Anyone drop and unbolt deck to change blades?

[Mad Mackie]

bertsmobile,
The bolts are 5/8 x 11 x 9 1/2" long. They pass thru the a washer, blade, spacer, the spindle and are held in place with a nut on top torqued to 75 FTLBs.
The machine has to be jacked up enough to allow the bolts to drop out of the spindles.
jekjr does this several times a day times three machines, I think that he has the procedure down pat!:laughing:

 

[jekjr]

bertsmobile,
The bolts are 5/8 x 11 x 9 1/2" long. They pass thru the a washer, blade, spacer, the spindle and are held in place with a nut on top torqued to 75 FTLBs.
The machine has to be jacked up enough to allow the bolts to drop out of the spindles.
jekjr does this several times a day times three machines, I think that he has the procedure down pat!:laughing:

We have had bolts over tighten a couple of times over the years. What happens I guess is you hit something and it tightens the bolt so that it gaulds the threads. When that has happened to us we took a 4 1/2" side grinder with a wafer thin blade on it and cut the bolt off right at the bottom of the nut. You have to make sure that you do not cut the top of the spindle off. I did that slightly on the first one I did. Even having to do that with us having the tools on hand with us we did that in the field and were running in less than 30 minutes down time.

A cordless impact and a small cheap floor jack will get that job done in under 5 minutes. I am 61 years old and can do it by myself in 5 minutes or less. Also many times I just run one front wheel up the ramp on my trailer and don't even use a jack. I prefer doing it on the left side of the trailer using the right front mower wheel so that I can work through the discharge hole in the deck beside the trailer ramp.

 

[tigercat]

I use an impact gun to remove the blades and reinstall them.

I also added a hoist in my garage and just let the hook down, with the aid of a nylon strap or two on the front and lift it up in the air. I added hooks to the rear and lift the rear end up with the chains on the back half. I could lift it high enough that you could work underneath sitting on a low stool.

I try and work smarter now as I get older. Car jacks and hand tools are too much work.

 

[jekjr]

I use an impact gun to remove the blades and reinstall them.

I also added a hoist in my garage and just let the hook down, with the aid of a nylon strap or two on the front and lift it up in the air. I added hooks to the rear and lift the rear end up with the chains on the back half. I could lift it high enough that you could work underneath sitting on a low stool.

I try and work smarter now as I get older. Car jacks and hand tools are too much work.

On a Tiger Cat there is no need to raise it that hight nor be under it to change blades. If you change them only in the garage at home none of that is wrong. However if you run them for a living you don't have that luxury. Plus on a normal day I can have the blades changed and be gone again before you get your stool located. There is no need to turn a 5 minute job into a 15 or 20 minute one. Just sayin.

 

[tigercat]

I recently had a hydo belt issue so I will get it up on the rear instead of me getting under. I'm getting old and somewhat inflexible.

When I do the blades I don't have a trailer to get it up so I use a pair of straps and lift the front 30 inches off the ground. Then I work on my knees reaching underneath. Only the center blade is hard to reach, that's why I lift it like I do. It took me 5 minutes to do the blade swap. More time to pressurize the air compressor than to do the job.
The impact gun and hoist are extremely fast to use, my body is slow to crawl around. :laughing:

 

[jekjr]

I recently had a hydo belt issue so I will get it up on the rear instead of me getting under. I'm getting old and somewhat inflexible.

When I do the blades I don't have a trailer to get it up so I use a pair of straps and lift the front 30 inches off the ground. Then I work on my knees reaching underneath. Only the center blade is hard to reach, that's why I lift it like I do. It took me 5 minutes to do the blade swap. More time to pressurize the air compressor than to do the job.
The impact gun and hoist are extremely fast to use, my body is slow to crawl around. :laughing:

Hydro belts are a pain. I have changed several in the field. ;P They are about like putting a cat in a quart jar.

 

[cpurvis]

I do it about once per year on a 1994 Cub Cadet 2140, mainly to give the underside a good cleaning.

The stamped deck is relatively light and easy to R&R.

 

[srw101]

Dude get a cordless impact and a small floor jack. You have a 5 minute or less job that you are talking about making an hour or more job out of. We change blades on Tiger Cats some times 2 and 3 times a day when we are running them flat out in Bahia Grass. It is literally a 5 minute job done that way.

I've already done it just inspect all the pulleys and bearings not for ease of blade change. I do think it should be done occasionally just to keep things tip top but all the other times i just use a breaker bar but I may invest in a 1/2 drive cordless impact in the near future.

 

[jekjr]

I've already done it just inspect all the pulleys and bearings not for ease of blade change. I do think it should be done occasionally just to keep things tip top but all the other times i just use a breaker bar but I may invest in a 1/2 drive cordless impact in the near future.

Yes we have dropped them from time to time to inspect stuff. At about 800 or so hours we have to weld new baffles in and patch holes in the deck from sand. I have to pull one out this winter and go through everything on it. This mower has 1900 hours on it and might have 2000 before I shut it down for winter.

 

[tigercat]

Hydro belts are a pain. I have changed several in the field. ;P They are about like putting a cat in a quart jar.

It's weird 3 weeks ago I had a branch flip up and remove my hydro belt. That was a million to 1 chance of ever doing that.
I seen the 3/4" branch laying in the field, I said screw it as I need to pull these blades and get ready for leave season anyway, so I just went over it slow. The machine lost all power to the wheels. I shut it down and seen the belt underneath.
I towed it back with the tractor and positioned it under the hook. I lifted it up expecting to see a bad belt or bad pulley. Nothing. Everything looked in good condition. I reinstalled the belt and its been fine since. Weird, a million to one chance to flip that off by a branch. Lol
Heck that belt is tucked up there a good foot or more!