Rear Finish Mower How do we change out he mower blades?

[Egon]

How many folks do a proper job of balancing?

 

[Alan L.]

I sharpen the blades on my Scag ZTR about every 10-15 hours and never balance them. You can balance them but they won't stay balanced anyway, so what's the point?

 

[Coyote machine]

I sharpen the blades on my Scag ZTR about every 10-15 hours and never balance them. You can balance them but they won't stay balanced anyway, so what's the point?

Because they won't remain balanced, (in theory) is not reason to not balance them to begin with; especially if you run 3 blades or more like my Wildcat does. One thing is for sure if you don't start with balanced blades they won't balance themselves over time.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I take my tractor with FEL and chain the front axle of the mower and stand it vertical to remove the blades. Leather glove to hold onto the blade and impact gun to remove the bolts. 5 minutes tops to remove all three blades, then into my vise to sharpen them with a 5" grinder with Tiger Paw sanding disc. I check balance by placing the blade on one of the sharpened edges of another blade with it centered in the bolt hole. Most times it balances without need to remove more metal, but I try to remove the same amount of material from each blade when sharpening. Then reninstall the blades and lower the FEL back down, unhook the chains and finished. I always wait a few minutes for all the oil to settle back before cranking up the mower.
Safety police might complain about working under a raised FEL, however I am really not under the FEL but under the mower which is completely vertical and in front of the FEl. I dont see this as a safety hazard worth considering due to the billion to 1 chance of a hydraulic hose failure causing the FEL to fail.

 

[jenkinsph]

I take my tractor with FEL and chain the front axle of the mower and stand it vertical to remove the blades. Leather glove to hold onto the blade and impact gun to remove the bolts. 5 minutes tops to remove all three blades, then into my vise to sharpen them with a 5" grinder with Tiger Paw sanding disc. I check balance by placing the blade on one of the sharpened edges of another blade with it centered in the bolt hole. Most times it balances without need to remove more metal, but I try to remove the same amount of material from each blade when sharpening. Then reninstall the blades and lower the FEL back down, unhook the chains and finished. I always wait a few minutes for all the oil to settle back before cranking up the mower.
Safety police might complain about working under a raised FEL, however I am really not under the FEL but under the mower which is completely vertical and in front of the FEl. I dont see this as a safety hazard worth considering due to the billion to 1 chance of a hydraulic hose failure causing the FEL to fail.

Gary,
I use a hacksaw blade in my vise to balance the blades on much the way you are doing.

Balancing the blades helps with bearing life and keeps the deck running smoothly. Sharp blades that are balanced yield a better cut imo.

 

[fordmantpw]

I stick a pencil through the bolt hole to balance. If it doesn't spin to one side, I call it close enough. Is that a good enough way to balance? I'm envisioning you guys laying it flat on a blade or or hacksaw blade. Is that what you are doing?

 

[MoKelly]

I stick a pencil through the bolt hole to balance. If it doesn't spin to one side, I call it close enough. Is that a good enough way to balance? I'm envisioning you guys laying it flat on a blade or or hacksaw blade. Is that what you are doing?

I have one of those pyramid cones that have different grooves for different sized blade holes. Place the blade over the cone and it becomes easy to tell if the blade is balanced or if one side is heavier than the other.

MoKelly

 

[bigtiller]

I take my tractor with FEL and chain the front axle of the mower and stand it vertical to remove the blades. Leather glove to hold onto the blade and impact gun to remove the bolts. 5 minutes tops to remove all three blades, then into my vise to sharpen them with a 5" grinder with Tiger Paw sanding disc. I check balance by placing the blade on one of the sharpened edges of another blade with it centered in the bolt hole. Most times it balances without need to remove more metal, but I try to remove the same amount of material from each blade when sharpening. Then reninstall the blades and lower the FEL back down, unhook the chains and finished. I always wait a few minutes for all the oil to settle back before cranking up the mower.
Safety police might complain about working under a raised FEL, however I am really not under the FEL but under the mower which is completely vertical and in front of the FEl. I dont see this as a safety hazard worth considering due to the billion to 1 chance of a hydraulic hose failure causing the FEL to fail.

That's the way I get to my blades also.

I was the operator of a forklift when the chain broke and a second time when a hose ruptured. Watching the forks drop and my load spilling was etched into my memory. I give gravity a whole bunch of respect because of that.

 

[CliffordK]

To remove mower blades, I usually find a place to wedge a 2x4 between the blade and the guard, so that the blade doesn't move, and then the bolt usually comes out pretty easily.

 

[Coyote machine]

Gary,
I use a hacksaw blade in my vise to balance the blades on much the way you are doing.

Balancing the blades helps with bearing life and keeps the deck running smoothly. Sharp blades that are balanced yield a better cut imo.

And blades that are balanced and sharp yield a better cut while using less fuel due to the *drag coefficient on the spinning blade/bearings, etc.

*I made up the last part, because it sounds real enough....