Rotary cutter.

[Goz63]

Looking for thoughts on the back of my LP RCR1860 rotary cutter. It has the solid plate. Getting some clumping when mowing the pasture. Would like the chain guard but $160 seems steep. Can’t do that right now. Don’t want to waste the money on the rubber one. How dangerous is it really to just take the plate off? Dealer told me no big deal. Anyone else just remove it?

 

[Fordtech86]

Ive thought about the same thing. I haven’t because I still have not found the other half of the T post I hit 4 years ago and that was with the gaurd on. If I was mowing open fields and knew what was there and nothing was around I might be more inclined to take it off

 

[Elliott in GA]

I am too close to my own things, sometimes the road and rarely people to feel comfortable enough to take the guard off. Now that I have reclaimed the field that I mow; I mow my field with my finish mower with rear discharge. I does not clump much at all, and any debris almost disappears in the sun within a day. I have the mower set to 5.25 inches, but I mow every two weeks.

Have you tried changing you cutter's tilt (front/back)? In theory, a slight front up angle should give you better mulching - might lead to less clumping. The other theory is that a slightly down front angle will help with discharge - might spread out better.

 

[SDT]

Looking for thoughts on the back of my LP RCR1860 rotary cutter. It has the solid plate. Getting some clumping when mowing the pasture. Would like the chain guard but $160 seems steep. Can’t do that right now. Don’t want to waste the money on the rubber one. How dangerous is it really to just take the plate off? Dealer told me no big deal. Anyone else just remove it?

How close do you mow and how heavy is the cover? Any cutter will leave clumps of debris if cutting heavy cover closely, especially at high ground speed.

Cutter should be set up such that rear of cutter is at least 1/2" higher than front. Setting up to about 1" will help in heavy cover.

Chains, belting will make little difference. I would simply remove the metal band and get on with things.

SDT

 

[DDCD]

Like the others said you should change your angle. I keep mine at a steep angle with the front either dragging on the ground or close to it. I think it makes windrows worse, slows the tractor down due to dragging, and can wear on the sides of the mower. I have old leaf springs welded on the front edges of mine. This allows heavy grass to discharge easily.

My mower is probably 30-40 years old, never had guards or chains. I just close my eyes when I hit something cringy. Like that will help any! I mow open fields with nobody around though.

 

[papajoe]

I used mine about 15 minutes before I took the band off of the back. Night and Day difference.

 

[Goz63]

Sounds like the concensus is to take it off. I do run the front down an inch from the back and I am not going that fast. Slow down when thicker. It is an open pasture. I occasionally do some true brush hogging but not often. I think I will pop that baby off and see how it does.

 

[DaveFromMi]

Land Pride manual states to have rear of mower at least 1" higher than the front. This is to allow stuff to get out and not clog up. Mine is set ~ that way and I mow down to ~4 1/2"
On my L3901 and 5' Land Pride, I was mowing some really thick and tall stuff the week before last. I had to slow down to 1st gear to take a full cut in some areas. Anything thicker, I would have had to take a partial cut.
Another option would have been to raise the rear more. The downside to that could be a strange looking cut and stuff not mulched enough.

 

[mcfarmall]

For many years, rotary cutters didn't have anything across the back, and some still don't.

 

[B737]

okay mines coming off then too!

 

[SDT]

For many years, rotary cutters didn't have anything across the back, and some still don't.

Bingo.

I once owned a Duhman Lehr rotary cutter with a removable "hay side."

Dean

 

[Goz63]

Yep. Mine’s coming off tomorrow.

 

[B737]

our next thread: how I broke the car/house/rv/shed window

 

[mcfarmall]

You need one of these:

 

[Goz63]

I went out this morning and took off the back plate. I was surprised that it was not this big opening. It tapered up from the sides In an arch. I know when I close the shoot on my zero turn to keep grass out of some areas it clumps too. So I think this will solve my problem.

 

[100AkerWood]

When I ordered my LP 2774 5' rotary cutter I specifically asked for the chain guards to be mounted front and back.
It arrived with the solid metal piece and the dealer had to back order to the chain guards.

I noticed that when I mowed my bahia grass roads that the rotary cutter would cut fine.... but the solid metal safety guard would scrape the crown my roads when I mowed with the tractor angled when cutting the road drainage ditch.

I tend to cut my wood roads close so it did clump under the mower. I found that I frequently had do lift the cutter to clear the box when cutting fields to keep the grasses low. If I raised the cutter it would probably never be a problem, but I like a close cut.

I finally got the rear chain guard and mounted it. It does not clog, (unless I cut real close). It does a good job of helping spread out the cut material (grasses, brush, food plot vegetation) behind the mower.

FYI: The 5' semi-circular metal rear guard is now being used as a border for a flower bed!

 

[mcmxi]

For many years, rotary cutters didn't have anything across the back, and some still don't.

Is that a good argument for anything? Airports didn't used to have SMR/ASR (ground movement radar), and some still don't, but I sure prefer landing or taking off at an airport that has it. That's not to say that you don't have a good point to make, but "we never used to have x or y" is just lazy.

I have an RCR1884 and have no significant issue with "clumping" but I have the factory chains front and back rather than a rigid plate. I have the front adjusted so that it's lower than the back as mentioned in the owner's manual.

I cut this field when it's about 3 feet high. You can see the part that I cut in the background ... not much in the way of "clumping" going on.

 

[B737]

MC nominated for tractoring in the most beautiful place on earth.

 

[mcmxi]

MC nominated for tractoring in the most beautiful place on earth.

Yeah, I would hate to be a realtor up here. The trick is being happy with what you have rather than what you don't have. Not a bad spot to stop and take a break. The lack of humidity up here is a big deal to me having spent a lot of years in Hawaii working in construction as a welder/diver, and then as an engineer. Dripping with sweat at 7:00am is no fun.

This is the big field next to my friend's property shown above. The river is the other side of the tree line to the left. You can see the peak of Mt. Aeneas about 1/5th in from the left. I've hiked up there a bunch of times and it's beautiful. I'd cut (harvest) this field for free if the farmer would let me.

 

[100AkerWood]

I bought a LP 2772 with my new MX and the rotary cutter was supposed to have chain guards. When delivered, it had the metal safety guard and the dealer had to order the rear chain guards.

I cut my bahia grass wood roads and food plots with the metal guard and I tend to cut the roads and food plot vegetation low (maybe I should raise the cutter more)? The rear metal guard would drag and scrape occasionally on the road crown when I was mowing at an angle along the drainage ditches. I would have to lift the mower every now and then as vegetation would accumulate under the mower.

I installed the rear chain guard and there is not an clumping issue and the cut material seems to be distributed better.

The 5' semi-circular metal safety guard is now being used as a border for a flower bed!!!!