How to lift/service rotary cutter blades?

[Bullwinkle123]

I want to get under my rotary cutter and file/shape my blades a bit after some heavy work cutting rocks (apparently).

So here I am faced with this 700+ lb 6' cutter. What's a *safe* way to get at those blades?

As I see it I have these options:

1. Hoist it up and rest it on <how many?> jack stands.

That leaves me with questions of how much height I'd need to move around under it, and how safe it would be filing away at blades when they're on a stand.

2. Hoist it with my FEL and a chain, wheel-end up in the air, flat-ish front piece on the floor.

That leaves me with questions of practicality too. Assuming I face the blades outward from the tractor so that I don't need to stand under the loader while servicing it (which I won't do), it seems like it would require a little hoist-time maneuver to pivot the cutter if the loader/chain can't pragmatically lift it from side opposite the wheel. I.e. if I lift the wheel end up with the loader right over the wheel, the cutter blades will want to face the tractor.

3. Maybe use pallet forks. But if I come from the straight edge of the cutter they'll be pressing on blades in all likelihood, and if I lift from the skirt it's unlikely to be as stable as jack stands, and far more likely to slip, I would think. So I'm not really considering it forks a viable option.

What do you experienced folks do to get under your cutter?

 

[Roadworthy]

On many cutters the actual blade pivots on a bolt at the end of the arm. There is frequently a hole in the deck to access the bolt while you reach underneath to get the nut. Of course rust through the years may make this difficult to loosen and remove. I think most people leave the blades alone. Many who sharpen or shape them do so with a grinder not a file.

 

[RickB]

I used to service many, many cutters by lifting the machine as far as the tractors 3pt would go, put one jack stand under the front and one in the back then slide under it, removing the blades to sharpen with a grinder while held securely in a vise.

 

[bearthebruce]

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).

 

[Bullwinkle123]

On many cutters the actual blade pivots on a bolt at the end of the arm. There is frequently a hole in the deck to access the bolt while you reach underneath to get the nut. Of course rust through the years may make this difficult to loosen and remove. I think most people leave the blades alone. Many who sharpen or shape them do so with a grinder not a file.

I don't possess a torque wrench of sufficient force to attach those blades even if I could get them off. At this point I was going to be content just to leave them on and fix a few rough spots. But if I were to take the blades off, aren't I right back to the issue of how to get access underneath to reattach them?

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I used to service many, many cutters by lifting the machine as far as the tractors 3pt would go, put one jack stand under the front and one in the back then slide under it, removing the blades to sharpen with a grinder while held securely in a vise.

Sounds like a decent option 4.

 

[Mat4644]

I'm lazy. Lift mower with loader and set against tree. Chain secure to tree. Sharpen with blades attached using battery angle grinder. Mine get touched up every 20 years or so.:laughing:

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I'm lazy. Lift mower with loader and set against tree. Chain secure to tree. Sharpen with blades attached using battery angle grinder. Mine get touched up every 20 years or so.:laughing:

Heh, good enough, though I foresee some problems because of all the struts/supports on top of the cutter which would stand between it and the tree, unless you mean to have the blades face the tree and so you work to either side of the tree to access the blades.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I'm lazy. Lift mower with loader and set against tree. Chain secure to tree. Sharpen with blades attached using battery angle grinder. Mine get touched up every 20 years or so.:laughing:

Hopefully my blade will fare better in future years. For me this is a new cutter, but my field is rough and my new cutter has a lot of fresh impressions in the steel skirt and elsewhere of stones fleeing for their lives from the blade, and the blade took a beating too. I definitely noticed it was cutting a bit less effectively by the time I finished the field compared to when I started, as I slowed down to give it more time to digest all those saplings. That might not have been strictly necessary, but I was trying to achieve a really good cut after years of really bad cuts. I succeeded, but it was slow going at the end. Removing rocks and marking a couple of those that can't be moved will be high priority for spring, as unfortunately my field is covered with snow today, a bit early in the season.

 

[ptsg]

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