Grading MMM 50 hour service and blade change

malk315 · May 4, 2008

Hi all-

I haven't posted in a while, but I'm always reading stuff on here.

Did my 50 hour service on my DMM-60 mid-mount mower -- all went well. It's very simple - remove tranny and change 90 weight oil, grease everything. The deck belt is in great shape. Clean as the day it was new. 120 hours on CK-20, estimated 50 hours on deck given the amount I mow.

I have a 2nd set of blades to keep one set sharpened and ready and will probably get a 3rd and stock up on belts as Rick Wallace mentioned the deck is no longer made. It's Italian made and does a fantastic job. See pictures of fresh cut lawn here:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kioti-buying-pricing/107465-ck20s-hst-6.html#post1241007

It took 4 occasions to finally get the blades off and I would like your opinions:

- First time w/ large wrench and block of wood holding blade, no matter what I did the spindle would spin instead loosening bolt. Deck suspended vertically by loader.

- Next time turned the deck over on it's back -- tried w/ breaker bar, still spindle moving. Frustration elevates.

- New impact wrench - 250 ft. lb capable, rattled it for a while, nothing! I may not have had a big enough compressor, but I was surprised it didn't budge.

- Yesterday - 350 ft. lb. electric impact. Continuous 30 seconds of rattling and first bolt came loose. Same for the 2nd. The third came off within 5 seconds of rattling -- not nearly as bad (might have been the one that took the 250 ft.-lb impact from previous occasion.

Installed new blades and tightened to 145 ft-lbs w/ torque wrench as owner's manual says 135 - 159 ft-lbs is the range. Deck seems to run perfectly.

Opinions needed:

- Did I do pre-mature damage to my deck spindles by rattling them to death to get the blades off? Obviously they were either installed w/ at least a 250 ft-lb impact or developed the torque from use. Opinions? Am I going to be complaining to my (now former) Kioti dealer in a year or two that he caused pre-mature spindle death if that happens?

- While deck was on it's back (on the lawn so drive shaft wouldn't get killed by pavement) dirt worked into the u-joint. I squirted it down w/ WD-40 and shot a bunch of grease into fitting to clean it out. Anything else you guys recommend to do to keep that u-joint from wearing out early?

I love the way things mows -- just trying to keep it going for many years w/ the right maintenance.

Next blade change is going to be quick and easy -- now that I know all the tricks. Another nice thing about the deck is that it can be removed or installed by myself in about 2 minutes w/ no tools. It's suspended by 6 pins w/ hair pins (3 on each side) Very few tools needed to do everything else.

For those in the northeast: enjoy the new season of projects upon us.

crabjoe · May 4, 2008

I can't answer your questions, but why did Kioti take the MMM off the market for the CK20? Maybe they didn't but it's no longer listed on thier site.

malk315 · May 4, 2008

I wish I knew?? A lot of people like me want the compact tractor w/ the features of a mid-mount. My guess is price -- $3000 buys a decent 60" self-powered walk behind you can get a seat to have the machine tow you along. I don't know how much cheaper an RFM would be -- lots of guys prefer the convenience of quick on and off of an RFM, but as I said I can do my MMM by myself w/o tools in under 5 minutes from stopping machine to driving away for loader work - easy.

I really like the deck -- I like the side discharge, I like the way it cuts, I get to use the CK-20 for cutting an average lawn which makes it enjoyable (my cutting time went from 1 hour to 30 minutes or less).

IXLR8 · May 4, 2008

Sounds like you just needed to crack them loose the first time, hopefully you will be good to go from now on.
I bought an air impact wrench rated for 500ft-lbs, it would not loosen the lug nuts on my car... that I had put on by hand. I bought an IR Titanium impact wrench, rated at 750 ft-lbs, recommended by somebody here, works great. It didn't even know my lugnuts were tightened, just spun them off. My neighbor couldn't get the bolts off his mower blades, 3ft breaker bar and he was just rounding the heads. 5 seconds with the IR wrench and it was off.

Highbeam · May 5, 2008

If you're rounding off heads trying to get bolts off then you have a bad socket/bolt interface. I have twisted off the 1/2" square ratchet output shaft twice before going to a craftsman breaker bar. Then Broken plenty of bolts too but with the proper sized 6 point socket on a relatively good bolt head I've never just rounded the points off.

IXLR8 · May 5, 2008

I guess I do need to admit that my neighbor is not the brightest bulb around.

Who knows if he even had the right size socket. In his defense, accessing the top side of the bolt on his deck... is well.. a challenge... okay.. impossible without removing the deck.. and that is a challenge in itself. So he is trying to loosen the bolt with one hand while holding the blade in the other. Got to love folks who buy the cheapest stuff they can, that is not designed to be maintained. Rather than spending a little more and getting something that is well thought out and designed to be maintained rather than thrown away. Thankfully a quality air wrench was able to bail him out.

Dodgeram · May 5, 2008

I've got a little make believe 25hp John Deere (Sabre) Lawn tractor we cut around the house with.
Last year, I tried to change the blades on the MMM while it was on the tractor.
Couldn't get a grip.
Instead of taking the deck off, I put a nylon strap around the whole tractor and lifted it with the FEL of the Kioti.
Braced it up, took a 500 ftlb impact wrench and had the blades off, sharpened and re-installed in fifteen minutes.
After two seasons, I think the bolts holding the blades on get welded.
Tom

malk315 · May 6, 2008

Thanks for the replies. Always finding out good info on TBN like the next Impact wrench I'll be getting.

Sounds like the deck ought to be fine. Planning to mow this eve after the "day job".

Now I know exactly which impact I'll be getting (along w/ proper compressor to run it). That IR titanium looks great. Plan on getting a compressor w/ about 30 gallon tank, delivery of 5.5 CFM at 90 PSI, and belt drive of separate cylinder which seems to be better than the all in one cheaper units I've seen. It appears IR makes good stuff all around.

Now I just need a hoe for my CK20 to dig the trench to the shed to run power for the compressor and other electrical toys... that's a reasonable excuse to buy the hoe

IXLR8 · May 6, 2008

malk315 said:
Thanks for the replies. Always finding out good info on TBN like the next Impact wrench I'll be getting.

Now I know exactly which impact I'll be getting (along w/ proper compressor to run it). That IR titanium looks great. Plan on getting a compressor w/ about 30 gallon tank, delivery of 5.5 CFM at 90 PSI, and belt drive of separate cylinder which seems to be better than the all in one cheaper units I've seen. It appears IR makes good stuff all around.

I learned about the Impact guns, IR in particular and where to buy, in this thread. Where to buy on last page.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/114728-lets-talk-impact-wrenchs.html

HTH