How Is A Land Pride Blade Held Together ?

Gordon Gould · Jan 21, 2011

I have a Land Pride RBT1572 Rear Blade. While dragging a woods trail the other day the blade suddenly got all floppy. When I looked at it I could see that the large vertical cylinder that acts as a hinge pin for horizontal rotation had either dropped down out of the hole in the upper plate or worn so that it was no longer captured by the upper plate. I tightened the crown nut on top a full 3/8" to pull the cylinder back up into the frame hole. As you can see in the pic the crown nut is now way below the cotter pin hole in the stud. Normal ? I don't Know.
My question is this: How is that stud secured ? I tried to screw the stud back in with a couple jam nuts but couldn't move it. Land Pride does not show it as a separate part so it must be perminent.
I can't figure out if the pin was just caught by a hair and finally gave way after ten years of use or if the stud backed out and I should somehow get it back down. Does anyone Know ? I just dont want it to fall apart on me.
Thanks
gg

Zork · Jan 21, 2011

Sorry to hear you are having troubles. IMO just take that nut off and lift the 3pt so the blade drops down and you can see everything. Just do not allow anyone near the blade because it can fall on them.

Haoleguy · Jan 21, 2011

Gordon - Try the frame & blade parts view from the Land Pride site.....main page --> parts lookup ---> enter model # ---> select frame and blade parts view . Is that what you're looking for?.....Gary

Gordon Gould · Jan 21, 2011

Zork said:
Sorry to hear you are having troubles. IMO just take that nut off and lift the 3pt so the blade drops down and you can see everything. Just do not allow anyone near the blade because it can fall on them.

Thanks for the reply. But I have done that. There is nothing to see without a complete disassembly so I that can see up into the bottom of the cylinder assuming there is no cap welded on the bottom. I was hoping to avoid that. The top of the cylinder has a internal cap welded in it. The stud is embedded in this cap. I would like to know if it is threaded or welded in. I can't turn it (yet).

Haoleguy · Jan 21, 2011

Gordon - I think you are right on the single piece as I looked further into Section 3 and it shows your style blade connection and they show it as one piece. I might suggest you ask the Land Pride technical rep. Before I purchased my RBT3596 I talked specifics over with the tech rep. Turns out he worked on the assembly line and had first hand knowledge that pertained to my question. Might you be looking at a warranty claim?.....Gary

Zork · Jan 21, 2011

I guess you could turn it over and do more investigation. However, if the large "black" cylinder-like hinge pin dropped down (loosened your blade) but the threaded bolt and upper washer was tight, and the cylinder tightened up when you tightened the nut then I would ASSUME the threaded portion (bolt) has broken loose from the inside of the large cylinder but still kept that upper cap tight, and still has enough friction to temporarily tighten it to the original position. I suspect that portion of the washer would have been obviously welded (like my blade and no bolt or nut) if that nut and bolt could not disassemble it.

Haoleguy · Jan 21, 2011

Gordon - Is the "Blade Mount Weldment" secure with 5 bolts as per the parts drawing?...Gary

Haoleguy · Jan 21, 2011

Gordon - In re-reading your first post I think that if all the parts are in the right place per the parts drawings, there are no obvious metal or weld breaks, security pins are in place, and the unit doesn't wobble I think you will be good to go. That vertical cylinder frame better known as the "Blade Mount Weldment" seems to be the key. If it is secure and not moving then the unit is probably fine and won't fall off....Gary

Gordon Gould · Jan 21, 2011

Haoleguy said:
Gordon - In re-reading your first post I think that if all the parts are in the right place per the parts drawings, there are no obvious metal or weld breaks, security pins are in place, and the unit doesn't wobble I think you will be good to go. That vertical cylinder frame better known as the "Blade Mount Weldment" seems to be the key. If it is secure and not moving then the unit is probably fine and won't fall off....Gary

This is true - as long as the stud is not slowly backing out. The blade and blade mount weldment all hang on this stud via the big cap washer (for lack of a better word) under the crown nut. I know it is fine to use the way it is now (as long as the stud isnt caught by just a few threads). I just want to know if I should be able to turn the stud in or is it welded in place. If it is welded I have no problem.

Chilly807 · Jan 21, 2011

Something's adrift there... I have the same blade without the tilt option, and the hole in the stud lines up height-wise with the slots in the castle nut as you can see in the pic. Mine has almost no slack in the pivot, iow the nut is fairly tight. Your's looks like it's almost a quarter inch higher for some reason.

You really should take it apart, if something's shifted it may break if you keep using it. I think the stud is welded in, but I'm not 100% sure without taking mine apart. Easiest way is to lower the blade to the ground, then remove the castle nut and top plate washer.

You should be able to see what's happened at that point. If not, get someone to support the blade and then raise the 3 ph. Mine's light enough that I can pick up the tail boom with one hand and support the blade with the other. I'm not a gorilla either..

I'd say the bolt has broken loose from it's weld, nothing much else would allow it to raise like that, probably just the head holding it from coming through. They may have used a longer bolt than needed and simply welded it at the required height.

Sean