Rotary cutter issues

[milesvdustin]

So i was cutting some light brush the other day and my cutter started vibrating something fierce after hitting a 2" small sapling stub i didnt see. Shut it down and took it to the shop. It is a king kutter 72" flex hitch deal, tractor is a kioti ck4010hst

Blades were not stuck together nor do they have any dings or chips/chunks missing from the metal. I took them off and they are not bent, they both match perfectly still. Put the blades back on and tried again, still vibrating. The pto shaft is "timed" and the shear bolt did not bend or even begin to break.

Now, i crawled under again and spun the blades around by hand. I noticed one blade hanging lower than the other one but not consistently the same blade? If i look at the left side of the deck (looking forward) the blade hangs down right even with the side skid. THe right side is an inch above the skid. Rotate the blades 180 degrees so the other blade is now at the left and it is now hanging low at the skid same spot. On the right side the blade still sticks above the skid about an inch.

I believe i bent the gearbox shaft. But if the shaft was bent wouldn't the low blade be low on both sides and the high blade be high on both sides? Maybe i knocked it askew somehow and it doesnt follow the rotation? This cutter has 10 hours or so on it, got it at the end of last year brand new. Can't get the stump jumper off even with a digging bar prying around.

Thoughts?

 

[mcfarmall]

Sounds more like you bent the deck where the gearbox mounts.

 

[Zebrafive]

I had the bottom bearing fail and immediate vibration.

 

[milesvdustin]

Just checked the top of the deck, definitely not bent

 

[sea2summit]

Just checked the top of the deck, definitely not bent

Do you have a stump jumper? May need to pull the assembly and take a closer look. Sounds like a bent deck as stated above or possibly the lower bearing got pushed out of position/broken.

 

[milesvdustin]

Yes it has the stump jumper. I am going to pick up a 20 ton jack today to get it pulled with my chains.

 

[Tinhack]

Wow! You bent/broke something cutting 2" twigs?

Could be time to upgrade.

 

[milesvdustin]

Any suggestions on a cutter that can handle a little abuse would be appreciated. I have 35 PTO HP

 

[DieselBound]

Might be that the stump jumper is a bit loose on the shaft. Haven't lived until you shoot an entire stump jumper out from under your cutter! Had this happen on a 6' RC: all that weight, though, kept it from going far; but, it shot off into the brush and hid (I think our dog helped find it).

No expert, but I believe that all stump jumpers are splined. Everything is tapered and with wear you might find that you have to add an extra washer to cinch things up lest it all loosen and then grind up the splines (which then makes things a bit more costly to deal with).

ALSO, check your PTO shaft. I have a story on this, but, another day...

 

[milesvdustin]

I checked my pto shaft carefully yesterday. I got my 1/2" impact out and tightened the stump jumper nut as much as I could. Still a little shake. Pulled the shear pin bolt and it was actually a little bent, so I threw a new shear bolt in it. Damn thing mows like it used to again, who knew? Anyways, I have decided to sell this one and get an actual heavy duty cutter. Thinking the rhino tw25?

What do you think I can sell this king kutter for? I paid almost 1500 for it last year, has under 10 hours or so on it.