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While cutting grass a piece of wire got wrapped around the blade shaft. I removed the wire and started it back up and there was a terrible noise. Jacked it up again and noticed a place where the blade was hitting the cover. What can I do to fix the problem? I'm never done major work on a mower before (well, major to me). I also noticed the other blade was loose - can I just tightened it with a socket wrench and it should be okay? The mower is a craftsman 11HP, an older model. It was my father's and he bought it in the 80's. Also, I have it on jacks so I can reach the blades, but it is still difficult. How can I raise the mower to get to the blades easier? I am a women and don't have the strength of a man. I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks

Hello ... it sounds like you are having a bit of trouble...
Getting the blades off is going to be a bit challenging... but you do need to do that to allow a comparison of the them... If the blades are also rather old you may want to replace them.... (you may have a bent blade, or possibly a loose or broken/bent spindle... Look close at all bolts and attachments...

Getting the blades back on can be challenging also, take your time and use a LONG handle on your sockets when tightening... (or better yet is there anyone close in your neighborhood that could give you a hand)...
Be careful and take your time... place something under the tires so if it falls off the jacks it will not fall all the way down... you will get it figured out, and if you come up with any problems DO post back... :smile:KennyV

txpat,I agree with Kenny and others Be Carful.If you have a friend to lend a hand so much the better.I've had mowers that had the decks got banged hard and the blade would hit that area.a good hit or two with a hammer cured the problem.If thats your problem then it's a relatively cheap and "easy" fix.If it's a bent spindle it might be best to let someone that knows what they are doing fix it.Please let us know what you find out. russ

I found a small dent in the deckcover and did manage to hammer it out. It was on the back side of the deckcover - strange how it got bent there and not in the front or sides. I also tightened the other blade that was loose. No more horrible noises, and I was able to cut the grass . I appreciate ya'll taking the time to reply to my post.

I am curious, how to you lift or raise your mowers to work underneath them?

txpat said:

I am curious, how to you lift or raise your mowers to work underneath them?

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I believe you'll find there aren't any two people that accomplish this in the same way. Some have expensive lifts designed for this while others use jacks as you do. Many run the front wheels up on car ramps of some type while other folks lift with a rope pulley block and tackle system as my 83 year old brother did until the rope broke and the mower fell. I think the rope in it was the same one as when our dad used it to stretch barbed wire fence in the 1940s (DUH). He has since bought an electric lift to bring the mower up to about a 45ｰ angle. Then there are others that have fork lifts or front loader buckets on their tractor to accomplish this.

I'm at an age that down on the concrete, dirt or grass isn't much fun anymore so I developed my own method, with no special equipment, to raise the tractor up about 3 ft. while keeping it level and also leaves the under deck area free of obstacles making maintenance easier on the bottom side.

I'll not be posting my method here and in attempting to send you a private message I haven't found a way to attach a picture which would be required since a picture is worth a 1,000 words and maybe more in some instances.:biggrin:

SandburRanch said:

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there are others that have fork lifts or front loader buckets on their tractor to accomplish this.


I'll not be posting my method here

a picture is worth a 1,000 words and maybe more in some instances.:biggrin:

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I am in that others group with loader forks & buckets... Works great...

Why not post a picture here?? everyone likes pictures...
Here is one of a deck hanging from my loader forks... :smile:KennyV

On the VENTRAC the mower deck just flips up and is held by a couple pins until you are ready to put it back down. :thumbsup:
I've had other tractors with belly mount decks and usually just took the deck off and flipped it over. The only "Craftsman" I ever had was returned in just a couple days - took about 3 hours to get the deck mounted (came by freight unassembled) and scalped every spot in the lawn that was not perfectly flat.
These are the Meg-Mo blades on the 60" deck.