removing Brush Hog blade bolts

[ericm979]

Hi, I got the nuts off the blade bolts on my 6' Brush Hog with an air impact gun but could not get the bolts out of the blade carrier. I had a lot of penetrant, an engineers hammer and a length of pipe, and also tried an air hammer. I'm hoping to have another go at it with a propane torch (all I've got available) and a bigger hammer. Any other ideas or tips? Should I try heating the blade carrier though the access hole, or from below? I'll have it up on jack stands.

The blades are pretty worn so I think this unit got a lot of use and the bolts are probably original.

 

[mwayne]

In my case, I took the whole assembly off the mower. Once the assembly was blocked up on the concrete floor I was able to whack the blade bolts properly with a sledgehammer to remove them. The bolt ends were chamfered well enough that I didn't have to grind anything off after beating on them.
Taking the assembly off of the shaft was accomplished by making a puller using a 20 ton jack.

 

[Jkott]

Mine are tapered, keyed bolts. I set the stump jumper on blocks and beat it with a hammer from the top. I left the nut on most of the threads to avoid mushrooming the bolt head.

Without bracing the stump jumper, the first time I removed my blades, things just bounced and recoiled when I hit them with the hammer and the force didn’t act on the bolt.

 

[2manyrocks]

I had a stuck PTO shaft that I tried lubricating with ATF/acetone. Seemed to take forever, but repeatedly using an air hammer to vibrate the assembly seemed to allow the fluid to penetrate the rust.

 

[oosik]

The blade bolts on my JD mmm were a PITA also. Had to drop the mmm and get really serious. Lots of penetrating oil and electric torque wrench.

Installed new blades & bolts. Used anti-seize on the bolts. Hope that helps next time.

 

[deserteagle71]

Guess I was lucky. When I went to remove the blades off my 20+ year old mower (bought it new) the rattle gun removed the nuts easily. I threaded the nuts back on a few threads and gave them a tap with a claw hammer and the bolts popped right out.

 

[mjonesnh]

Have 2 sets of blades for my Bushhog SQ600. Put sharpened set on in spring, sharpen dull set then swap out dull for sharp set in a year. Use anti-seize on bolts and threads. Have 3/4 battery impact, spins nuts right off. 2-3 whacks with a shop hammer and 1" bar of steel rounded on end as not to damage threads and bolts fall right out

 

[Lineman North Florida]

You can beat till the cows come home and as long as the stump jumper is flexing you aren't getting a solid lick, take a bottle jack and put it under the stump jumper to stop it from moving when you hit the bolt, it should come right out after you do this.