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Change Blades (SAFELY) on Riding Lawn Mower kkhopkins 05-18-2006
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Posted by on May 18, 2006, 2:00 pm
Hello,

I've been doing searches, but have not been able to find anything on
how to safely change the blades on a riding lawn mower. I have a new
Sears 42" Limited Edition Yard Tractor coming on Monday and want to put
two mulching blades on it. Weighing in at over 600 pounds, I realize I
can't just lift this thing up and slap the new mulching blades on it
without some kind of help.

Someone suggested a pully lift and a tree limb to raise the mower up
with, but I'm not so sure I would trust a the tree limb to hold it
securely. (Lot of dead looking limbs out back...)

My son-in-law left me some automotive drive-up ramps, but I was told
the blade deck will not allow the tractor to get up the ramps.

He also left a floor jack and a couple of jack stands, but I'm not sure
where to safely place the jack or the stands. (Don't want to damage the
mower either...) Should I lift the tractor up to one side and take off
one blade, let it down and lift it to the other side to get at the
other? Or is there a better (safer) approach?

I sure don't want to screw this up. I did discovered there is a blade
holding tool that looks like it would be worth the $8 purchase instead
of faking it with my vice grips the way I have with push mowers... Any
help appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the reply,


Posted by louie on May 18, 2006, 2:23 pm
It should be possible to remove the deck from the tractor by removing a
few pins or bolts in the lift mechanism and detaching the drive belt.
Also, it would be a very novel but GOOD idea to read the manual when it
arrives. It's quite likely that the blade changing procedure is in
there, since it's pretty much a maintenance item.


Posted by Chris Lewis on May 18, 2006, 2:40 pm
> It should be possible to remove the deck from the tractor by removing a
> few pins or bolts in the lift mechanism and detaching the drive belt.
> Also, it would be a very novel but GOOD idea to read the manual when it
> arrives. It's quite likely that the blade changing procedure is in
> there, since it's pretty much a maintenance item.

They may not get very detailed about blade changing, but they certainly
should have information on how to get at them.

My Cub Cadet instructions have details on how to get the mower deck on
and off. Once you got the deck off, changing blades is like changing it
on any other mower. Hold blade still (somehow), and undo the nut.

I think the OP was referring to something called a "blade brake". I
have one. Looks like a strange clamp made out of bent steel bar. It
clamps to the deck skirt in such a way as to trap the blade tip between
two bars so it can't rotate more than a bit. Blade nut removal is easy.

Mine was $6 (local hardware store was flushing their back room of odd bits).

The most popular tool in a small engines repair class ;-)

If I couldn't get the mower deck off, I'd jack up one side of the mower
and install jack stands. Awkward, but doable.

[I also have a chain hoist in the garage. Could lift the whole thing ;-)
But so far it's only been used to remove/reinstall the motor.]
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Posted by RayV on May 18, 2006, 2:33 pm
Looks like you and the SIL are soon to be candidates for a Darwin
award.
http://www.darwinawards.com/

1 raise the deck to full height to change
2 pull the pins and take the deck off to change
3 RTFM


Posted by dadiOH on May 18, 2006, 3:00 pm
kkhopkins@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've been doing searches, but have not been able to find anything on
> how to safely change the blades on a riding lawn mower. I have a new
> Sears 42" Limited Edition Yard Tractor coming on Monday and want to
> put two mulching blades on it. Weighing in at over 600 pounds, I
> realize I can't just lift this thing up and slap the new mulching
> blades on it without some kind of help.
>
> Someone suggested a pully lift and a tree limb to raise the mower up
> with, but I'm not so sure I would trust a the tree limb to hold it
> securely. (Lot of dead looking limbs out back...)
>
> My son-in-law left me some automotive drive-up ramps, but I was told
> the blade deck will not allow the tractor to get up the ramps.
>
> He also left a floor jack and a couple of jack stands, but I'm not
> sure where to safely place the jack or the stands. (Don't want to
> damage the mower either...) Should I lift the tractor up to one side
> and take off one blade, let it down and lift it to the other side to
> get at the other? Or is there a better (safer) approach?
>
> I sure don't want to screw this up. I did discovered there is a blade
> holding tool that looks like it would be worth the $8 purchase instead
> of faking it with my vice grips the way I have with push mowers... Any
> help appreciated.

As others said, take off the deck. Given what a PITA it is to do that, I'd
look for a stout limb.



--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico




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