Drum mower modified - six blades

A while back, a DRUM Mower owner posted that he modified his unit by adding 3 more blade sets per drum. Shouldn't be real difficult, as holes are already there, just add three more leaf spring mounts for the blades, and retime the gearbox.

What I want to know from that owner was why he did it, and what did he accomplish with the modification. What was the reasoning behind it? Did it work? Was it worth the trouble?
Ray

I did it to mine and posted it. Reason was a boring winter and nothing to do. Kept looking at the extra set of holes and figured they ought to have blades in them or why were they there.......to keep the price saleable and still do a good job of cutting. Got the extra parts from Phil for less than $200....don't remember how much less but it was not a pricy situation.

Really the second reason had to do with the hay crop I had last year....posted pictures recently. I did double up on the blades after I cut that and you can see that 3 blades per drum worked just fine but wanted to do it. Just thought I'd do a better job on really heavy, and on really fine products.

Cut any better? Obviously yes. A big deal to change? There are 2 problems:

1. You have to change the timing of the drums or the extra blades will hit one on the other drum that you add. With 3 blades it's easy for the OEM to time it so that the blade on one is even with the missing blade on the other. To change the timing, you pop the long, rectangular top cover to get at the drive line. First thing you notice with the top off is that this sucker is built like a tank with a complete oil bath running the full length of the drive line. Second you need to get the drive gear meshing separated between the drive pinion on the horizontal shaft and the corresponding gear on the drum shaft.

Easiest way for me was to loosen the (150 ft-lbs torqued.....or at least felt like it) on the bracket at the far end holding the horizontal shaft secure. Just had to raise it enough for the gears to unmesh....not a problem. Then just time it by rotating either the shaft with the other drum still attached and turning as you turn the shaft, or rotate the drum where you just made the disconnect, watching where you get the best distance between the blades on one vs the other drum. That's no biggie either.

2. Getting the discs separated enough to get your hand between them to install the hardware to hold the new blades in place:

I worked alone and not having done it before I didn't want any surprises. I had the mower in the transport position out behind the tractor, still mounted to it, in my shop, using the 3 pt to lift it when I needed to move a "safety" block's position, or get under the discs (dishes) to get at the retaining screws. That also helped to steady the machine.

On the bottom of the lower disc are about six (forgot the number) socket head, allen screws that hold the bottom disc to the vertical shaft. I loosened them (was surprised that they came out easily after having the machine for quite a spell, and backed one out to see how much thread I had. Once I knew, I backed all out to half that dimension on one side and pulled the screws completely on the other. This did two things: It kept the dish lined up with the holes for when I was ready to bolt it back up (since it would have been very awkward to start the reverse process from scratch, and it forced the machine to contain the weight of the disc rather than me having to try to support the disc in one hand and attempting to blind stab enough screws to hold it and get things started.

This what you were looking for?

Mark

Thanks, Tex. Just what I wanted to know.
Had a nasty field of downed, tangled, tough grass hay with alfalfa and weeds. Mine cut it OK, but left some. Showed wife a field a neighbor did with a haybind. Numerous stops to clear clogs. I simply slowed down half a gear and walked right through. Would still be cutting with my old sickle bar equipment. (Raked it today.) Thought maybe extra cutters might do a little cleaner job but think I'll pass for now.
Broke one of the spring leaves first time I used it. So have already been into the disk assembly. Used a small floor jack to lift disk back into place. Welded a bolt in place of broken pin. Still working OK. Have a new leaf in shop if I need it.

"spring leaf"? What and where is that.

Thanks,
Mark