Rotary Cutter Sharpening rotary cutter blades.

[Bird]

It's been several years since I bought a set, but if I remember right they were less than $15 each for a 48" Bush Hog.

 

[John_Mc]

If you do sharpen in place, make sure to do a thorough inspection of the blades (not just the cutting edges). They do tend to get cracks over time. I finally replaced mine last summer, after they'd taken a real beating for a couple of seasons. As I pulled one off, I saw that one blade was cracked halfway through its width, about an inch or so away from the mounting hole. If I'd not changed them, I might not have noticed in time, and send a pretty heavy chunk of metal flying when it finally cracked all the way through. (NOTE: these were not some cheapo blade either. They were Woods brand blades.)

John Mc

 

[have_blue]

N80,


Most folks I know just sharpen them on the cutter.


To get your deck higher in order to get underneath, tighten the top link a bit, and park with your front wheels down hill. To make this safe, take a 4x4 or 4x6 post, cut a kerf with a chainsaw about 4-5" deep that fits on one of the tail wheel bracket members. Cut the 4x4 just long enough to be tight, and kick it into place. Set your brakes, leave the tractor in 4WD and in 1st gear. Now you should be able to sit or kneel underneath in comfort and safety.

I use a $14 4-1/2" Harbor Freight disk grinder to sharpen my blades. I touch them up every time I mow, and this takes about 10 minutes. IF you keep them real sharp, you can reduce the cutter RPM a little, making them stay sharp a lot longer. The grass looks a lot better too!

 

[midlf]

Blade for Befco 48" rotary cutter. US$44.90 a set.

 

[BB_TX]

Here is another <font color="blue"> recent discussion </font> on the same subject. There have been many others.

 

[kensfarm]

I've used the FEL w/ chains to lift the whole mower off the ground.. no crawling under the mower.. easier to work w/ the grinder.. but I'm still concerned w/ the safety factor. That 1000lbs won't stop till it hits the ground.. whether you're in the way or not. Be safe guys...

 

[RobJ]

FEL or not with some chains you can work the mower upside down pretty easy. Actually with the 3PH on top they'll sort of roll over. They'll make a little bounce when you upright them but a bush hog is a pretty solid piece. Once you get it upside down you can get at the blades. On my 4' BH I removed the whole stump jumper pan. Then rolled that over when it was off and went to town with an angle grinder. I wanted the pan off anyway to make sure I could get it off and anti-seize for the next time. Heavy yes but managable. My footer has a spline shaft so I didn't have a key to mess with. My brother in laws bat wing has the keys but they are embedded and usually stay put.

Blades do cost more these days, a quick check at the TSC web site shows a 2 pak for a 5' mower at $43.

 

[N80]

Well, here is how I did it. I bought an electric grinder (Dewalt, $35). I tightened up the top link as far as I could by hand. Then I put a chain around the tailwheel and looped it over the rack as shown in the photo. This was for safety, obviously. This gave me plenty of room to work and it was a breeze.

 

[3RRL]

Hey N80,
Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to get that photo on the post without it being an attachment?

 

[N80]

I linked to the photo which is on a photo hosting site. I used the 'Image' button located below the text box.

Now, can you tell me how you do it as an attachment?