7018 Vs. 7018AC, Need Layman's translation please:

[rjmack]

mower blade bolts are a prime candidate for never-seize (lube)

blind hole/damp environment:thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

ditto that 100%

if it has a zerk, grease it.

old wood or grey iron bearings were meant to be greased heavy and often.

dabbing grease on a blade bolt that runs a couple inches above diry with a vortex of wind and sand? no..

soundguy

Tight clearance areas is another issue. Pins are different. Greasing them "forces" dirt and contaminates out.

But I would not grease trip points on plows...it only makes them trip without provocation. I have used a trip plow that some well meaning person greased...and it was the most aggravating day of plowing I ever had.

Most "real" disc/harrow bearings are sealed. Only cast "cheap" bearings are greaseable...and the same principle applies to force out dirt, but...where you "add" grease such as your trip and any place you "dab" it on or in, is not a good idea. If it has a zerk, it is meant to be greased.

Things not to grease/oil: Planter/roller chain on combines/pickers that engage closely to the ground that do not have auto oilers or brushes to knock off debris. Slides, balls, pins, adjustments that are all in continuous contact with the dirt or ground that cannot be pressure or force lubricated.

 

[Soundguy]

Don't grease the blade bolts though, unless you like them to get loose. Greasing them is a moot point, since its a waste of time, because they need to be replaced with the blades anyway...and a oxy acetylene torch should make quick work of any "stuck" bolts.

yep.. something that many overlook. I replace my shoulder bolts with my blades. not worth the risk to reuse one.

lastly.

i just looked thru the stack of mower manuals on my desk.. ( 6 from different manufacturers, all with swinging blades on a stump jumper or blade carrier ).. none of them advise to lube the blades on the blade pivot bolts, though plenty of other lube points are mentioned... blade replacement instructions in all manuals said to replace the bolts, and none mentioned using grease on the bolt to blade swing area.

when in doubt.. RTFM seems the engineers who built these things might know best..... whoda thunk it?

soundguy

 

[Big Wave D]

Okay, here's the old gal back together. Put some 'thoroughly tested' hours on her to give her some shake down time. Works like a top!

Props to the weld shop that fabbed up my new pieces. Really nice guys that are getting bigger all the time, yet still willing to do some small work and not make you feel like you're inconveniencing them.

Gave a couple of bucks under $70 for both, forgot 4 holes that needed punched when I first called and got a quote from them. That's why increase over original quote.

Attached a few pics:

 

[gwdixon]

Okay, here's the old gal back together. Put some 'thoroughly tested' hours on her to give her some shake down time. Works like a top!

Props to the weld shop that fabbed up my new pieces. Really nice guys that are getting bigger all the time, yet still willing to do some small work and not make you feel like you're inconveniencing them.

Gave a couple of bucks under $70 for both, forgot 4 holes that needed punched when I first called and got a quote from them. That's why increase over original quote.

Attached a few pics:

Looks good as new. Now to deal with that bent blade.

The vibration may cause the new parts to fail - in another 20 years or so.

 

[Big Wave D]

Looks good as new. Now to deal with that bent blade. The vibration may cause the new parts to fail - in another 20 years or so.

It really is a good old mower. :thumbsup:

The bent blade doesn't cause any vibration during use. For its age, ye old girl is actually quite a smooth runner.

I have no way of knowing whether the blades are original or have been replaced some time in its history, but I've checked them out pretty thoroughly. The mounting bolts don't have any slop or spots where they would hang up, and the blades aren't worn down to where I'd be concerned about any kind of breakage nor are they missing any chunks.

Now, in an attempt to not kill and or maim myself or anyone else around while using the mower. I have a question about heat and tempering and possible blade failure: If, one were to heat the offending blade up to straighten it out, is this some kind of major no-no that would change the metallurgy and make it brittle and therefore turn it into a flesh seeking missile of some sort?

 

[gwdixon]

Now, in an attempt to not kill and or maim myself or anyone else around while using the mower. I have a question about heat and tempering and possible blade failure: If, one were to heat the offending blade up to straighten it out, is this some kind of major no-no that would change the metallurgy and make it brittle and therefore turn it into a flesh seeking missile of some sort?

Hoo-boy, have you opened a can of worms with that question. Probably should start a new thread to handle it.

I mow in a rocky soil area and hard face the blades with "soft" hard facing that can be ground sharp and does not shatter. Never had a problem in 30 years. Let the flames begin.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Many blades are heat treated.

UNTIL you have caught out of the corner of your eye, a blade flying out the back ( or the top or side or front) after hitting something or even just mowing along, you cannot image the potential force a broken blade has flying off at a tangent.

 

[Big Wave D]

Hoo-boy, have you opened a can of worms with that question. Probably should start a new thread to handle it.

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Thanks for the laugh this evening.

It's not my mower, so I'm not going to be performing said procedure on it. It was more a question for a theoretically down the road type problem.

gwdixon,
By your reply, I take it that you build up or weld onto your new blades a facing layer which let's them take repeated sharpenings. Otherwise, do to soil composition, you'd be replacing your blades at a brisk pace?

As beefy as the blades are, it seems rather remote to do them much harm if one was careful to not heat the offending blade to fast, centralized, or overly hot. Just enough to let the offending 1/4" get taken out. It doesn't catch by much.

 

[Big Wave D]

Many blades are heat treated.

UNTIL you have caught out of the corner of your eye, a blade flying out the back ( or the top or side or front) after hitting something or even just mowing along, you cannot image the potential force a broken blade has flying off at a tangent.

I imagine the kinetic energy of even part of a blade has to be quite something.

I've never experienced such an event, though I've seen the pictures of blades punching through and sticking partially out of the rotary cutters body, that people have posted on this site.

I don't ever mow at the 540 pto speed rpm on my tractor. Most of the time, I'm hardly above 1.400 RPM's. I can't crunch the numbers for knowing the exact engery contained in the blades, but I always feel better not having them spinning at max rpm. It has to lower the danger by a decent margin, at least that's what my gut tells me.