Landpride RCR1860 rotary cutter issue

[Cal270]

Have the above rotary cutter on a 4060 HSTC. When the electronic pto engages there is a nasty clunk and rotary cutter shakes the tractor (in my opinion), severely.
Cutter is a year old and tractor a month old.
When using a LP tiller everything is extremely smooth, from pto to full speed running.
Tractor does have a cab, which may add to the vibration.
I'm to the point to start looking for another brush hog....
It has been been back to dealer and they say it is in specs, couldn't find a problem.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

 

[Daren Todd]

Could it be the pto shaft? Sticky/dry u joint. This is gonna sound crazy, but separate the pto shaft, turn the half that hooks to the tractor 1/4 turn and reinstall. And then try it. U joints should be opposite, or they can bind

 

[BAP]

Check your blades to make sure you don't have one missing or broken. That will make it unbalanced and shake like crazy.

 

[Tx Jim]

Could it be the pto shaft? Sticky/dry u joint. This is gonna sound crazy, but separate the pto shaft, turn the half that hooks to the tractor 1/4 turn and reinstall. And then try it. U joints should be opposite, or they can bind

All telescoping pto shafts I've seen have a timing point so they can only be slide together so as the u-joints are "in phase". 1/4 turn if it could be done will have the u-joints "out of phase" which will cause shaft vibration.

 

[Tx Jim]

Check your blades to make sure you don't have one missing or broken. That will make it unbalanced and shake like crazy.

Also check blades to see if one blade isn't wedged back against blade carrier.

 

[Stubbyie]

Re the rotary cutter or bush-hog or brush-hog:

Check all the above AND (1)the blade mounting swivel bolts and (2) gearbox for gear oil / grease and (3) compare blade lengths and shape (missing chunk or bent).

I'll bet it smooths out if check find and correct any one of these probable problems.

Please post back your experiences so we may all learn.

 

[Dave_eng]

All telescoping pto shafts I've seen have a timing point so they can only be slide together so as the u-joints are "in phase". 1/4 turn if it could be done will have the u-joints "out of phase" which will cause shaft vibration.

I am not disagreeing with you on the feature to prevent getting the two halves of the pto out of phase but I did have one which had a ball bearing pressed into the end of one half of the shafts. It slid along a grove in the other half. When the shaft was shortened the ball was cut off with the end piece of the shaft and the in phase feature was lost. I quickly learned how bad an out of phase shaft can vibrate.

Dave M7040

 

[Tx Jim]

I agree about altered from factory spec's pto shafts. I've seen several pto shafts that were repaired "out of phase". But one can't successfully rotate a factory spec'd shaft 1/4 turn(90 degrees) without vibration.

 

[m7060]

I have an M7060 with an 1884RCR Landpride BH. Both new. It does exactly what you described when the PTO is engaged and then settles down to normal vib / shake levels. I think you will find this condition is normal on any tractor that has an "instant" on/off pto control as opposed to a "soft" start pto that you are controling with the clutch. I can simulate the same condition on my MF with a 5' kingkutter BH by simply letting the clutch out quickly instead of easing the clutch out to affect a "soft" or slow start up of the BH. Any time you instantly take an object with considerable mass and blades that can swing freely from zero to 200+ pto rpm there is no way to avoid shake / viberation for the first few seconds. The electronic pto control and the fact that the cab has zero storage areas are two features that detract from an otherwise excellent product. I believe the dealer is telling you correctly. The unit is operating as designed not as desired........

 

[Cal270]

Daren
You were correct, pto shafts needed to be turned 180 degree apart.
Heavily greased the shafts and put it together.
Still shakes but not as bad.....good call.
First time I engaged pto had a hard shake. 2&3 time it smoothed out some and could take it to 540 rpm.
Very low hours on unit. Blades look in very good shape.
I just wonder if all makes of rotory cutters shake as much?
Thank you all for input!

 

[ipz2222]

Shake on start up/engagement is normal. I allways engage mine at lowest eng speed. Shakeing after that is not normal.

 

[Bulldog]

Only thing I'll add is make sure the blades can swing freely. My 3008 Bushhog will build up dust around the blade pins and it will shake more than it should. After cleaning them and getting the blades loose it starts and operate much smoother.

 

[Cal270]

Land Pride rep inspected r cutter at my residence.
He agreed that there is a problem with vibration.
Dealer will be replacing parts, starting with blades until excessive vibration ceases.
L/P does provide great warranty service!

 

[Cal270]

Have a good update on this rotary cuter.
Land Pride agreed to offer a full refund on the old cutter and to apply it to a new cutter.
First cutter was for a L3800, since I bought another tractor last summer bought a rcr-1872.
The new 1872 runs very smooth!!!! Had the usual clunk when electronic PTO is engaged but when rpm's are increased there is very little vibration thru out the rpm range. Have about 4 hours on new cutter now.
I would like to thank Jim from Land Pride and Greg at Miscisins in Standish, MI for working with me on this.
Also loosened up the slip clutch about 1/2 turned. Has reduced the hard impact of the pto engagement and do not detect any slippage when when using the cutter.

 

[TripleR]

We have used several brands of rotary cutter and any will shake upon engagement, quick engagement or engaging at high RPM will make it shake worse. I have the push button PTO on our L5740 and lever type on our M8540 and every other tractor we own, I prefer the lever type to slow the engagement, but have gotten use to the increased shake on the push button, more and more tractors are using it.

 

[RDL]

Our new L4701DT and RCF2072 cutter did the same thing until we figured out that the rpm was to high when engaging the pto. When we engage at idle everything is smooth and tractor start it at idle without any bogging of the engine.

 

[Cal270]

Yep, always engage pto button at idle.

Setting the slip clutch a bit lighter helps to.
Will just need to keep an eye on it for slippage at running speed.

I had to replace the friction disk on a L/P tiller, only $15...

 

[ShaunRH]

I have an RCR1260 on my L3200. No clutch, shear pin. I have to clean it out at a certain point when it starts to vibrate. Thus far it's been a tough little unit.

I have found no 'soft' way to engage the PTO. I have to be a bit above idle or it can stall the tractor unless I feather in the clutch and I don't like to do that to a clutch.

I actually use my foot to engage and disengage the clutch lever!

So far, I've enjoyed my Land Pride attachments. I'm just dithering over what kind of quick attach system I want to use... The box blade and mower have such a different spacing on the attach points!