How to lift/service rotary cutter blades?

[ericm979]

I put it on the tractor and use the hydraulic top link to pull it up. Then a chain to the ROPS for safety if I'm going to be under it.

If you don't have a hydraulic top link you could use the regular turnbuckle kind, just takes longer.
If the top link does not get it high enough for you, attach a comealong to the ROPS and the end of the mower and remove the top link.
Probably want to detatch the PTO if you're going to pull it up that far.

 

[JethroB]

I've had the thought of sharpening the blades on my brush mower too, but it didn't quite pan out quite right. :laughing:

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Good one

I am sure you have covered this before, but can you give us the pros and cons of a chain vs. a blade? Grass, brush, saplings, safety, etc. Such an odd concept in the U.S.
Thanks.

 

[deezler]

I just lift mine up as high as it goes on the 3-pt, jam some jack stands under it to pry it up a touch further and for safety, and go to town with my angle grinder. It's pretty easy this way. Taking the blades off? Thats nuts. My king kutter 5' says it needs 330 lbf-ft to install the blade nuts. Since they've presumably never been off, likely even more to remove. I just don't understand how you're supposed to be able to safely obtain that kind of torque on an impact socket.... basic breaker bars will surely snap before you get to 330 lbf-ft. A 3/4" air impact gun with 15 cfm of air flow might do it, but I don't have an industrial grade shop in my garage.

 

[Henro]

I had to service a blade to remove fence wire that was wrapped around the bolt. I lifted the mower with the 3pt, put cinder blocks at 4 points around it, set it down on the blocks, and was able to get under to service. I was doing this on a paved surface that was level.

I would be comfortable crawling under with 4 jack stands also (but did not have that many. 2 seems inadequate to me as things could tip).

When I was a kid, I heard stories of people being injured/killed when cinder blocks supporting cars collapsed. So at an early age I learned NOT to use cinder blocks to support any weight that might injure me when they failed to support it.

Granted a brush hog is less weight than a car...still...jack stands are MUCH safer than cinder blocks. Just a bit of insight for those who might not realize this.

 

[RickB]

At

I had to service a blade to remove fence wire that was wrapped around the bolt. I lifted the mower with the 3pt, put cinder blocks at 4 points around it, set it down on the blocks, and was able to get under to service. I was doing this on a paved surface that was level.

I would be comfortable crawling under with 4 jack stands also (but did not have that many. 2 seems inadequate to me as things could tip).

Two Jack stands and the machine hooked to the tractor's 3 point hitch.
If the top link fails the rear jack stand supports the rear of the cutter.
If the hitch lowers the front jack stand supports the front of the cutter.
If both fail simultaneously it wasn't my day.

 

[RickB]

I just lift mine up as high as it goes on the 3-pt, jam some jack stands under it to pry it up a touch further and for safety, and go to town with my angle grinder. It's pretty easy this way. Taking the blades off? Thats nuts. My king kutter 5' says it needs 330 lbf-ft to install the blade nuts. Since they've presumably never been off, likely even more to remove. I just don't understand how you're supposed to be able to safely obtain that kind of torque on an impact socket.... basic breaker bars will surely snap before you get to 330 lbf-ft. A 3/4" air impact gun with 15 cfm of air flow might do it, but I don't have an industrial grade shop in my garage.

I used to do that until I tried to eat the grinder one day. After that the blades came off. Take them off once a year and use Never Seize and it isn't a big deal. I sharpened my machine that way and if a customer didn't like the way I approached the job someone else could do it. You overestimate the amount of tooling and effort it takes to R&R blades regularly.

 

[JethroB]

This is the 5 foot mower I inherited from my Dad a few years ago. At first look I thought it needed replacing due to the heavily rusted top deck....then I looked underneath at the blade. Whoa! The tail wheel was long gone. A new cutter was delivered the next day.

 

[deezler]

You overestimate the amount of tooling and effort it takes to R&R blades regularly.

Maybe so, but what tooling do you use to remove the blades? And how do you ensure 300+ lbf-ft or torque applied on re-install? Just curious the safest way to do this.

All I can picture is snapping my breaker bar when I put a 6' long pipe over the end of it and give it my full pulling power.

 

[ptsg]

Good one

I am sure you have covered this before, but can you give us the pros and cons of a chain vs. a blade? Grass, brush, saplings, safety, etc. Such an odd concept in the U.S.
Thanks.

Sure. No problem.

Pros:

- Ability to handle rocks, stumps, or whatever it's hidden under the brush without damaging the blades
- Handles higher, thicker and dense brush much easier, but brush like saplings, small trees (I've done up to 3"), canes trees(we have a lot of that) and pretty much any brush of that style.
- No need to sharpening the blades
- Will mow thicker stuff than the blades, as in, diameter of the brush
- Can use either 2 or 4 chains per spindle if there is enough HP to power that
- Replacing the chains is really cheap
- Shreds the brush into smaller pieces, making it easier to decompose
- Blades can break more easily, while chains take a lot more abuse
- Brush cut with a blade will grow faster versus the shredding action of the chains


Cons:

- Requires slightly more HP, hence the small sizes of mower compared to the ones in the US. IE: My 35HP tractor handles a 52" cutting width chain mower, while with blades, the same tractor would most likely use a 5 or even 6 ft mower
- Requires slightly slower ground speed to give time for the chains to shred the material
- Cutting dense grass will load the tractor a lot more than just brush, to the point of bogging down if going too fast. For this, I do recommend blades if I know for sure that it won't find any rocks, but I always find rocks.
- Doesn't leave as nice of a finish versus a blade mower, but it's a brush mower anyway, not a finish mower for a lawn.

Safety wise, I don't consider this anymore dangerous than a blade mower. All the mowers we have, use a chain skirt on the front and back of the mower, which work amazingly well on keeping the debris contained. There is still the occasional throw of a stick or rock. As far as chain breaking, last time I used the mower, I broke the last link of one chain after hitting a couple of rocks. Both halves of the link fell exactly where it broke.

It's slightly less efficient than a blade mower but for the type of brush we have here, this style is what works the best. This comes from factory this way and it's compliant with all the safety standards in Europe. Blades are actually an option from factory.

This is a good video I like to share. It really shows where the chains will shine: Limpeza de Terreno em SIntra muitos carrascos - YouTube

For the OP, sorry about the slight off topic.

 

[mcfarmall]

I've had the thought of sharpening the blades on my brush mower too, but it didn't quite pan out quite right. :laughing:

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I want that soooo bad but can't find a U.S. source and haven't had the time to build one myself which I could do.