Rotary Cutter Reattaching Rotary Cutter Blades

[MikeGross]

I removed the blades from my 60" King Kutter rotary cutter to sharpen them. Now I am trying to reattach them. From reading other posts, I have discovered that:

1) The blades need to be balanced, and

2) The bolts need to be torqued sufficiently so the blades do not become projectiles.

I have not seen any posts regarding aligning the blades when trying to tighten the bolts. I would expect that the blades need to be oriented in a straight line to prevent damaging vibrations, but I have been having trouble getting the blades to stay straight while I tighten the nuts.

I removed the nuts holding the blades on through the top deck access hole, so that I did not have to remove the stump-jumper. Now I am beginning to think that it would have been easier to remove the entire assembly to sharpen the blades (or sharpen the blades in place).

Any suggestions?

 

[Knight9]

The blades do not need to stay "aligned" as they are, and need to remain, free swinging. This prevents them from shearing when you hit an immovable object (not that I've ever done it! /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). What happens for me anyway, is that the cutter vibrates a bit more until the blades are realigned by the centrifical force of the spin. At that point the cutter's vibrations minimize again.

Balancing the blades at sharpening is a different thing. One thread on here suggested that some folks weight the blades after sharpening to ensure they are close to the same weight. Makes sense.

Kevin

 

[Bird]

Mike, I agree with Kevin; doesn't matter how they're "aligned" when you tighten the nuts because even after they're tightened the blades should swing on those bolts.

Bird

 

[MikeGross]

Thanks for your responses! That makes sense that the spinning would align the blades. I assumed that they did not move, beacuse they were solid (from rust and old grass) when I bought the cutter used.

 

[toddler]

I used loc tite when I put mine back on. Gonna be hell to take off, but no worries about projectiles.
Todd

 

[Rowski]

Todd

What color? Blue or Red.

Blue wouldn't give you to much trouble. The red stuff a lot more trouble. If you find loc tite giving you trouble upon removal apply a little heat, not much is needed. Just enough to soften up the loc tite. A small propane torch would do. But remember safety first when using open flames!


Derek

 

[toddler]

I used red on this one Derek. Figured I'd warm it up with my little plumbing torch next time I sharpen the blades. Didn't have any blue sitting around at the time, but may go with that next time if this turns out to be a hassle. Given how little grease and oil are on the machine, I doubt I'll start a fire just warming up the bolts a little.
Todd

 

[Rowski]

Red is good! The heat will make it come of really easy.

Derek