Mowing Problem removing 914 mower blades

[grendel]

I have a 1220 Ford tractor with a 914 belly mower. I want to change mower blades but can not make them budge even with a 500 ft. lb. impact wrench. I have only a 2-gal. compressor but seems like it would last long enough to loosen blade bolts.

I'm thinking about applying some heat. Have already used penetrating oil. Any suggestions?

Are these normal threads?

 

[KAZZ]

I would use a breaker bar and a piece of pipe to extend it if necessary before I put any heat on it. Block the blades from turning with a piece of wood.
Impact wrenches are good for removing nuts & bolts ,but not to good on Breaking frozen ones loose.

 

[jjcc246]

Lots and lots and lots of wd-40 or similiar. let it soak over night and as stated, block the blades with wood and use one big ..s breaker bar. Once it loosens up, then use your impact wrench.

 

[markct]

i gotta disagree with the guy that said impact wrenches are not good for removing rusted bolts, they often will rattle out a bolt that would more than likely be twisted off with a breaker bar. ya do need a good impact gun tho and plenty of air, not minimal air and a harbor freight impact gun. even good brands are overated on ft lbs i dont know how they come up with the numbers but i know that its been my experience that they are roughly half what they are rated, like our mac impact gun at work that puts out 550ftlbs it says, i have found that if you tighten a bolt with it, they try a tourque wrench it will usualy turn around 275 to 300lbs, still one of the most powerfull 1/2 inch guns i have used tho

 

[Steelfan]

My experience has been that a good solid wrench with a breaker bar are the best way to remove blades on my 914A mower. Also the wood blocks and oil are a great idea if you have trouble with the removal. Don't get frustrated, you will get them off. Also remember to make sure that they are tight when putting them back on. I bought a Torque Wrench to be sure of the tightness of my bolts. Good Luck.

 

[METATEST]

A little heat here would go a long way in a situation like this. If I was applying heat, just to the nut on one side. Intense heat in one spot.
This will cause expansion of the nut and hopefully help in loosening it.
Have your big _ss breaker bar and block set up and ready to go then apply your heat. Do not heat everything!
Worse comes to worse, you can cut the nut off with a grinding wheel and replace.

 

[jimg]

Ive had similar experience in regard to what markct was saying. W/ a breaker bar I was able to twist the head right off the bolt making the problem even bigger. However, an impact wrench did eventually get the complete bolt out. I think the key is to have a properly sized compressor for the tool being used.

 

[webbmeister]

This is a really late addition to this thread, but since the information in the post helped solve my problem, I thought I'd add a little for the next person looking for an answer for stuck deck bolts.

When our TC25D was delivered from an out-of-state dealer five years ago, the blade bolts were not torqued properly. The result was mower blades flying out from under the deck. For a first-time tractor owner, this was a mighty scary thing. We took the deck to the local dealer, and to make us comfortable, he cranked the bolts down really REALLY tight. Since then, I hadn't tried to remove the blades for replacement until this spring. We had the same difficulty that others have had. The bolts would not budge. We tried a cheater bar with a block.- no go. Bought a medium-quality impact wrench from HD - no go. Took the impact wrench back and traded it for HD's most powerful impact wrench (rated at 700 ft.lb.). Still no go.

So we did a little research and learned about AirCat impact wrenches. We bought a NitroCat 1000 TC for $10 more than $129 I had paid for HD's best. It arrived this afternoon. Three short blips of the trigger, one for each bolt, sent the rust dust, WD 40 sludge, and scale flying and the bolts were off. There was almost no vibration and it was very quiet - not like any impact wrench I've ever used. Its power, especially given its smoothness and quietness, was more than I expected.

So, I'm with the "use an impact wrench" crowd, and I want to share the good experience I had with this tool.

Jim

 

[CJ4]

Jim, where'd u get that impact???

 

[thcri]

The problem I had with mine the first time was the pulley above the deck would just spin. Even with blocks underneath the pulley above would spin. You can buy a tool to lock the pulleys above. I did not buy that tool and can't even remember the name of it. However, I did put a small block between the pulley and belt, a block underneath and then was able to take off. That was the only way I could them off. So if using any wrench and not getting anyplace make sure it is not just spinning.

murph