Swisher Rough cut 52 only cutting one side

[caver]

Sell it in the spring when demand is up. I used to see the 44 rough cut mowers for sale. I bought one and quickly learned why people got rid of them. I still have a Swisher log splitter and walk behind rough cut both bought new. Those work even with a few tweaks. It was hard with the rough cut pull-behind to keep a constant speed using my old atv. I sold it quickly and now just use my tractor with a Rhino brush cutter. I thought the rough cut would be better on hilly terrain but the turning radius is too large.

 

[dadohead]

"Hold on there Baba Looey!" Before you turn 'Jack the Ripper' loose on some other poor soul, try this test:

Try backing your mower into tall grass (essentially turning it into a front mount mower). I suspect the cut will be good across the full width. Report your findings please. Mowing done here... I'm on snow duty!

 

[dadohead]

Your neighbors DR look like this one?

See why this DR wouldn't Tire Track? Those DR guys are fart smellers! Maybe just a tweak to your tow bar. Note: they are careful to keep the LH caster in the previously cut path too... it's called Marketing.

 

[MarDawgVT]

I'm a retired mower engineer. I'm sorry but your post makes me smile. I haven't visited here in some time but I think I can help you. Mowers are tough to design; they each have a "personality". The guys at Swisher know what is going on... but won't tell you that one of their 'children' is out terrorizing everyone that meets her! ;<)

From your pics, I believe what you're seeing is called "tire track". My Frontier RC2060 rotary cutter does the same thing; any mower that 'impact cuts' can do it. Let's see if any of this runs true:

• Your mower is powered by its own engine; the blades run CW?
• You pull it with a wide tired machine? Lawn tractor? ATV? UTV?
• The uncut section is directly behind the tires of the pull vehicle?

Going forward, the pull unit bends the tall grass forward then mashes it down... twice (front and back wheels). The housing of the mower also bends the grass forward as it enters the cutter. Running CW, the right side of the mower is able to 'back sweep' the grass. This is a huge advantage! It's like shaving your beard against the grain. You may cut yourself with every stroke but you won't have to shave it twice! The left side of the cut is in the 'forward sweep' portion of the cut; notoriously the weakest portion of the cut. Align the 'forward sweep' of the cutter with the 'tire track' region of the power unit and you have the stuff that keeps mower engineers up at night! Belly mower designers try to shift the mower to gain advantage. Zero Turn engineers move the casters to get them out of the forward sweep (really). They also turn up the tip speeds and add high lift blades with marginal success (adding noise and power requirement). Ever wonder why lawn tractors are 20+hp now-a-days?

Is there something wrong with your mower? Probably not. Impact cutting starts at 12,000 fpm. Below that, a mower will just 'comb' the grass. I looked up your model number and didn't see tip speed in the specification. My frontier runs ~15,000 fpm and it still tire tracks. So as suggested; run your mower WOT. Always. Any rear mounted mower has this disadvantage.

"So how do I mow with this thing?" You overlap. My Frontier blades run CCW so the RH side is the weak side (forward sweep). I circle the fields going in CCW laps, starting on the outside... finishing on the inside, keeping the RH side of the mower in the previously cut path. Yup, drives me crazy too giving all that cut width away.

A dozen people may say "my mower doesn't do that!" Maybe not... in their condition. Another thing you learn in this business: grass changes bigtime in different microclimates. I cut my fields about 3x/year cutting ~20" down to 4" in southern Wisconsin. My cut would look like yours if I didn't overlap.

"Why does my neighbors mower cut good?" Mowing Rule #1: you have to compare mowers side-by-side, same grass, same height, same speed, same power unit. You said his mower is a DR... front mount??? I have designed many mowers for the European market. They mow quite different from us (much lower... 1.25" is not uncommon) and the dealers tend to tinker much more than ours. Every dealer has a 'tricked out' super mower that they'd bring out each time you were testing new equipment. When you lined mowers up side-by-side though, in the same grass, at the same speed, at the same height of cut.... not so trick.

This problem has plagued me for years. What does a retired guy do staying up at night thinking about solving the mower/tire track issue??? He builds a mower!

View attachment 835405

A guy buys a beat up King Kutter 3-point finish mower and converts it into a 6' rotary cutter with 2- CCW 3' swing blades offset so they back-sweep BOTH tire tracks!!!

"Wake up... you're dreaming again!"

Wow - that is the best explanation that I have got yet about the forward motion and the back cutting.

We all thought that was happening with the tires. We mow behind a Polaris Ranger.

The mower has an offset capability and we aligned it as far to the side as possible and the combing(which is a great description) was still happening but not behind the tire it was in the same location in relationship to the mower.

When I took it to the service center they found a way to push the mower from behind and it still did it same location right side.

The only way that they could get it to work was to go very slow I mean really slow like pushing a triplet baby buggy up a steep hill slow. I think that this supports your ideas on why this is happening.

So if I found a way to make the blades tip speed faster would that help? More RPM mower or bigger pulley on the motor shaft and/or a smaller pulley on the blade shaft?

If I went to a slightly longer blade without making contact that would also increase the tip speed? Not sure if 1 or 2 inch longer blades would make a difference.

I also agree with your statement that

The guys at Swisher know what is going on... but won't tell you that one of their 'children' is out terrorizing everyone that meets her!

And that is more than disappointing. That is probably why I have not got anything back from engineering.

 

[tmcj]

Have you tried adjusting the engine RPM? You can run at full throttle but if the RPM is set too slow it will give you issues. There is likely an adjustment for full throttle RPM range at the carb. Probably a rod or a spring that attaches to the throttle linkage. If it is weak or worn the engine RPM will be low, slowing down the blade speed. It won't create enough vacuum or lift to overcome any other directional or tracking issues.

My new Craftsman B & S engine push mower runs too slow IMO and struggles to expel clippings causing it to cut poorly or stall out. I changed the spring on it and keep it running much faster and it cuts much better.

Just a thought...

 

[dadohead]

When I took it to the service center they found a way to push the mower from behind and it still did it same location right side.

Pushing the mower was a great test. From your original post, the right side cut well, the left side cut poorly. Correct? This makes sense for a CW cutter.

A few things come to mind. Like the above comment, low tip speed seems very possible. 17 hp on a 52" rough cutter is light anyway... especially on gas powered machine. Diesel is capable of way more torque. Does your mower pull down under load? Do you know the published tip speed? If not, we could calculate if you report the sheave diameters.

If tip speed is sufficient and it's not bogging down, a shallow deck shell would cause a mower to behave this way too. Rotary cutters can process large volumes of grass because they have deep deck shells. Too shallow and they stop processing (or slowing to a crawl like you described.) This is the mower's DNA. Use a tape measure under the mower and determine the depth from the blade cutting plane to the top of the deck chamber. Measure your neighbor's DR too (that cuts well). Much difference?

Hang is there... we'll get this figured out!

 

[Williy]

I know nothing about your unit but it sounds like the blades are going up
and not cutting or something is jamming the blades from spreading out.
Can you put the cutter on its side and turn the blades to ee if they are
running the same on both sides?

willy

 

[Dman1981]

My boss had a bush hog that was not cutting right on center was
Putting wrong blades on they were backwards

 

[MarDawgVT]

Have you tried adjusting the engine RPM? You can run at full throttle but if the RPM is set too slow it will give you issues. There is likely an adjustment for full throttle RPM range at the carb. Probably a rod or a spring that attaches to the throttle linkage. If it is weak or worn the engine RPM will be low, slowing down the blade speed. It won't create enough vacuum or lift to overcome any other directional or tracking issues.

My new Craftsman B & S engine push mower runs too slow IMO and struggles to expel clippings causing it to cut poorly or stall out. I changed the spring on it and keep it running much faster and it cuts much better.

Just a thought...

We have just tried to run it at full throttle.

I was unaware of the rpm adjustment on the carb. Of to Toutube i go to fine it

 

[MarDawgVT]

My boss had a bush hog that was not cutting right on center was
Putting wrong blades on they were backwards

Blades are on correct thanks