Remove bush hog blades with cordless 3/4 impact wrench?

mjonesnh · Jun 26, 2016

Will probably be replacing the blades on my Bushhog Squealer SQ600 purchased in 2007 with the original blades having never been removed at the end of this mowing season. Considering a 3/4 drive impact wrench for the task as I have read many stories on how tough this can be to remove the bolts. As I do not have an air compressor with enough umph to use a air wrench I am considering a Makita cordless wrench, Makita USA - Tool Details - XWT7Z. It has 1250 ft.lbs of breakaway torque and 780 of fastening. As I already have Makita tools I have several batteries that will work with unit. I know that Dewalt has some similiar heavy duty wrenches and was curious if anyone has ever used the cordless impacts and how well did they perform

drizler · Jun 26, 2016

Boy those puppies come off plum awful. Whatever you use it's going to take some beating. Try to soak well all of the nuts in penetrating oil or ATF. A week or so of repeat dousing is the way I do ugly things. Heat is nice too if you can get in there with a torch and cherry it a couple times and let it cool. My aircat is rated for the same 1250 although I doubt with the long air line and 3/8" hose and not using high flow fittings it isn't nearly that powerful. The one I did came off though but it did take some beating to be sure. Get those threads as clean as you can and give it a whirl. Just remember if you do any heating to let it cool fully and reoil before you start pounding.

AchingBack · Jun 26, 2016

I'm very interested in seeing your results. My SQ600 is eleven years old, but the blades are just fine. What happened to yours to cause the need for replacing?

4570Man · Jun 26, 2016

I'd use a 3/4 breaker bar with a cheater pipe. Way cheaper that way.

2458n · Jun 26, 2016

Save your money I have never used a electric impact gun of any make that would do the job. Have used a 1 inch air impact gun hooked to a 3/4 air line and a 185 cfm diesel compressor. Be careful if working under the mower. 3-4 ft pipe is not over kill.

mddorange · Jun 27, 2016

I have used my 1/2" drive cordless Kobalt impact wrench to remove and replace the blades on my 6' bush hog more than once. It is one of the best tools I own and I use it a lot. I have used it to break loose nuts that I couldn't even get with a breaker bar.

LD1 · Jun 27, 2016

I use my 1/2" air impact to remove mine. Its an IR2135Ti though, so I think its listed up there around 800-1000ft-lbs. But I have mine off several times a year. Either changing blades or sharpening them.

Agree with others though, 3/4" breaker bar and cheater pipe. Just removed the blades on an old IMC IM600 cutter. Took heat + 3/4" breaker with a 4-5' pipe. Wasnt any threads left by the time they came off. You may want to figure on some new bolts if its been several years.

DFB · Jun 27, 2016

Go for it...I have the Milwaukee High torque 1/2 inch and I love it. And the new Makitas have a slight edge in power. The Milwaukee has been out for quite a while now. Its moved anything I have put it on so far.

The Woods cutter we have at the orchard doesn't use a nut and bolts combination to remove the blades (still a b*tch setup to remove in its own right) but it winged off the 30mm stump jumper nut (450ftlbs factory recommended torque) so fast I thought something broke

.

There are some decent video reviews out now on the new Makita

real tool and others

Makita - VS - Makita ( XWT7 / XWT8 ) Brushless High Torque Impact Wrenches - YouTube

Makita DTW12 / XWT8 impact wrench review - YouTube

mjonesnh · Jun 27, 2016

AchingBack said:
I'm very interested in seeing your results. My SQ600 is eleven years old, but the blades are just fine. What happened to yours to cause the need for replacing?

One of the original blades is bent up slightly and will not let it rotate on the stump jumper freely. If I hit something that makes the blades fold up the other blade will unfurl like it should but the bent one has to be beat back into position with a hammer. Does not happen often but does happen.

jenkinsph · Jun 29, 2016

Don't know where the bend in the blade is but would consider using a rose bud torch to heat up the bend area. Might be able to do this without taking the blade off.