Export thread

First post here...
i typically consider myself a handy guy...but d&$*.... i tried, and failed, to replace my blades this weekend. i really didn't, and don't want to take the deck off, but i cannot budge the bolts. i went old school; lying on the ground, chunk of wood wedged on the frame and a long-handled ratchet. couldn't budge it..not the least amount. is there a trick? is it reverse threaded (i was pulling lefty-loosey)? do i just need to drop the deck and put an impact wrench on it? help is appreciated!!

How long is the handle on your ratchet?
May need to get a small piece of pipe, or something sturdy to slide over the ratchet handle,

It's not cheap, but this thread may be of interest.

You aren’t going to like this, but you will probably have to pull the deck. If you don’t have an impact wrench, put the deck in the back of your truck or trailer and go the the local auto repair shop. For a dozen sweet rolls they’ll probably pop them off for you. Go early in the morning when the rolls are appreciated more.

My on site kit is a 3/4" drive breaker bar that is 48" long
A scissor jack to go under the head of the breaker bar to prevent the socket falling off
A 6' length of hollow rectangle tube to go over the blade
I then put my back against the steel tube and use my legs to bear on the breaker bar.
There is an extra 6' of cheater pipe for the breaker bar if needed & it regularly is .

mrdowntown said:

First post here...
i typically consider myself a handy guy...but d&$*.... i tried, and failed, to replace my blades this weekend. i really didn't, and don't want to take the deck off, but i cannot budge the bolts. i went old school; lying on the ground, chunk of wood wedged on the frame and a long-handled ratchet. couldn't budge it..not the least amount. is there a trick? is it reverse threaded (i was pulling lefty-loosey)? do i just need to drop the deck and put an impact wrench on it? help is appreciated!!

Click to expand...

I take blades off everyday but we have a lift to where I can walk under even BIG zero-turn mowers but, before the lift, I would use a 3.5 ton floor jack, jack 'em up, use a jack stand for safety, then use my Matco 1/2" drive air Impact......knocks them right off!
NEVER take the deck off just to take blades the blades off!
In fact, I change spindles, pulleys, springs, everything and anything on a deck, without taking the deck off!

I have a couple of customers who refuse to sharpen or change blades till the flutes break off
This causes the blade bolt to self tighten to the point that they can not be shifted with anything short of the 1" drive 2000 ft lb impact.
So unless we have been using it I just cut the head off if my regular gun won't shift it.
I have an Ironair 1/2" which puts out 1000 ft lb and these bolts just laugh at it .
Most times if you cut through the head in 3 places flat to flat the bolt will then undo with your fingers .

Taking the deck off a Z just change blades is a pain. Bolts are right hand thread. Block the blade with a chunk of wood. Besure you are using a 6 point socket and a 4 foot piece of pipe on the breaker bar or ratchet. Once you get them off next comes the big debate. The Z6000 uses a star hole blade so it is not self tightening. The bolts juse seize from time and moisture. Lots of folks have their method of stopping the bolts from seizing. Me, i just put some grease on the threads and washer.
Being a star hole blade if the blade has hit something and spun the blade on the blade adapter and sheared the points and wedged the blade it can be a real sumbitch to get the bolt out. Impact is your friend there.

Just remember when using an air power impact that you must both air pressure and CFM available. A restrictive air supply might the initial pressure but quickly loses it due reduce CFM rate. A good example is my Air Cat 1150. When I first got it my air pressure was 125 psi but it lack any power. What I found was that even without a load the pressure was dropping all the way down to 20 psi when I pulled the trigger on a 100 ft 3/8 air line. The problem was restrictive couplers and plugs. Once they were replaced with hi flow versions I haven't had any problems removing any bolt or nut though I have twisted a couple adapter in two and of course twisted off several bolts.

Impacts however don't always work depending on well things are locked in place; otherwords, if the bolt is allowed to move back and forth during the attempt it defeats the hammering effect which sometimes a pull bar with a very long extension works better. Just depends upon the conditions of the application.

Bolts are right hand thread and face upwards, so by looking down at the ground you'd be pulling "clockwise".

I also like the long pipe on the breaker bar idea with a 6-pointed socket; maybe get a helper with leather gloves to hold the socket onto the bolt head. My own 2005 LT1000 uses a 9/16" socket with 1/2" drive, and those can be tight, and should be tight. I do have a Harbor Freight lawn tractor jack ($90) and I have to change or sharpen blades after every mow of 1.5 acres of tumbleweeds, so my bolts come out regularly. I rarely take the deck off for anything.

Thanks guys/gals...lots to think about here as far as how I proceed.

I'm being thick/dense here... but the threads on the bolt...Up or down shouldn't change the way I'd loosen it..right lol. Anyway, to Keep it simple for my brain, right hand thread means I spin bolt holding blade clockwise to tighten and left, or counterclockwise to loosen. Am I thinking about this correctly.

Thanks for the feedback btw!

yes, right hand threads, clockwise to tighten CCW to loosen

If I have a blade that gets stuck badly I change the bolt. Once that happens it tends to happen again because the bolt gets damaged. If you look at the threads under magnification you will likely see jagged edges - chatter marks I call them.