Mower Deck Blade Alignment

Lloyd_E · May 12, 2005

I took off the blades on my 52" mower to sharpen and didn't note positioning. Does it matter how they are aligned when I put them back on? Should they all be oriented differently, all aligned etc?

Lloyd

bczoom · May 12, 2005

As far as I know, it doesn't matter.

Spiffy · May 12, 2005

If you have a belt drive between blades [I don't know of any that don't], they'll never stay in one particular alignment too long anyway.

The only thing to watch for: a few brands have "non-round" holes (square or star, etc.) or pins an inch or so away from the arbor hole, if so you want to align these for proper tightening to occur.

Can't resist the obvious: Yes, it is possible to get them on "up-side-down" /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

LBrown59 · May 24, 2005

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Can't resist the obvious: Yes, it is possible to get them on "up-side-down" /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )</font>
This will cause the grass to stretch

Egon · May 24, 2005

The three blade mowers have the front blade forward so they can't hit each other but overlap on the cutting. And yes they can be reversed on some types.

Egon

millsnhills · May 25, 2005

Ok, I took my blades off night before last to sharpen. While mowing it looked like all of the grass was not being cut properly. As I was riding around "honestly" I was thinking to myself well I have not ask a stupid question on TractorByNet lately /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I have a 60 MMM, how do you know if you have the blades upside down or not /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Dutch445 · May 25, 2005

I would say that the cutting edge of the blade should have a single bevel, or taper to the cutting edge. That bevel should be on the top of the blade, and the bottom of the blade should be flat across it's width right to the edge.. If you have an area that isn't cutting well,, it could be very possible it's upside down. A blade will still cut, although poorly without the sharp edge. maybe cut isnt' the right word,, shred, tear, stretch!
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

rwmeyer · May 26, 2005

Another "quick & dirty " way of determining which way the blades are mounted is to look at the discharge chute on your deck. The cutting edge should face the opening of the chute. This helps throw the grass clippings out the chute. I can never remember which direction the blades rotate and its backwards anyhow 'cuz the deck is upside down. Facing the cutting edge towards the chute opening has never led me astray yet! Bob

Lloyd_E · May 26, 2005

Thanks for the replies. As Egon knows, we have had 7 days of rain, with serious damage to homes and bridges. I am glad I live on a hill. Egon, the carding mill in your town looked like it was going to float away today.

The grass in getting taller and I haven't had a chance to mow or work on ny fence project.
I starting to grow gills and look a little moldy. We are expected to get more rain over the next five days. This is causing serious problems for farmers trying to plant seed.

Normally we get around 124 millimetres of rain for this month. We have received so far 353+ and it is not over. There were times the rain has totalled 2.5 inches in 1 hour with flash floading.

My understanding for the mower blade is: flat part of blade is bottom with angle of blade facing deck - top.

This is a great little mower - 25 hp, 52" deck, high/low range, cruise control and parking brake. Oh, and a cup holder too! I mow just over 4-5 acres in 3-4 hours. I usually do the fields every two weeks and the home/acreage every week. Iwore out a 12 hp MTD over a ten year period trying to do the same thing. Fro what i can find this ubit is made by White with national branding stickers attached.

cheers,

lloyd

Michigan_Mike · May 31, 2005

I have a 60" mower with 3 blades.
The first time I took the blades off for sharpening, I didn't even think about alignment.
When I replaced them, and started the mower up, there was a terrible vibration. The vibration stopped before I could shut the mower down, but when I looked at the blades, they seemed to have realigned themselves. The next time, I paid more attention to the positioning, and the problem didn't recur.