Never planned for this

[Bulldog]

Out yesterday on the back 40 just having the best day. Cool air, cold water, M9000 and batwing doing what they do. Then the $hit hit the fan.

Felt a hard bump and got turned around just in time to see the hyd lines ripped from the tractor. Batwing down, literally it's on the ground with the driveline flopping like a sea gull.

Long story short, the hitch broke. This is what I found. The first pic with the fresh break was all that was hold it on. None of the other welds penetrated both surfaces. Most of the welds looked nice but only stuck to one side. And looks to me with 1" plate they would have "V" it out so it could be welded with multiple passes.

My point is this. For the ones using these heavy cutters it might be worth while to inspect your hitch. I would have never thought of looking for cracks because from what you normally see everything looked fine. After this happened I think back to the countless miles I've pulled it down the road in traffic. I'd hate to see what a 5000 lb cutter would have done to a car if it had broke in the road.

Be safe and happy tractoring.

 

[Bmyers]

Besides the hitch, did everything else survive the incident ok?

 

[chim]

Factory welds aren't always good welds. I had a problem on a much smaller scale (rear scraper blade).

https://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35547&highlight=welds+penetration

 

[D2Cat]

Bulldog sometimes when something breaks, after it's all settled down, you are thankful it actually broke! But only in circumstances where it could have been much worse.

Like not getting started on something like you had planned, and when you get going you discover something that could have been catastrophic if you had followed your plan.

I'm sure when you have it back in the field that hitch stays put!

 

[BigG]

What brand was the mower? Info is our friend.

 

[SDT]

What brand was the mower? Info is our friend.

Second the request for mower brand.

SDT

 

[Bulldog]

Bmyers, everything else was fine. It was real pain to get the driveline back together. It feels like it weighs 100 lbs and has the strange shape to line up. Hardest part of the repair was getting the tongue high enough to hook it back to the tractor. It's hard to make a 5K cutter do what you want with a jack on dirt.

Chim, that's a fact. Where this hooks on you can't add weld to make it wider because of clearance issues. We're talking about 1" plate. It should have been ground out so it could be filled with weld like what I did.

D2Cat, after damn it the first thing that I thought was what it would have been if it broke in the road. I was just starting my second pass in the field. 5 minutes before it broke I was going down the road. I got it fixed yesterday and went back to work.

BigG and SDT,
It's a Bush Whacker brand.

 

[200mph]

I would consider sending the pictures to the equipment manufacture as feedback. If they have a continual improvement mindset they will appreciate seeing the details of the failure and look to correct for future product.

I'm not suggesting they will warranty or compensate you in any way.

 

[SidecarFlip]

At your suggestion I checked mine. No issue with the welds at all. Mine is a Landpride

 

[Bulldog]

I wouldn't think this is a common problem with any brand but I do plan to send the pictures to Bush Whacker to see what they say. If I was a big company like that I would want to hear about those issues so it wouldn't become a regular problem.