Rotary Cutter Blades

[jordatf]

should the blades on a bush hog be sharpened and balanced? If so, any suggestions as to how?

 

[sweettractors]

A simple way to get "close enough" is the sharpen and then slide over a 1/2 diameter round rod to check for balance. Ken Sweet

 

[jordatf]

Thanks

 

[Xfaxman]

A simple way to get "close enough" is the sharpen and then slide over a 1/2 diameter round rod to check for balance. Ken Sweet

That works for rotary mower blades, but not rotary cutter blades.

He has a 6' bush hog. I guess you could rig up a balance beam or weigh them.

 

[SPYDERLK]

That works for rotary mower blades, but not rotary cutter blades.

He has a 6' bush hog. I guess you could rig up a balance beam or weigh them.

View attachment 439761

I was wondering about that. ... I guess you could find the pt on the length of each blade
where it balances. They should match. I find eyeballing the sharpened ends to be close enuf.

 

[Mikejeakins]

That's a good question. I was wondering that also.

 

[amaxwell]

should the blades on a bush hog be sharpened and balanced? If so, any suggestions as to how?

I just use a handheld rotary grinder and sharpen each side about the same amount,never tried to balance them and never had a problem. A lot of how sharp you want them depends on want you want to cut. For just grass I sharpen them to about a 1/16" edge, and for brush cutting I leave them as dull as I can so they shatter the remaining trunk ,not shear it to leave a sharp edge to puncture a tire.

 

[TerryR]

I've sharpened the blades on my rotary cutter several times with a bench grinder. I try to grind them both about the same but never worried about it past that. I don't think you can take enough off just one of them to make a difference unless you really are taking out a big ding in only one.

Terry

 

[4570Man]

I don't balance them. I don't even balance lawn mower blades. I don't see any need to balance them. I know some people will say the spindle bearings will last longer, but with over 10 mower most having over 1000 hours I have only had to replace one blade spindle. It didn't even wear out, it got bent hitting a large rock.

 

[Thomas]

Easy way I found impact and hand grinder w/flapper disc.

 

[PoorPlowboy]

Balancing bush hog blades is an exercise in futility. The first time you bang a blade on a rock and dent/chip it, out of balance.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Land Pride says to weigh them to balance. Tolerance is no more than 1 1/2 oz difference. Their manuals are free on line and have good info that would apply to any brand. I have a HF digital scale I use. 1 1/2 oz is a pretty big chip; never had that happen and I hit a lot of rocks.

Ron

 

[otlski]

Echoing what Seabee says. After sharpening, weigh them but you have to do better than your bathroom scale. Aim for 0.1 lbs. If you really want to do the best job possible you can first measure the length from the center of the mounting hole to the outer edge. Make them equal to within 1/64th inch. Do the same for the mounting hole to the short inner edge. After that go ahead and weigh them. If you need to remove mass take it equally along the length of the heavy blade's non-sharp side. This way you have done your best to match both the geometry and the mass resulting in the same moment balance.