Blades Collide on 62D Mower Deck

ovrszd · Apr 10, 2018

I've had JD mowers for 35 years. Never saw one where the blades were sloppy on the spindle.

beenthere · Apr 10, 2018

Oldoak
Don't think the correct blades have any slop in them.. check to see if JD blades and the correct part #.

For certain there is not "considerable slop" in factory blades for the mower deck.

Blades are stamped with part no., and would be real interested if you'd offer the stampings on your blades. Could help many that may read this thread.

BigBlue1 · Apr 10, 2018

Oldoak said:
Although I don't think it is the cause of the problem of the blades hitting each other, I do think JD's design is BAD. On the mower deck for my X758, the holes in the blades are considerably larger than the spindle shoulder. That inordinate amount of clearance doesn't allow for precise centering of the blades on the spindle which can cause the blades to be out of balance. Not good engineering! And yes they were original blades and JD replacement blades have the same sloppy fit.

Other than that single issue with the mower deck, I certainly love my X758!

That doesn't sound right. All JD blades I've seen (or 3rd party JD replacements) have a hole the same size as the shoulder on the end of the spindle. Self aligning and pretty hard to mess up. The stock and Gator blades for my x758 are sized correctly.

Rob

KennyG · Apr 11, 2018

My 62D uses blades that are a tight fit in the shoulder with a smaller bolt. It's a pretty good system. However it is possible to tighten the bolt with the blade offset and not seated on the shoulder if you don't pay attention. (Don't ask how I know that. )

ovrszd · Apr 11, 2018

Yep, I'm guessing that's what happened. Just not sure we are going to find out.

BigBlue1 · Apr 11, 2018

Odd that the OP hasn't been back here.

npalen · Apr 12, 2018

I'm sure that most folks realize this but don't know that anyone has mentioned it in this thread: Most mowers with two or more blades have the spindles offset several inches front to back so the blades overlap for a clean cut don't hit each other.
Having said that, my mower is a 48" with two blades that are not staggered but they are timed via gearboxes and flats on the spindles to prevent contact. It's an Exmark Navigator.

beenthere · Apr 12, 2018

The OP has not signed in since the first post.. and previous post was over 4 years ago. So not a very active TBN member.
Also, as K7LN mentioned, this could be a bit embarrassing to discover..
But the thread may help others who run across it in the future.

The time I recall not having the blade seated was discovered when I moved the blades around by hand, looking to see that the tips were passing at the same point. If a blade is bent, then they don't pass in the same plane. That test showed right away that something was wrong.. and it was a blade not being centered on the spindle shaft correctly.

Industrial Toys · Apr 12, 2018

I once heard that in premier sail boat racing, a competitor once threw a cotter pin onto another boat.

This thread reminds me of that. I had no idea it was "stale". Now, we will never know. I'm not sure I can live with that.

BigBlue1 · Apr 12, 2018

Industrial Toys said:
I once heard that in premier sail boat racing, a competitor once threw a cotter pin onto another boat.

This thread reminds me of that. I had no idea it was "stale". Now, we will never know. I'm not sure I can live with that.

What does that first statement even mean??

As for 'stale', are you misinterpreting beenthere's post? He was saying the OP had not previously posted on the forum for 4 years before creating this thread. This thread is only days old. It is not some old thread revived.

It is always nice when an OP follows up with results or the final solution. I hate it when someone lobs out a question and then never reappears.

Rob

Industrial Toys · Apr 12, 2018

Or throws a cotter pin onto your boat prior to a competition.

BigBlue1 · Apr 12, 2018

Industrial Toys said:
Or throws a cotter pin onto your boat prior to a competition.

I still don't get it. Must be an inside-the-sport story or something. Is extra weight that bad for sailboat racing? Or does it refer to finding a mysterious part that you think may have fallen out from something?

Industrial Toys · Apr 12, 2018

EXACTLY! Drives you CRAZY!

KennyG · Apr 12, 2018

Since we're going off topic, years ago I was overhauling a Datsun 1200cc truck engine. I pulled it apart at my Dad's place, put the parts in boxes and took it home. When I finally got around to putting it back together a few months later I had two half circle shims I couldn't find a place for. Finally I gave up in frustration and called my Dad for advice. He laughed and told me I had WD45 clutch shims that must have been in the box.

Deere Dude · Apr 12, 2018

Industrial Toys said:
EXACTLY! Drives you CRAZY!

I always have extra parts and I still am kind of sane.:confused2::confused2::confused2:

Peter 315 · Apr 12, 2018

Deere Dude said:
I always have extra parts and I still am kind of sane.:confused2::confused2::confused2:

Did my 50 hour service pulled the hydraulic filter shield down and found a short small bolt, Don 't know where it come from...:confused3:

kb2520 · Apr 15, 2018

Thanks everyone for the support and replies, and I'm sorry about my apparent misuse of the forum and poor forum etiquette. This was not my intent. When I created the thread, I thought I had checked the box to receive notification emails when replies were posted. I guess I didn't after all. When I didn't get any emails, I just didn't check back until the weekend. Apologies.

To clarify one detail, these are OEM blades that are original to the deck. They've been taken off and remounted a number of times for sharpening, cleaning and routine maintenance.

KennyG said:
Take them off and start over and you should be fine.

The solution to the issue I encountered was as simple as this. The spindle has a shoulder that the blade rests on, as others have said. The bolt simply holds the blade to the shoulder. In the relationship between the hole in the blade and the spindle shoulder, there is maybe 1/8" of slack or "wobble". I took the blades off and put them back on and there was no issue. Then I loosened the two outer blades and pulled them each toward the center blade and tightened them down. When I did this "on purpose", I was able to re-create the issue. So my problem was a product of misaligned variables and just going too fast. I brought the question here because I thought there could be a problem much bigger than that.

Hopefully this thread will help someone in the future. And again thanks everyone for the replies.

ovrszd · Apr 15, 2018

Thank you very much for the update.

Yep. Sometime in the future someone might have this problem and do a "search" here. They may find their problem and fix it because of your update. Thanks again!!!

BigBlue1 · Apr 15, 2018

Thanks for the update on the issue. Seem weird that there is that much play between the hole in the blade and the shoulder on the spindle. Decks I've had didn't seem to have much play at all and seemed to have 1/4" or so between blades even if I did line them up to meet.

I'd suggest for anyone installing blades to ensure when you put them on that when you spin them by hand they don't meet up. If two end up that way loosen on up and re-clock it. Little insurance for situations like yours.

Rob

Oldoak · Apr 15, 2018

kb2520 said:
Thanks everyone for the support and replies, and I'm sorry about my apparent misuse of the forum and poor forum etiquette. This was not my intent. When I created the thread, I thought I had checked the box to receive notification emails when replies were posted. I guess I didn't after all. When I didn't get any emails, I just didn't check back until the weekend. Apologies.

To clarify one detail, these are OEM blades that are original to the deck. They've been taken off and remounted a number of times for sharpening, cleaning and routine maintenance.

The solution to the issue I encountered was as simple as this. The spindle has a shoulder that the blade rests on, as others have said. The bolt simply holds the blade to the shoulder. In the relationship between the hole in the blade and the spindle shoulder, there is maybe 1/8" of slack or "wobble". I took the blades off and put them back on and there was no issue. Then I loosened the two outer blades and pulled them each toward the center blade and tightened them down. When I did this "on purpose", I was able to re-create the issue. So my problem was a product of misaligned variables and just going too fast. I brought the question here because I thought there could be a problem much bigger than that.

Hopefully this thread will help someone in the future. And again thanks everyone for the replies.

View attachment 549123

Red color is my doing to highlight just what I complained about (sloppy fit) in my comment #22. And of course a few chimed in right away about having the wrong blades, etc, when I had two sets of O.E.M. blade for my deck. Now you just confirmed the same poor design that I found. :thumbsup: