Reviewing a TopCat skid steer deck mower from Ritchie Brothers

[@DIY-Dave]

I work in a machine shop and I just fixed one of these for a guy same exact thing. Ran for a few hours and welded one of the 2 bearings to itself.. I would pack the bearings and put some extra in the housing then grease after up to temperature . And then grease every 4 hours of run time.

[@williamharvey3658]

That would make sense to me. That’s what is supposed to be done with my cat head for my excavator

[@DIY-Dave]

@@williamharvey3658 we went back with American made bearings for the guy, funny he said the same exact thing . Grease fitting was covered by a cover and thought nothing of finding a grease fitting before running it.. hopefully you get it fixed and get good use out of it.

[@williamharvey3658]

@@DIY-Dave same here. Mine had a cover over it and no stickers about greasing. I just need to find the time to tear into it.

[@cwl6540]

You wouldn't expect it, but they ship without gear oil and they dont make it very clear that you need to add it before using it. You need to add 80-90 weight gear oil. Doesn't take much, but it does need to be added.

[@williamharvey3658]

@@cwl6540 where are you supposed to add? If you pull the little inspection cover there is a grease fitting

[@cwl6540]

​@@williamharvey3658 You actually remove the grease fitting and there is another brass plug 180 degrees across from it. With both the grease fitting and the plug removed fill one side or the other with gear oil until it comes out of the other side. Reinstall the plug and the grease fitting and you are good to go. Not sure why they put a grease fitting on it. If you go to AGT's website, you will see this cutter. Somewhere down in the description there is a sentence telling you that you have to add gear oil before use. They have several brush cutters and they all have the same warning. It's really dumb and there are numerous people that have seized them up because of this and have to install new bearings. I also replaced the bolts that hold the blades to.the bottom plate. Those tend to break from the factory as well. Upgrade to a higher grade bolt. Once you do both of thees things, it will work awesome and for a quarter the price of some others. Hope that helps.

[@cwl6540]

@@williamharvey3658 You remove the grease fitting and the brass plug directly across from it. Add gear oil to one hole until it comes out of the other hole. Reinstall the grease fitting and the plug and you are good to go. Not sure why the put a grease fitting. This is a common problem and a lot of people have seized up their unit because it is not clear and they end up having to replace the bearings. If you look on the AGT website there is a sentence in the description telling you to add oil before use. Really dumb that they don't make it more clear. The other thing you might want to do is replace the bolts that hold the blades to the bottom plate with high strength bolts. These tend to break because they are not high strength from the factory. Once you make these two adjustments though, it will work really well. Hope this helps and good luck!

[@williamharvey3658]

@@cwl6540 that is great information. I’ll have to look at mine. I still have to fix mine. I’ve been soo busy.

[@cwl6540]

@@williamharvey3658 I get it. Too much to do all the time. It really is a good unit once you get it going. One thing I forgot to mention is, make sure you use castle nuts if you replace the bolts. You will have to drill the new bolts for the cotter pins. Not to hard to do with a good drill bit and a drill press. Stay safe!

[@onpointmachiningllcschmidt5441]

Do not grease it. Fill with gear oil. Greasing pushes the seals out. Gear oil has lasted me 200 hrs so far.

[@williamharvey3658]

It’s locked up so it needs to be repaired before anything else happens

[@onpointmachiningllcschmidt5441]

@williamharvey3658 understood more so advice for others and for you going forward. Your local auto parts store will have bearings

[@paytonblake]

So add the fluid to the fitting on the motor where the line is coming off but ur saying don’t grease that grease fitting for the bearing?

[@robp5767]

What did you find out we just got onee of these and used it for 10 minutes yesterday and it locked up

[@williamharvey3658]

I believe the bearing locked up. Unfortunately I have not had the time to pull it apart

[@butchthompson1425]

I have one that locked up as well The bearings welded themselves to the shaft now I need bearings and shaft Order the complete assembly $1000.00 8 days ago and it still hasn’t been shipped

[@williamharvey3658]

@@butchthompson1425 what did you originally pay for ?