Tractors, Mowers, Chippers, Trailers, Chainsaws, Generators, Driveway Erosion Control, ETC.

Morning

 

Hey Creed new poll

How many times a year do you sharpen mower blades?

I got my property pretty much where I want it so generally once a year but might get a wild hare under me and do a mid season sharpening

 

One for me, usually at the end of the season when I clean up but it’s possible this year they didn’t get done. Going from a mmm to a ztrax, the winter “cleanup” is less of a thing since I’m not pulling the deck off for storage.

 

I started tearing into the Swisher today. Pulled the engine off with engine plate and belt cover, flipped it on it's side for ease of access.




Pulled the stump jumper. 1 7/16" nuts on each side. I had (1) 1 7/16" socket and used a 1 1/2" on the other side. Who the heck has (2) 1 7/16" sockets laying around?



Pulley and shaft came out of the spindle and the bearing races were just loose--no ball bearings anywhere.



The blade pulley had some rough spots on it from where the bearing shelled and it probably tilted down. I sanded it smooth.

I did find that the idler pulley bearings were shot and ordered another from amaz0n. If I could get these rivets I would have pulled it apart and changed the bearing but I have no access to steel spread rivets. I guess bolts and lock nuts would work. I may play around with it.



Blades are shockingly decent for having exploded grapefruit sized rocks frequently and not being sharpened in 2 years.



I've got parts coming and will drill the spindle for a zerk and pull the inside bearing seals. I will have to run a 12" pipe or grease gun hose from the grease hole to the pulley guard to access it from the top easily.
This thing is super simple.

 

On a mower deck with 3 blades, how do you guys typically align the blades?

I usually match them all same direction but started wondering if it matters.

 

Not really sure it matters. There's bound to be some kind of startup slip that will probably very quickly throw that out of alignment. Unless it's a timed belt, it's gonna get all outta whack.

 

Unless a mower has a cogged belt and pulleys the blade position is irrelevant. They will move slightly with use.

I drilled the rivets out of my pulley, knocked the bushing out of the bearing and found the bearing number. Somehow the stars aligned and I had a bag of 4 bearings with the same number on the shelf that I had bought at a bin store for $1. I also had 8 SS bolts in the perfect size, just need 8 locknuts. I put the bushing in the freezer and it knocked into the bearing fairly easy. I will buy the crimped style locknuts and red loctite them for good measure. Is this called providence?

 

Walker shaft-driven deck has entered the chat.

 

I put mine on perpendicular to eachother. 2 outside vertical and the middle horizontal. That way the turbulence evens out under the deck and you get max air flow for discharge. It does matter. When the tips of the blades encounter close proximity during a spin, they create turbulence so pointing them anywhere near eachother weakens the properties of the flow because they tumble the air being 2 opposing forces. Perpendicular keeps them in the farthest distance too to tip so they can do their job directing the clippings better

 

That thought about flow at close proximity is exactly why I asked.
They seem to hold position relatively well for however I set them. Which is good I guess because that means belt doesn't slip much.

 

For those who don't follow the shop thread I have something actually on topic today.
I've been working on this shredder on & off for 3 weeks.



It was built in 1972 and had a 5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine.
Well, I never have had any luck getting any flathead recoil start Briggs to start reliability.

Short version:
2 flathead engines
1 new AMZ carb
1 defective HF engine
1 good HF engine

After saving these used belts for 25+ years do you think just one of them would be close to what I needed...



Action shot.



A quick trip to TSC for a belt & the (second) new engine starts on the first pull. Pulls easy too.

No belt guard or handles yet, enough progress for the day!



I have 1/10 the time in modifying the machine for the HF engine that I have trying to get those
Briggs engines to run.

 

I rebuilt mine several years ago, drilled out the spot welds and replaced them with 1/4" bolts with nylock nuts. They have been trouble free.

 

Morning

 

As far as getting the mower blades sharpened...I get it done at the end of the season and only once during the annual maintenance work. I simply don't have the bandwidth to do the work. But mostly, (my wife fully believes this) that my tractor "katy boo-tay" aka the girlfriend....has been the best investment we ever made and it deserves some Mx at the end of the year! We're all here because I think we all feel the same.
Which makes me think about visiting Hoover Dam and how they built that using steam powered equipment and how crazy hard that was to build!

 

On sharpening mower blades:
When I first started using a riding mower on my rough property I was sharpening them to a knife edge. It would not last long and got smashed over on the first mow. I have lots of rocks. I learned about blunting the edge and started doing that. About 1/64-1/32". Now my edges last much longer than they used to as evidenced by that brushhog blade that has smashed rocks galore and still has a good edge.

 

Well, my hospital didn't need all of us today so I was able to HHC out for the day. Got my spindle kit. I drilled and tapped it for 1/8" NPT to fit a grease fitting in it, removed the seals from the inside top and bottom bearings (leaving the outer top/bottom seals on) and assembled it, torqued the shaft nuts to 250ft/lbs per what Swisher states then greased the hub full.




If you wondered how much grease is in a "sealed for life" bearing here ya go. Not too danged much. BTW the seals easily pick out and go back in w/o damaging them.



Back together and running very smooth. I'm surprised at how quiet it is. I've been hearing that bearing for 2-3 years and thought it was the blades. Sounded like roah roah, roah. Shoulda known. The weird thing I can't get past is when I disassembled it there was only one inner and 1 outer bearing race like this thing only had one bearing in it. Puzzling.

 

I want one of those sandblasters. I got a bucket style and it makes a flippin mess

 

It is the bomb-diggety. Lighted cabinet and a port on the side for a vacuum to keep it clear inside. I built the rolly cart with 4 drawers under it to get it to bench height.

 

How is the grease going to get past the bearing shields?

 

I took them off inside the spindle.