TT45A with Woods brush cutter

I don't know if I can ask this question very well but wil try. As some of you know, I bought a TT45A a few months ago. I keep it on my little farm and I also keep my son on my little farm. He has been mowing with it using a 5 foot Woods that I used to use on my old 600 Ford. He has managed to put about 12 hours on the tractor already and I, just yesterday, got to back it into the garage. Actually the first time I have even ever started it! Oh well, he tells me it is a mowing machine but here is my problem! When I looked at it I noticed that the front of the mower hits the rear tires when you start to raise it up much past about 10 or 12 inches. I think you should be able to raise it all the way up! We tried putting on a shorter upper arm for the 3 point but am having difficulty getting the sway bars locked into proper position for some reason, almost like they aren't long enough. I may be using the wrong terminology. I am talking about the round bars that have pins that fit onto the lower 3 point bars to keep it from swaying back and forth.
Do I need a different mower or am I just going to have to put up with not raising the mower up very high? Seems strange to me and I was getting frustrated messing with it!

I was going to suggest a shorter top link, but it sounds like you already tried that.

Maybe try something like a Pat's Easy Change Quick Hitch? It will extend the cutter back by about 4" or so - plus you get the benefit of the quick hitch.

It already has a deal on the lower arms that adjusts in and out but I think it just locks into the one position. Don't think it is meant to not be locked in. Do you know what I mean? I wil have to see if I can find what you are referring to. Got to get going to work right now. Thanks.

Just looked at the Pat's Easy Change Quick Hitch and that kind of looks like the cats meow! I just got to thinkin though, on my lower arms, they have the ability to slide out and then slide back into place to help in hooking up the lower arms. I am wondering if this could create a problem in trying to hook up the easy hitch.
OK, looks like they even make one to slide into the lower arms! Now, all I have to do is get the measurements off mine and get them ordered!
Thanks so much for putting me onto these! I really do think they will be perfect!!!

I just got one for my new TT45A. The top and or bottom of the inside is to tight to slip onto the arms. I could grind some off my arms but hate to do it to make it fit easily. I have written the manufacturer for suggestions.

hmmmm that is unusual. I purchased Pat's Easy Change System a few years back and would not have a tractor without it. Love it for making quick implement changes.
If fit like a charm over my 3PH lower arms. Any chance of a pic of where you are binding up?

Doc said:

hmmmm that is unusual. I purchased Pat's Easy Change System a few years back and would not have a tractor without it. Love it for making quick implement changes.
If fit like a charm over my 3PH lower arms. Any chance of a pic of where you are binding up?

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Probably not today but maybe by the weekend. Thanks!

OK, I have now had an opportunity to send and recieve a couple emails from Pat's. What great people they are!!
I learned that my lower arms are actually category 2 and the Pat's Easy Hitch System I bought was for a cat 1. There is about a 1/2 inch in size difference both sideways and up and down. They told me they would be happy to exchange for a cat 2 and they make one that is cat 2 on the tractor side and cat 1 on the implement side. I felt like that would work out better for me as I have no implements currently that are cat 2 and really didn't want to have to put a sleeve on the pins of the implements.
Anyway, they not only told me they would exchange it, they just asked me for my mailing address and phone number and sent it out. Told me I should have it by this next Tuesday and to just send the other one back when I got the new one!! What service!!! They are really great!! We will see how the next one fits but I am sure it will go right on.

Awesome! Glad to hear Pat's is still taking care of their customers better than most other companies could dream of.

Doc said:

Awesome! Glad to hear Pat's is still taking care of their customers better than most other companies could dream of.

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Much better than any company I know of!! I just got the replacements delivered by the big brown truck. Opened it up and he not only sent the correct ones but included a prepaid mailing sticker to return the cat 1!!
This is above and beyond my expectations. Not his fault I got the wrong one to start with. I just wrote them an email and told them I wouldn't let them pay for my mistake and will reimburse them the postage!! I almost feel guilty I don't have some more tractors to buy some for! What a company!

Well, I still don't have the Pat's on but shouldn't be a problem now. Anyway, I was thinking that I may need to extend the PTO now. Then, I realize that I don't think I have a slip clutch on my mower. This would extend it probably about the same distance as the Pat's is extending the arms.
Do you think I need a slip clutch with this tractor? Someone told me that they thought something was built into the tractor so that I wouldn't need one. I found one that actually would fit right on the PTO.

Well, the easy hitch is on! That is the good news. Bad news is I found water in my gear box as the gear lube is white! More bad news and good news. My old MD160 does have a slip clutch as it is slipping very badly now. Don't know why it suddenly started doing this. Well, I kind of do. My son must have got to close to a tree and dented in the side of the mower just enough for the blades to hit it. After taking a sledge hammer to the mower, I then took it out for a trial. Mowed about 10 feet before it started slipping so bad that it wouldn't cut a wet noodle. I then looked at the slip clutch and tried tightening the springs. I was getting no where. Didn't matter how tight I tightened the springs, still slipped!
I decided I was going to have to take the whole thing apart and see what was going on. Didn't take long. I could hardly move the bolts out of the holes. I ended up having to use liquid wrench and a 2 pound sledge to get all the bolts out. The problem was that it was so rusted up that tightening the springs wasn't compressing the clutch any and it had already wore enough that it was pretty much in a constant slip state. Well, I went to work and cleaned up everything using emery cloth etc. Got it back together but haven't tried it yet. I think it will work though. I am worried about the water in my gear box though. I will have to get all that sucked out of there the best I can and refill it. Condensation is the only thing I can think of as to where the water came from as all my seals are tight. Finding the gear lube all white though makes me wonder if I should go ahead and trade it before things get worse. What do you think?