rotary cutter question, please | OrangeTractorTalks

I have a new Land Pride RCR rotary cutter that I have just used for the third time. It sits outside uncovered.

When disconnecting and putting it away, I noticed that the top of the gear box was covered in a whitish , milky looking liquid. Every time I have seen that in the past, it has been oil with water in it.

I checked the owner's manual and it says to check the oil level using the rear oil plug. the gearbox has a vented plug on top to add oil(80-90w EP gear lube). It also says to use a suction or siphon pump to drain the oil.

Several questions-
1-Is this water and how does water (if indeed that is the problem) get into a sealed gearbox ?
2- what can be done to stop the penetration
3-should I drain the gearbox and replace the oil?
4-any suggestions about a suction or siphon pump?

In the future, I will cover the gearbox with a bucket or pan to hopefully stop this issue.

Any help/advice is appreciated
thanks
Vann

I have a new Land Pride RCR rotary cutter that I have just used for the third time. It sits outside uncovered.

When disconnecting and putting it away, I noticed that the top of the gear box was covered in a whitish , milky looking liquid. Every time I have seen that in the past, it has been oil with water in it.

I checked the owner's manual and it says to check the oil level using the rear oil plug. the gearbox has a vented plug on top to add oil(80-90w EP gear lube). It also says to use a suction or siphon pump to drain the oil.

Several questions-
1-Is this water and how does water (if indeed that is the problem) get into a sealed gearbox ?
2- what can be done to stop the penetration
3-should I drain the gearbox and replace the oil?
4-any suggestions about a suction or siphon pump?

In the future, I will cover the gearbox with a bucket or pan to hopefully stop this issue.

Any help/advice is appreciated
thanks
Vann

I have an RCR and it lives outside without issue.

You state that the top of the gear box is covered in a "whitish, milky looking liquid" but you haven't checked the state of the oil in the gear box. Is that correct? It's possible/likely that oil from the gearbox is escaping/misting through the vent and then mixing with water. Perhaps the gearbox was overfilled at the dealer and pressure inside the gear box is sufficient to cause some amount to escape.

At the very least you should remove the oil plug and see if the oil inside the gear box looks good, assuming you haven't already done so.

As for suction pumps, there are numerous choices from very cheap to very expensive and everything in between. I have a really nice one from EWK ....

Syringe Type │ EWK

Extract engine oil, brake fluid, coolant, etc., without removing drain plugs.
... but you can find cheap gear lube type pumps designed to fit a 1 quart container that can be used in "reverse". Most automotive shops will have something suitable.

Mercury MerCruiser Gear Lube Oil Pump 91-8M

This pump is perfect for convenient pumping of your Mercury Lower Unit Gear Oil.  It is intended for use with quart or liter bottles and will fit any outboard or stern drive with a 3/8"-16 drain plug.  This pump also comes with a metric adapter that will If it's newer, it could still have a coating of oil on top of it from the factory maybe, or they just spilled oil on it when filling it up at the dealer, and all you're seeing is just rainwater and that mixing with that residual oil. Or it could be that the vent was venting oil out, maybe because the oil is overfilled. Of course, one of the main reason why things get overfilled, especially with equipment that sits outside, is because water is getting inside the gearbox and raising the oil level. So you'll definitely want to check the state of the oil to see, just checking the fill plug will tell you if it's overfull. Most all of them will get some leakage out of the check plug, but if you get a whole stream of oil that comes out for several seconds, you know it's over filled.

I have a new Land Pride RCR rotary cutter that I have just used for the third time. It sits outside uncovered.

When disconnecting and putting it away, I noticed that the top of the gear box was covered in a whitish , milky looking liquid. Every time I have seen that in the past, it has been oil with water in it.

I checked the owner's manual and it says to check the oil level using the rear oil plug. the gearbox has a vented plug on top to add oil(80-90w EP gear lube). It also says to use a suction or siphon pump to drain the oil.

Several questions-
1-Is this water and how does water (if indeed that is the problem) get into a sealed gearbox ?
2- what can be done to stop the penetration
3-should I drain the gearbox and replace the oil?
4-any suggestions about a suction or siphon pump?

In the future, I will cover the gearbox with a bucket or pan to hopefully stop this issue.

Any help/advice is appreciated
thanks
Vann

The residue on top of the gearbox is water oil emulsion. The water is from condensation (in your case, rain) and the oil is manufacturing residue, spillage from filling, and/or breathing from the vented cap. Nothing to worry about.

Of course, the inside of the gearbox is similar and, perhaps, worse.

Water contamination due to condensation is one of the reasons that gearbox oil should be changed periodically. No need to worry, but follow the manufacturer's recommendation regarding change intervals.

Do not expect to keep the oil "spotless" unless you take change intervals to extremes.

I've spent this week looking at my local options for a shredder, as well as learning more about some of the ones I can buy and have shipped to me (especially the Tennessee River Implements cutters, as the price is quite nice).

Heavy duty to one person is medium to another
My father in law suggested I get a 6' heavy duty shredder. He was comparing it to his 5' heavy duty shredder. Most have said that a 6' heavy duty shredder is too my for my L with 29-30 PTO HP.

Turns out, after many more questions, he was primarily referring to the gearbox, that he's seen many people blow the gearboxes on those, especially ones bought at Tractor Supply, etc. His example of a good shredder was his Bush Hog Squealer SQ160. He says the gearbox is better, and the round design, with the top having less areas for water to pool, and hold grass are highly desirable. I ran his 5' Bush Hog behind my LDT, and it ran very well, with barely a slowdown, except in the thickest of the blue stem you can find on his property. Additionally, it cut through smaller mesquite trees with ease, which is something desireable at my place.

I find that his Bush Hog has the same deck thickness as the TRI medium duty cutters.

Gearbox Sizing isn't precise

I find that gearbox HP requirements aren't well explained by the manufacturers, and I find posts that say you can go with the bigger gearbox and it just gives you more leeway, but some manufacturers (like Bush Hog) list a HP range (with a minimum). The Bush Hog Squealer 172 (since I have a comparison with my father in law's 160) lists a range of 30-45 PTO HP. That seems like it is very much borderline, with the listed specs on my L showing either 29 or 30 PTO HP (I don't know what gear early versus late means, so I go with the late one. I guessed late meant at the PTO shaft on the back of the tractor).

Factors that are truly important

What you are cutting

If it's just pasture land, with nothing big, there is less risk of you bogging the engine. Cutting through thick, wet grass taxes it more. It seems to me that this is more a function of the size of the bite you are taking, on a 5' cutter, you are biting off less than a 6' cutter. I would assume the gearbox has no bearing here, unless you are undersized. So, for me, it seems that if I can get away with a 6' cutter with the output of my tractor, I'd like to go this way.

How heavy the cutter is

Primarily, this seems to affect the ability for you to lift the cutter. The TRI 6' cutter with the 45 HP gearbox has a listed weight of 708 lbs, and if you upgrade to the 90 HP gearbox, it adds 60 lbs. From this alone, I would opt for the cost of the 90 HP gearbox, because it feels like with me mowing with the FEL, the 60 pounds wouldn't be a problem. Tractordata says my tractor can lift at least pounds (without my understanding the difference between the two specifications listed, I picked the minimum). Given that, I assume it's only a matter of whether my front tires are going to come off the ground, so again, I doubt that 60 pounds is going to be the metaphorical straw that broke the camel's back, but I could be wrong. Current bush hog models (BH16) seem to weigh similar to that of TRI.

Matching the gearbox to the tractor size

This one as I mentioned above seems to have some voodoo involved. Nobody lists a minimum HP for the gearbox, but I would imagine having a heavier duty gearbox implies potentially more HP loss than a smaller model. Can I pick up the TRI model with a 90HP gearbox to attempt to future proof my purchase, and work with a bigger tractor later?

Other niceties

I find that the Bush Hog and Land Pride models have a rounded shape, and less channels for water/wet grass to get stuck on, reducing the likelihood of it rusting out. My father in law's old cutter had the deck rust out due to it collecting debris and not properly cleaned. I'm aware that if you are very good with taking care of it, it should not be a problem, but sometimes life intervenes, and it seems like a great feature.

Ability to get parts? I have dealers for Bush Hog as well as Land Pride around, so it seems relatively easy to get parts. If I pick a model not sold locally, parts may be less available.

My ultimate factors
I want the biggest shredder that I can get (seems like 6'), with the best gearbox and body design, to last me for the long haul, even if I spend a bit more money up front. Given that, I need it to work behind my Kubota L, or it's worthless.

I checked pricing on the Land Pride RCF locally, and was quoted $ (which turns into $ with tax). If I compare that to comparable pricing for a TRI cutter shipped to my property, I'm spending around $ less. I can see only the two main benefits, rounded design, and locally available parts. I'm tempted to save the $ and understand that the deck needs to be taken care of. At the moment, I can store the tractor in the barn, but I believe the shredder will stick out, so I have to assume it's going to see some rainfall.

Does anybody see anything wrong with my reasoning, after reading more threads, having seat time behind a 5' cutter, and getting pricing and options from local and online sellers?

Last but not least, I recorded some video of what I encounter on the property (I only have video from right now, with the grass not fully grown into summer, but it's still representative).

Thanks!

Mark