. That is supposed to pivot to allow the mower to pivot on the lower pins and tilt up in the back. This is good when you back into a hill or drive forwards into a dip. Sometimes the bolts are too tight and that will prevent the link from moving and letting the mower deck pivot. The toggle, if it is working, has the same effect as a chain top link.

My rotary has the same type of pivot and I wind up running it so the 3pt lower arms keep the front of the mower up and the rear wheel follows the countour of the ground. The back of the mower should be closer to the ground than the front when on a level surface. If the front of the mower is digging into the ground you're running the 3pt too low.

I don't have a flail but my understanding is that the rear roller should let the mower follow the contour of the ground and keep the blades out of the dirt.

This is the opposite of what the manual states for the rotary cutter and I’ve been setting the front height to 4.5” which I don’t think is too low. The toggle assembly is loose, so it should work. I’ll have to experiment this week and see if I can get anything to change.

I’ll also try to get some pics of it in action.

 

[TerryR]

I also have a hilly property and found with my rotary I was constantly adjusting the height of the 3-point to keep the front of the mower from digging in when the rear tractor tires went into a dip. I think that's just the nature of the beast.

I then got a ditch and bank flail, and mostly run it fully offset so it's not cutting what the tractor tires just ran over. It seems to follow the rises and dips quite well in that position at least. I never have to adjust the 3-point with it.