Blades Collide on 62D Mower Deck

[beenthere]

The blade in the pic posted looks like it has been run loose and been rounded out. Your 1/8" is not poor design IMO. It is however a problem that either is caused by operator error, wrong blade, or worn parts. I'm thinking worn parts..
The spindle shoulder and the blade hole in all the decks I'm familiar with (and it has included many models) never recall a sloppy fit.
If me, I'd visit the Deere dealer parts dept, and ask to see the slop in the new blades and a new spindle.

Next time I'm at my Deere dealer, I'm going to do just that. Won't be until after next week however.

 

[Oldoak]

Well all I have to say that my case is based on my real life personal experience with a new mower deck and two sets of new O.E.M. blades. Not just my opinion.

 

[Egon]

An original sloppy fit should also have a lot of vibration which should not be in the design parameters.

I'm going to suggest that there is a cupped (spring type ) washer holding the blade firmly to the shaft with the shaft bolt. From the picture it would seem the blade was not firmly clamped down allowing the shaft to slip on the blade. Hence the worn hole.

I'd further suggest the proper washer was installed upside down or replaced with a standard flat washer.

 

[Zebrafive]

I take your word for it, but the picture doesn't show this. That would be a bad design if you ask me, in case the shoulder gets damaged. Can't see any advantage.

A friend just got a couple of JD425s. Any comments, positive or negative I can pass on?

ing off topic to your 425 question. They MAY have a plastic cam gear that could break.

 

[Ford850]

Thanks everyone for the support and replies, and I'm sorry about my apparent misuse of the forum and poor forum etiquette. This was not my intent. When I created the thread, I thought I had checked the box to receive notification emails when replies were posted. I guess I didn't after all. When I didn't get any emails, I just didn't check back until the weekend. Apologies.

To clarify one detail, these are OEM blades that are original to the deck. They've been taken off and remounted a number of times for sharpening, cleaning and routine maintenance.



The solution to the issue I encountered was as simple as this. The spindle has a shoulder that the blade rests on, as others have said. The bolt simply holds the blade to the shoulder. In the relationship between the hole in the blade and the spindle shoulder, there is maybe 1/8" of slack or "wobble". I took the blades off and put them back on and there was no issue. Then I loosened the two outer blades and pulled them each toward the center blade and tightened them down. When I did this "on purpose", I was able to re-create the issue. So my problem was a product of misaligned variables and just going too fast. I brought the question here because I thought there could be a problem much bigger than that.

Hopefully this thread will help someone in the future. And again thanks everyone for the replies.

View attachment 549123

That hole in the blade looks like it's very worn and due for replacement. It's egg shaped.

 

[KennyG]

Just to clarify for everyone. There isn't a problem with the JD design. The blades fit tight on the spindle shoulder. The problem comes in when the blade is not installed over the shoulder. Installed correctly the bolt is only in tension and nothing touches the bolt shank except the washer.

 

[ning]

I don't have this mower, but I have to say I'm surprised at such slop.
My mower ("Craftsman" DYS4500) has blades that look like this (web shot, obviously; mine are under a mower deck and ugly):



The original blades were a tight fit, and when I got replacements years later, those are really tight fit, too - no wobble at all. Even so, my blades pass each other easily with almost 1/4". Food for thought - occasionally I think about replacing this mower, though it stands up to considerable abuse, and blade mount will have to be something I look at!

 

[beenthere]

ning
Don't fret, it isn't a bad design by Deere. operator problem

 

[CADplans]

I had the blades hit each other on a 3 blade deck one time.
It turned out, that the center spindle had hit an obstruction, and bent the deck housing,
the bent housing allowed the gap to close.

The bend was so little, the mower still cut the grass in an acceptable manner.
I ended up bending and shimming the deck housing to resolve the blade collision issue.

I almost resorted to shortening the blades enough to stop the contact,,
but, then I found the real issue,,,