No matter what I do, it keeps pulling apart at the pivot. It’s not been used for a long time, and I’ve never hitched one up before, so not sure if it’s busted or if I’m doing something wrong.

No matter what I do, it keeps pulling apart at the pivot. It’s not been used for a long time, and I’ve never hitched one up before, so not sure if it’s busted or if I’m doing something wrong.
View attachment 506578

Has that snapped or come apart at the bottom, looks to me like that should have a bearing or some kind of top hat bush/ bearing at the top.

I'd say that tube/pivot should be one part, not two..

Can you find a pdf or parts list. As said I think the inner tube would take the weight and the top and bottom outer castellated parts might have something to do with the breakaway if you hit an obstruction.

need to make a new pivot tube....

Cheers all. I found a broken roll pin that wasn’t obvious at all - had to use a pick to search for the hole.

@addjunkie cheers for the diagram. It was the lower pin no. 11. Is no.12 a second pin inside it? Not seen that before.

No. 12 is a second roll pin, quite common to see a second roll pin used like that.

In future once you've repaired the headstock, undo the balance springs from the top before unhitching, it'll let the headstock sit flat and makes it far easier to hitch back up again.
We have an am240cv as well, they're great mowers.

In future once you've repaired the headstock, undo the balance springs from the top before unhitching, it'll let the headstock sit flat and makes it far easier to hitch back up again.
We have an am240cv as well, they're great mowers.

Will do, thanks. I’ve only ever used in-line toppers and flails before - what’s the best pattern for covering the field?

- Round the outside once with the mower on the outside.
- Spin round and do 3-4 more rounds with the mower on the inside, till the corners go wonky.
- Go up one side, lift the mower a bit and go all the way to the other side and down that? Or strike out a path down the middle, then what?

Will do, thanks. I’ve only ever used in-line toppers and flails before - what’s the best pattern for covering the field?

- Round the outside once with the mower on the outside.
- Spin round and do 3-4 more rounds with the mower on the inside, till the corners go wonky.
- Go up one side, lift the mower a bit and go all the way to the other side and down that? Or strike out a path down the middle, then what?

We use ours for silage. 9-10 times right around the field. Then split it into 2 or 3 bouts, work the insides outwards by going anticlockwise, then when the bouts are half gone, go clockwise around each bout to finish. It minimizes the tracks at headland.
We'll only drive around the field once or twice before having to lift up at corners, reverse and drop in at a true 90 degrees.

We use ours for silage. 9-10 times right around the field. Then split it into 2 or 3 bouts, work the insides outwards by going anticlockwise, then when the bouts are half gone, go clockwise around each bout to finish. It minimizes the tracks at headland.
We'll only drive around the field once or twice before having to lift up at corners, reverse and drop in at a true 90 degrees.

Thanks!

also , IMO the best thing is to leave the outside run (against the hedge) to the very last. That's where you'll most likely hit rocks, stuff that's been put against hedges, etc.

As opposed to my dad who likes to get the outside run done after 3 times around, as he can't stand leaving it untouched

also , IMO the best thing is to leave the outside run (against the hedge) to the very last. That's where you'll most likely hit rocks, stuff that's been put against hedges, etc.

As opposed to my dad who likes to get the outside run done after 3 times around, as he can't stand leaving it untouched

Done the field now! A few more questions:

- When you drop the mower down to start, do you leave the lever in float? Eg I pull the lever back to drop it, so do I leave it latched in the back position when mowing?

- Travel speed? I was going maybe 7 mph (low 3rd on JD 2650). Felt a bit slow for stalky, unfertilised grass.

- My PTO has an ‘eco’ mode, basically higher-geared so you can have lower revs for the same PTO speed. The conditioner part is disconnected, so would I be ok using that? Seemed to do ok on a test pass.

Done the field now! A few more questions:

- When you drop the mower down to start, do you leave the lever in float? Eg I pull the lever back to drop it, so do I leave it latched in the back position when mowing?

- Travel speed? I was going maybe 7 mph (low 3rd on JD 2650). Felt a bit slow for stalky, unfertilised grass.

- My PTO has an ‘eco’ mode, basically higher-geared so you can have lower revs for the same PTO speed. The conditioner part is disconnected, so would I be ok using that? Seemed to do ok on a test pass.

Yes to float position, if you have it handy, but its not essential. Once it's dropped into work and link arms are at the right height, the mower pivots and contours on a 4 bar linkage.

Travel speed, limited by your ability to stay on the seat, I've cut silage clean at 30km/h before! Usually sit around 19km/h.

No idea about eco pto, its not something I'd do because i like to run the mower hard and fast and use every drop of horsepower.

You can use the eco pto speed if it suits the conditions. So long as the mower is run at the right speed. Sometimes it makes more sense with respect to which gear it's running in. Will generally loose speed uphill though so have to alter throttle to compensate - or run out of power altogether and make you move up to standard 540.

Same mower, now not lifting up to transport position. It’s the first time I’ve used it this year, and each time it lifted it was worse, now only reaching 45 degrees.

Tractor side is fine, I think. New hydraulic filter, plenty of oil, and the loader that normally works on the tipper pipe is ok.

I see it’s a single-acting ram, fed from the left side in the picture:

Is it possible that oil has bypassed the piston and is locking it?

I see it’s a single-acting ram, fed from the left side in the picture:

Is it possible that oil has bypassed the piston and is locking it?

Single acting rams normally have a relief hole on the non acting end to allow any oil that passes the ram seals to escape, preventing that scenario. Worth having a look to see if that's the case or if it's blocked?

The ram has a orifice needle valve mounted on the ram itself. Unscrew it a bit and see if it works then, and adjust to nice slow rate again after it works again.