Rotary Cutter Sharpening the blades

[Sawyer Rob]

With my Woods cutters, you don't need a huge socket or 3/4 impact to get the blades off, they have a design that doesn't require it!

SR

 

[Surshot]

Mowers, mulpitle spindles on the deck, requires sharpening, a bush hog, a single spindle, on the deck, you do not sharpen, it is designed to smash not cut cleanly.
My Bush Hog, bush hog which has a very high blade tip speed, will mow Pensacola Bahia grass, if it is cut low, at 1,500 rpm. Without the rounded blade edge being sharpened.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Mowers, mulpitle spindles on the deck, requires sharpening, a bush hog, a single spindle, on the deck, you do not sharpen, it is designed to smash not cut cleanly.
My Bush Hog, bush hog which has a very high blade tip speed, will mow Pensacola Bahia grass, if it is cut low, at 1,500 rpm. Without the rounded blade edge being sharpened.

First time I have ever heard that.

 

[mjonesnh]

Mowers, mulpitle spindles on the deck, requires sharpening, a bush hog, a single spindle, on the deck, you do not sharpen, it is designed to smash not cut cleanly.
My Bush Hog, bush hog which has a very high blade tip speed, will mow Pensacola Bahia grass, if it is cut low, at 1,500 rpm. Without the rounded blade edge being sharpened.

Well, my mower is a single spindle unit and it gets sharpened blades every year. Cuts mostly grass and weeds with some saplings and sometimes some big rocks. Sharp blades every year works quite well for my needs

 

[Gator6x4]

The nut holding the blades on a Rotary Cutter or Bush Hog are usually torqued to 600-700 foot pounds. Most do not have the tools to remove the blades so they either do not sharpen or sharpen the blade mounted on the Bush Hog. This is hard to do. The blade(s) are mounted to the stump jumper and are by design meant to be free moving. The weight of the blade and centrifugal force is what holds the blade out for cutting. Being able to move also allows the blade to deflect inward and away from a struck solid object to prevent stress loading and destruction of the gear box on the Bush Hog or drive line damage on the tractor.

A good Bush Hog video to watch. Also please note the object deflection or knock down chains on the Bush Hog in the video. Many a Farmer has done some big time damage by throwing a huge rock against something or through something.

 

[big bubba]

would never consider crawling under or attempt to sharpen cutter knives attached. too easy for a face full of grinder wheel. get a good impact wrench, a powerful compressor that will handle the load (usually 8 or more cfm @ 90 psi, the more the better), use a cheater bar to finish up the torque

note that most of the actual cutting occurs within the 1st few inches of the blade, so even if you don't sharpen or hit much stuff, the ends will become rounded through use & lose the effective cut. same true on lawnmower blades

 

[marhar]

I remove mine on the RC2048 every spring and sharpen on a rotary grinder. Do not actually sharpen, just reshape to get worst stuff smoothed out. Never have replaced blades. Run for a while with trail wheel off and then retorque with 6 ft piece of pipe.

I plan on doing what you are doing. I like the way you explained "reshaping" the blades. Half of my mowing grass around a barn and an acre food plot the other half is using the rotary cutter to clean rough area with saplings etc. .

I will buy another set of blades and install in the spring. The set I take off I will "reshape".

 

[Sawyer Rob]

The nut holding the blades on a Rotary Cutter or Bush Hog are usually torqued to 600-700 foot pounds. Most do not have the tools to remove the blades so they either do not sharpen or sharpen the blade mounted on the Bush Hog. This is hard to do. The blade(s) are mounted to the stump jumper and are by design meant to be free moving.

This is totally WRONG on my Woods cutters, first off, you don't need 6 or 700 pounds of torque on my Woods rotary cutters and the blades are NOT attached to the stump jumper!

The blades are held on with "keepers" that are held in place with a bolt that can be removed from the top, with a common 1/2" drive socket.

SR

 

[Gator6x4]

This is totally WRONG on my Woods cutters, first off, you don't need 6 or 700 pounds of torque on my Woods rotary cutters and the blades are NOT attached to the stump jumper!

The blades are held on with "keepers" that are held in place with a bolt that can be removed from the top, with a common 1/2" drive socket.

SR

Did you watch the video? I have a 6 foot Woods that the blades look like and attach like in the Bush Hog in the video.

Same bolt, etc. The difference being on the Woods the access hole to loosen the nut is rectangular instead of round.

I also understand the newer Woods have a different bolt blade attachment.

 

[Williy]

This is for the Wood's BB60.60 BB72.60 BB84.60

1.Gearbox
2.Crossbar assembly
3.Washer
4.Castle Nut
5.Cotter Pin
6.Blade
7.1-1/2 Blade Pin
8.Shim 20 GA
9.Shim 18 GA
10.Shim 7 GA
11.Keyhole Plate
B12.lade Pin Lock Clip
13.1/2 NC Hex Head Cap Screw

willy