kingKutter brush cutter

[vin63]

Recently purchased a KingKutter flex hitch Dome Top 5 Ft Brush cutter. put about 10 to 12 hrs on it. Used on Light brush and Grass not abused or taken in areas that is out of its ability. The blades appear to be cutting through the top deck. Can not hear them hitting deck when running, appears to cut ok. Has anyone had this issue? KingKutter will not service or replace

 

[Russ from MN]

We had a King Kutter for over 10 years, it was a good machine for what we paid for it, bought it new. I wouldn't thing the blade could cut through the deck when cutting small brush with a new machine. Ours looked like that, but I hit a lot of stumps and rocks, and the Bush Hog that I bought to replace the KK looks just as bad! I would check to make sure all the bolts are tight, blades and gearbox.

 

[SVcummins]

That?s customer service at its finest

 

[KL in Wi]

Bent blade maybe? Blade upside down?

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 20:31:59 08/08/19) Recently purchased a KingKutter flex hitch Dome Top 5 Ft Brush cutter. put about 10 to 12 hrs on it. Used on Light brush and Grass not abused or taken in areas that is out of its ability. The blades appear to be cutting through the top deck. Can not hear them hitting deck when running, appears to cut ok. Has anyone had this issue? KingKutter will not service or replace

Your description of it says "Dome Top 5 Ft Brush cutter".

Have you looked at pictures of this model? Because "Dome Top", to me, says that what you are seeing could just be the edges of the dome where it meets the rest of the deck.

Is there a weld joint there? If so, it might crack along that joint over the years. Alternatively, their bending process may have included heat along that particular line; which could make the metal brittle, if it wasn't cooled correctly.

Either way, what you are seeing may be a product of the original manufacturing process and how it changed the ability of the metal to withstand stress along that circle that you see.

If the blade was hitting, you would definitely hear it.

Check out some pictures of this same model, maybe the dome and that ridge is always there... yours happens to be cracking along it.

If it is, I'm not sure what the remedy would be, or even if it needs anything done to it.

If you welded straight along the seam, you could do more harm than good in the long haul.

 

[SETX]

King Kutter is a bad design. The plate on top deck isn't thick enough or strong enough to prevent gear box from flexing causing your blades to his top of deck. I bet its digging dirt at times as well.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

That is a different design from the older KK cutters,they used to have a angle iron frame with the sheet steel welded on the frame.Like was said the whole top must be flexing at times and letting the blades go into the deck.Very poor design now.

 

[MJMJ]

(quoted from post at 10:11:35 08/09/19)

(quoted from post at 20:31:59 08/08/19) Recently purchased a KingKutter flex hitch Dome Top 5 Ft Brush cutter. put about 10 to 12 hrs on it. Used on Light brush and Grass not abused or taken in areas that is out of its ability. The blades appear to be cutting through the top deck. Can not hear them hitting deck when running, appears to cut ok. Has anyone had this issue? KingKutter will not service or replace

Your description of it says "Dome Top 5 Ft Brush cutter".

Have you looked at pictures of this model? Because "Dome Top", to me, says that what you are seeing could just be the edges of the dome where it meets the rest of the deck.

Is there a weld joint there? If so, it might crack along that joint over the years. Alternatively, their bending process may have included heat along that particular line; which could make the metal brittle, if it wasn't cooled correctly.

Either way, what you are seeing may be a product of the original manufacturing process and how it changed the ability of the metal to withstand stress along that circle that you see.

If the blade was hitting, you would definitely hear it.

Check out some pictures of this same model, maybe the dome and that ridge is always there... yours happens to be cracking along it.

If it is, I'm not sure what the remedy would be, or even if it needs anything done to it.

If you welded straight along the seam, you could do more harm than good in the long haul.

Pretty sure this is correct. You can see the slope of the deck outside the "dents". However, it's pretty simple to verify if the blades are actually hitting. Look at the underside. It'll be obvious.

 

[lastcowboy32]

I'm not sure of my own analysis.

I've now looked at pictures of these units on the web, and that "dome", when new, appears to be a lazy hump that starts at the front, peaks at the gearbox and then dips down again at the back.

This particular unit has a circle imprinted right into the middle of the hump; which looks more and more (to me) like what some of the others are saying.

The deck doesn't have an angle iron frame to stabilize the gearbox with respect to the deck; so the entire deck is sort of "oil canning", allowing the gearbox to tilt.

Those blades are big, and at 540RPM; they'll do a lot of "cold forming" of metal.

That's the bad news.

The good news, if there is any, may be that this damage has already been done, and it may have been from some rough usage... as in...driving hard and fast over uneven ground with the bush hog trying to lay flat, while the tractor is tilting side to side and twisting the deck via the three point hitch.

You might do yourself a big favor by doing a few things:

1. Set your top link, so that, when the back of the bushhog is at your desired cutting height, the front of the bushhog is slightly higher.

2. If possible... set that cutting height so that means that the bush hog is (on flat ground) running with the front end a few inches off of the ground.

3. If you go into a dip... go across it straight, not at an angle. Because, going at an angle is going to make the tractor try to twist the bushhog fram.

4. Better yet... go across it straight... and lift the unit enough so that the front end doesn't dig in.

5. Even better than that... mow dips and ditches along their long axis, avoiding crossing them with the bush hog down at all.

You might be able to get all the use that you need out of this unit with some smart operation and pampering. It looks as though the damage has already been done.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Well rereading your post I'd say that was a very rough "10 or 12" hours.You can beef up the deck a number of ways with some steel plate and/or angle.Just depends on how much work and $$$ you want to put into it.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

It is NOT recommended to set the front of any rotary type cutter higher in front than
back, including lawn mowers. They should be set the exact opposite. By setting the
front higher you are cutting the stalks several times rather than just once which
takes far more power and destroys the root crown of the crop.
As far as the damage
occurring, I agree with others saying the unit is poorly designed and the gear box is
not properly supported and is flexing the sheet metal supporting it. ---------Loren

 

[vin63]

Thank You all for replying. Spoke with Running store manager today who spoke with KingKutter rep for my area, they stated that they are having issues with their Dome design and its strength. Was told they are reviewing my Pics.

 

[jaoneill]

We had a King Kutter years ago and, even though all that we used it for was clipping pastures, it developed the same issue. As others have commented it is poor design. we removed the gearbox and welded a piece of 1/4"plate over the deck, with mounting holes for the box to line up with the existing, large enough to catch some solid frame support; problem solved and we went on using it for 25 years.

 

[aboley]

Ran into same problem on used king cutter. Reinforced with flat steel on edge. Helped very little. Finally found blade bolts not tight enough. Looked tight-but were not.

 

[showcrop]

You are bound to see some of that on any shredder, however, that looks more like what you would see on a five year old unit. Any time you are hitting anything of any size there is going to be some rebound of the blade from the bent over stalk or trunk, that will send the end of the blade up. How far up it goes depends on how tightly fitting the bolt is that the blade pivots on. It looks like you have more slack than you should. As aboley said, not tight enough or maybe the wrong bolt or pin.

 

[lastcowboy32]

(quoted from post at 15:27:27 08/09/19) It is NOT recommended to set the front of any rotary type cutter higher in front than
back, including lawn mowers. They should be set the exact opposite. By setting the
front higher you are cutting the stalks several times rather than just once which
takes far more power and destroys the root crown of the crop.
As far as the damage
occurring, I agree with others saying the unit is poorly designed and the gear box is
not properly supported and is flexing the sheet metal supporting it. ---------Loren

I agree with what you're saying.

In this case, though, my advice was meant to preserve his brush hog; since the deck is obviously not strong enough to handle being stressed by being twisted.

I'm also assuming that he has more than enough tractor power.

But, yes... if the deck was ever reinforced to work as it should, everything that you're saying is how you're supposed to run a bush hog.

 

[lastcowboy32]

Both issues could be solved at once (preventing the front from digging in and twisting... and running the bush hog with the front lower than the back so that you don't cut the material twice)

if the bush hog was run sort of high off of the ground. The front end high enough to not dig in... the back end even higher.

Would also keep it up and out of stones and such... until it's been reinforced.