Rhino TW120

[IndyFarmBoy]

Have one of these Rhino mowers. 10ft pull type rigid deck. Cuts like crap in anything other than short thick grass. It has a run at 540rpm sticker on it and I run it on a Massey 285, generally slightly above pto speed. Blades are fairly sharp. The thing supposedly has a high blade tip speed, like 15,000fpm i thought. I believe the blades are installed correctly and in the correct direction. Ground speed and deck height doesnt seem to make a difference other than it wont cut unless the deck is very very low. Any ideas? A 10 or 15ft wing mower would be fantastic. So would being able to afford one. . .

 

[danofarming]

I have a Bat wing I bought used several years back and It cuts Soooo much better than the one we had when I was a kid. Blades are the only difference that I can see. The trailing edge of the blade turns up and creates a vacuum to help make the grass stand up. What do your blades look like?

 

[Cash4Toys]

Some friends have an 8' twin gearbox Rihno rough Cut mower, and they were having issues as well. They live 600 miles west of me, but, was able to figure it our for them. In their case, the slip clutch was slipping all the time. Per the manual, they need to be looked at quite frequently.
In their case the friction disc's were pretty much gone, which was surprising, because its used very little and is only 2 years old.
Per the manual, they slip a little every time you engage it, hey, just saying. I suggest you mark the drive and the driven side of the clutch with some steel marker or similar and see how much it slips. If it's too much, maybe it's slipping all the time??

 

[geok]

Common problem with all brushogs is that the blade carrier warps and the tips of the blades are higher than the heels. For any mower to cut well the tips of the blades must be held down flat or slightly lower.

 

[IndyFarmBoy]

The blades appear to be a lift blade but I suppose maybe they are lesser aftermarket blades. Im thinking the idea about the slip clutch seems to track, maybe thats the problem, its surely never been adjusted in my time. It wont even cut good in broomsage but I guess if its slipping that much it might just never get up to speed. The blades do appear to be level, at least to the eye. And the deck is fairly level on the tractor. Maybe not perfect tho. Does a little off on deck level make that significant of a difference?

 

[Cash4Toys]

The front should be a touch lower. Maybe 3/8 to a 1/2. They are supposed to cut on the front.

 

[geok]

With everything shut off and deck on the ground. Reach under the deck and see if you can raise the tip of the blade up as high as it will go. That will be the position the blades will be in when running.

 

[IndyFarmBoy]

Ok. ill check those things. There are few things as dissatisfying as spending 4 hours mowing for the field to look like $&!%. Thats a good point tho, i only observed the blades as they sat and they looked level, maybe when they spin up they are angled up. Thanks for the help. Has anyone ever run one of these? I've heard they are a good cutting mower. . .not our experience. Is there any hope to get this mower to BushHog quality cuts?

 

[Cash4Toys]

I would say yes. A malfunctioning Bush Hog is still no better. Lots of Rihnos sold around here, and it's not a price point either.
If you do not have a manual for yours, go to Rihno and you can download it. They are a good mower, just follow the book and fine tune it.

 

[IndyFarmBoy]

Alright. Thanks for all the tips guys. This mower hacks us off but we need it. Its our biggest mower. Hopefully we can get it cutting good

 

[Cash4Toys]

I was wrong on the amount of forward pitch. It should be 3/4 lower in front than the rear.

 

[IndyFarmBoy]

From blade tip to blade mounting pin?

 

[Cash4Toys]

Put the mower on a level surface and lower to the height you want cut at. Then, with PTO off, and kill the engine, rotate the blade and blade pan so it's in a forward most position. Measure from blade tip to ground. Then measure the blade tip to ground on the opposing rear facing blade. Front should be 3/4 lower than the rear. It will require less power when set this way as well.