Rotary cutter ???

I bought this rotary cutter in an estate sale but no one there knew the make of it, so if I need spare parts I would have no idea where and what to get. Its a 5 foot deck and the gearbox is rated at 45 HP and made in the USA.

Any of you folks have an idea as to who the manufacturer for this thing is ??

Sorry, can't help you Micheal, but it looks to be in pretty good shape...No noticeable dents or holes...Must have mowed goldenrod all its life...

Looks like a "Bush Hog" from "Northern Tool".

Could be a knock off 'clone' though.

Charlie

There's not much to them. What kind of spare parts are you looking for? I've never replaced anything but blades on them. That thing is in great shape!

FMC is what comes to mind. The blades would be the only problem to match up and get right., everything else should be available through a good bearing place or machine shop.

If I have to I can make parts myself but it just takes time . I just made new bushings for the super wheel at the back and matched them to a big hitch pin I had. But stuff like blades and stump jumper would just be easier to order than fabricobble. It has a couple of holes in the front that I'll weld some plate over ad it had a couple of cracks that I welded up. Lick of paint and grease and it should be good to go. Well when I'll finally get that tractor anyway. That Went from ' It will be here the end of the week " That was by now a month ago to ...It will be here by the end of the month ( last month ) To yesterdays e mail.... We don't have a firm delivery date but yours is on the next load that comes in. .......in other words we have no idea. By the end of this week, things will come to a grinding halt here on my patch as I am sort of painting myself into a corner I can only get out of with the use of a tractor.

As long as theres gear oil in the case it should last way longer then the deck, as long as your not cutting stumps and rocks, big rocks, ...even if it starts leaking, some guys just fill it up with lube grease instead of fixing the seal.
Blades last a long time too, AG Supply in n. carolina stocks a lot of different blades, shows the dimensions and off sets too, so you should be able to find something that will work if necessary

Thank you for the advice folks. I am guessing that 90 weight gear oil will be ok to tip into it as that is what I use in outboard lower units and the gearing principles are the same and there gears are larger and don't have to transfer as much power. So I am thinking that I am on the safe side with that.

The grease thing made me chuckle. I didn't know gear boxes on a brush hog or hay rake took oil growing up. Dad had gun grease in every gear box on the farm and they was still turning freely when we had his estate sale. It must work fairly well, most of that equipment had grease in the box for over 40 years.

My guess is that there gear boxes are way over dimensioned ... when I look at the gears in an IO or Outboard that push 350 HP through a 90 degree hypoid gear less than half the size of this rotary cutter. They are playing it on the safe side and some goof grease would probably do just fine with the added bonus that it will not spill out if the seal wears a little. I'll stick with the 90 weight for now as I have a bunch of it. Heck I only paid 150 bucks for the thing. But still don't want to break it due to stupidity. I never had one of these as there is little use for them other than a mooring for a small boat and then ya don't want any oil in it.

Looks similar to an old "Bush Hog" my granddad had. I'd say it's had a coat of paint put on it. If it works, with care, it can have a long life yet.

I would use 85-140 like this VV825 thats a Valvoline number just for reference, I’ve found that the 80-90 today can be to thin and they don’t take heat very well.

Did it come with a shaft? If not,that’s your most expensive part. That’s why you can buy cutters for 100 bucks at auctions because by the time you buy a shaft,your looking at another 200$.

Keep the gearbox checked, top it off with 85w90 gear oil, keep the blades sharp and keep a look under the bottom. vines, collected haystring, etc eat out the bottom seal on the gearbox. Looks good man but cant help ya on the make, theres lots of em

I took the shaft off to work on the deck. Clean and grease the shaft and UV joints and check them for wear. Looks good though. Contemplating if I should convert it to a slip clutch setup instead of the shear bolt that it has now. But I think I'll try it out as is and then see if I need to or not. Once I have the places cut that I want to, from then on in its going to be easier on the cutter as I'll not wait for years to cut the same place again and will just maintain it.

You can probably find any part you need for the cutter at Agri Supply. They have a pretty good website with pics to help you match parts. They also have a tech support line to help you.

what does the under side look like? can you see how many spines on the shaft? blade size?

I'll get to that bit the day after tomorrow when I flip it over .... well flip may be a little understatement ..... That sucker is heavy, so it is going to involve a farm jack a four wheeler some chain and other things to get it to go on its back.

We always ran straight grease with a little 90 wt . With a rotary cutter banging away it is only a matter of time before the seals start leaking. The grease will somewhat liquidfy from the heat and it will be fine. Staright grease and a little 90 wt and mine has been running good for 25 yrs now. maybe a tad longer.

If the bottom seal leaks and your gonna use grease use corn head grease. It turns to a liquid when hot and back to a solid when cool. You can get it any John Deere dealer. it's primary use is for older corn head gear boxes.

good deal then. I wouldn’t bother with a slip clutch but that’s up to you. If your just maintaining your fields your probably ok with shear bolts. I have a lot of autum olive that pops up if I don’t keep after it. I chop them up just fine without shearing bolts.

Just turned it over and the stump jumper is toast but the blades look like new. Downside is that they are seized at the pivot points. So I'll strip down the bottom bit of the thing and overhaul it. May end up stealing one of Missus Scubas pots or the wok to make a new stump jumper LOL

Put a slip clutch on it and you don't need a stump jumper. I would take the top bars off and bolt chains on instead or atleast cut a section of em out and put chain. Those bars won't give and allow it to come up if you go through a ditch a or a draw. Will get you stuck

Agri supply has generic bushog parts. Petersburg Virginia is the location I visited. They have locations in North Carolina as well. They have a store in Florence South Carolina as well. 800 345-0169.

I have one just like that and have no idea if it even came with a brand name. To get replacement blades I just take one that works to a ag supply place and match the hole diameter and off set, a couple times the new blades were a bit long so the oxy-propane torch adjusted the length.
I once found a replacement bearing by taking the old one to a auto parts store and matching the dimensions to the catalog.
I find that replacing the third link with a chain takes the bind out of it on rough ground.

That chain idea sounds pretty good to me. I will try that out for sure

Only way to go

Its looks like a bush hog squealer

I replaced the wheel after someone backed up and broke it off. Not much to one. Take your failed part to an ag center and they can probably fix you up. Size matters.