Replacing your blades

[dave_103]

Yeah Craftsman sockets (that my DAD owned ) and Never-seize on the bolts have given me years of trouble free service

 

[Filer]

Electric 1/2" drive impact wrench. $50 at Harbor Freight.

 

[slomo]

So I still can't get the first blade I tried to replace off yet, but I decided to try the other two. Came off no problem. Image below seems to suggest why not to wait seven years to replace your blades. I'm thinking if I can get the third one off and replace all three, I'll see a difference when I mow again.

Looks like someone owns a grinder. Grinders take off an excessive amount of material. I use a hand file. Easy to sharpen the blade and most of the time, blade doesn't need balancing adjustments. Only takes two minutes per blade, nearly the same as a grinder. Plus with a hand file, the bevel and edge is flatter.

Once you get the blade bolts off, use anti-seize on the threads. Check your manual but most take around 40 ft/lbs of torque.

slomo

slomo

 

[enigma-2]

Looks like someone owns a grinder. Grinders take off an excessive amount of material.

Actually they appear to have normal wear for an age of seven years. (Remember that some yards, especially those in the south, have very tough grasses. Not to mention sand and dirt). My blades (northern Indiana) wear like this after several years.

I sometimes use a file, it takes forever if their not new. All blades should be balanced. It's not how much you removed, it's how much wear they been exposed to.

 

[Ken22]

I do use grease , copper, nickel & graphite anti sieze but being properly trained,only in places where it is appropriate to do so and then because I am properly trained the tension applied to the fastener is reduced to the appropriate level to compensate for the reduction in the dynamic friction between the contact faces of the threads .

In my metallurgy course we spent a couple weeks on thread lubricants, anti corrosion and thread locking products. I have a chart showing thread compounds and torque compensation % + or - of dry torque.

 

[penmaker]

I just use an electric impact and never have a problem getting my blades off. I don't even have to block them to keep them from turning. They impact is so fast it breaks them loose before they turn.

 

[The Chairman]

Never had a regular socket fail (I use Craftsmen).

I've had the chrome flake off hard enough to cut my face. Glad I was wearing glasses. I don't use chrome on impacts anymore. Of course, I only use that cheap SnapOn stuff.

 

[slomo]

I've had the chrome flake off hard enough to cut my face. Glad I was wearing glasses. I don't use chrome on impacts anymore. Of course, I only use that cheap SnapOn stuff.

Standard chrome sockets are not made for impact guns. That's why we have the black ones made for impact guns.

slomo

 

[Eliot Ness]

I fought for a few months trying to remove my blades before I broke down and bought the Blade Removal Tool (Hustler pn# 381442). Those bolts are torqued to 118 ft lbs (per my owners manual). This tool slips over the ends of two blades and keeps them from turning while you break the nuts loose, but I still needed a breaker bar. Perhaps if anti-seize had been used a chunk of 2x4 would have been enough. Anyway, this tool was one of the best ~$25 I've spent. Good luck!

 

[qmark]

So I still can't get the first blade I tried to replace off yet, but I decided to try the other two. Came off no problem. Image below seems to suggest why not to wait seven years to replace your blades. I'm thinking if I can get the third one off and replace all three, I'll see a difference when I mow again.

You will see a differancew as the grass will be cut off rather than beat off.