Frontier RC2048 Rotary Cutter

[oldline1]

I bought my John Deere 1025R in June 2015. It came with a Frontier RC2048 48" rotary cutter. It's a pretty nice machine but I need to sharpen the blades after a year of serious use. I looked in the manual and they said to replace all the mounting/pivoting hardware. I cleaned them up and don't see any issues and also wonder why it needs to be replaced. Seems odd to me they also aren't castellated nuts with cotter pins too.

Anyone know why they need to be replaced? More part sales for JD parts department?

Thanks,
oldline1

 

[MORRISONSTEEL]

Not an uncommon disclaimer by many rotary cutter mfg to replaces blade bolts once removed. In many cases they actually get torched out as they leave the factory super tight (that's a tad tighter than really tight). It's really just c.y.a. wording. I wouldn't read anything else into it.

 

[Steave]

I sometimes touch up my blades with a side grinder without taking them off the mower if they just need touching up. If they're in real rough shape might have to take them off to sharpen or replace. When sharpening don't grind them sharp but leave at least an 1/8" of blunt area right on the cutting edge so as to beat the weeds and brush down instead of cutting it. Just like was said after taking the bolts and nuts off maybe having to use heat or a lot of banging is probably the reason for the disclaimer about replacing them.

 

[oldline1]

Thanks for the help, guys. I decided they were just trying to sell parts and CYA as stated. I have been doing mechanical work for over 55 years and see no reason to replace the hardware unless it's defective. So I removed the blades and sharpened them with my die grinder. I was surprised how soft they were. They had some really big dings and all but cleaned up pretty nice. I put a somewhat sharp edge on them as I hadn't read the good advice at that time. We'll see how they do. They both weighed the same after cleanup so I see no reason to worry about anything. I cleaned the bolts and reinstalled everything. I'll do a test flight tomorrow if I have time and re-torque everything after an hour or so.

Thanks,
oldline1

 

[CCWKen]

Bolts stretch when torqued down. Loosening and retightening causes stress risers in the bolts and the bolts loose strength. It's not fun when a 10-15 pound blade comes flying out from under the deck at 200+ MPH. So yeah, it is CYA! You decide if it's worth it.

I don't take my blades off to sharpen since I can up-end the cutter and gain full access to the underside. If I were to replace a blade, I certainly would replace the bolts too. It's cheap insurance.