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here is how I sharpen my mower blades!

Started by doc henderson, April 27, 2020, 11:34:50 PM

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doc henderson

I usually forget to take pics, but when it is time to mow, I feel like a pit crew at Indy sometimes, and thought I would share how I get my blades ready.  I use my DeWalt batt. operated angle grinder with a flapper wheel, and my 1/2 inch impact.  



 


 
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

scsmith42

Doc, I'd say that your method will g'itter done!  I have to do something similar with my Scag this morning.  When my lift is free I'll just run the mower up in the air and sharpen right on it.  

Since the lift isn't free today I'll remove the blades and sharpen them on the bench.

BTW, nice slab bench there!
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

thecfarm

We mow a lot here. The blades that I use to change would start out maybe 3 inches across and by the end of the season would be 2 inches across at the ends. 
Sharpen blades sure do cut better.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

moodnacreek

If I am in a hurry I put the stone on upside down and do it on the machine. Otherwise on a bench grinder but they don't get balanced.

Southside

I don't bother sharpening my mower blades.  ;D


 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

sawguy21

Quote from: scsmith42 on April 28, 2020, 06:18:32 AM
Doc, I'd say that your method will g'itter done!  I have to do something similar with my Scag this morning.  When my lift is free I'll just run the mower up in the air and sharpen right on it.  

Since the lift isn't free today I'll remove the blades and sharpen them on the bench.

BTW, nice slab bench there!
I would like to see how you do them on the machine. I tried it but wasn't at all satisfied with the results. doc, from the look of the sail on that blade I would say it's on the last season.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Crusarius

Those blades have at least 5 seasons left in them :) 

When I can actually get the mower out of the shed if the mud ever dries up I will have to post a pic of what they should look like when they are junk :)

doc henderson

It is funny, but it is a  commercial mower (expensive)  but blades are like $14 each.  pretty cheap.  if I can see a brown tip on the end of a blade of grass, I know I am beating the grass and not cutting.  It is nice that the front deck is made to swing up and lock.  15/16th socket and I am good to go.  I have 4 sets of blades thinking I would keep them all sharp.  I usually do it just before mowing about every 3rd or 4th time.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

K-Guy

Quote from: Southside on April 28, 2020, 08:57:26 AMI don't bother sharpening my mower blades. 

it figures Southside would find the easy way to do it!! thumbs-up
Nyle Service Dept.
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
- D. Adams

Walnut Beast

Quote from: Southside on April 28, 2020, 08:57:26 AM
I don't bother sharpening my mower blades.  ;D



And I'm assuming fertilizing 😂😂😂

Nebraska

I walked into the shop a few days ago and my 18 year old had the mower pulled up on the hoist one blade already sharpened and starting on the next one, even though I had 3 sets sharp on the wall already.  I hadn't said a thing about it. He wasn't even in trouble or wanting anything. 
It's too bad they get to be really good help then they are grown and gone.

21incher

I used to have to sharpen my kubota blades every couple weeks and then I switched to the Oregon G6 fusion blades. They have carbide fused to the cutting edge and I get a whole season from a new set without having  to sharpen  then just buy a new set the next year because they are cheap and wear like standard blades once the carbide is worn off. Cut much better then kubota blades also.
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

Crusarius

never even heard of those. sounds nice. I am pretty sure the set of blades on my mower is the original set maybe the second. the mower is a 2005 :)

doc henderson

mine look like there is hardening brazed on.  when dull have rough granular appearance.  occasionally a chunk is taken out, but if just a dull edge i just make it sharp again and do not balance.  mine do not have key-ways, but 2 screws that mis-align the blades so they do not hit in the middle.  if you hit something hard, it shears the little screws so you do not mess up the gear reduction or drive train.  they rotate in opposite directions so each blade is different.  i always change/sharpen one at a time, since in my opinion, they turn in a direction that is counter intuitive!
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Larry

Quote from: doc henderson on April 27, 2020, 11:34:50 PM
I use my DeWalt batt. operated angle grinder with a flapper wheel

I've never used a flapper wheel.  I looked one up and its sorta expensive.  How do they cut compared to a grinding wheel?

I occasionally sharpen brush hog blades on the machine.  Mower blades I usually remove and sharpen on a 2 X 72 belt grinder with a 36 grit belt.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

doc henderson

flappers are more forgiving.  push hard and they cut, but do not catch and dig it,  lighter pressure almost polishes the surface.  easier to find your angle.  splurge on one and give it a try.  I get mine at lowes.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

caveman

 
I do about the same as you, Doc, except I hold them with the bench vise when sharpening.  I'll wear out a couple of sets of blades a season.  I try to install them on different spindles when putting them back on.  The blade nearest the discharge has to contact a lot more grass than the others since it has the other two blades' grass to contend with too.

We were installing the pto clutch but if I don't want to crawl on the ground I sometimes use my orange hoist to change blades too and to change tires.

 

 
Caveman

Crusarius

Flap disks are great! My only real gripe with them is the very short lifespan. But one of the best things about them, when they are all used up they polish steel to a mirror finish.

I prefer to use what I call a soft pad. Soft pad grinding

They last quite a bit longer and are flexible enough you can grind inside radius. they can be a bit grabby on edges of sheet metal so beware of that. They leave a much smoother / cleaner finish than a grinding stone does. and its alot less abuse on the body. Quieter to. These to will polish steel nicely. But not nearly as nice as a worn out flap disk.

WV Sawmiller

   I added a pulley on my deer skinning rack and hooked a 1/4" cable about 20' long with hooks on each end. I drive the mower under the crosspiece on the skinning rack, pull the ATV in front, hook one end of the cable in the mower and the other to the winch on the ATV and back up/winch the mower vertical then take the blade nuts off with an electric impact wrench one at a time (So I remember which direction to put it back on - not that anybody could even reverse them, right? :D), I take the blade into my old log barn and sharpen on a 6" grinder and balance on a little inverted top looking balancer (If the blade tilts to one side I find I can normally pick it up and put it back down on the balancer and it shifts  ::)). I take the blade back and replace and repeat with the other 2. I may start just using a socket wrench to tighten as I think I am over torquing the blade nut on re-installation.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Sedgehammer

Quote from: K-Guy on April 28, 2020, 11:56:54 AM
Quote from: Southside on April 28, 2020, 08:57:26 AMI don't bother sharpening my mower blades.

it figures Southside would find the easy way to do it!! thumbs-up
Building fence, digging H20 lines and milkin cows is easy...... :D
But I do digress, I agree with that method....
Necessity is the engine of drive

K-Guy

Quote from: Sedgehammer on April 29, 2020, 08:38:16 AMBuilding fence, digging H20 lines and milkin cows is easy...... But I do digress, I agree with that method....


But he also gets to eat them!! digin1
Nyle Service Dept.
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
- D. Adams

WV Sawmiller

   I guess I missed that part about where it was easy to build fences and milk cows and such when I was growing up and after we moved here to WV. Can somebody please explain to me what I was doing wrong?
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Sedgehammer

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on April 29, 2020, 08:58:45 AM
  I guess I missed that part about where it was easy to build fences and milk cows and such when I was growing up and after we moved here to WV. Can somebody please explain to me what I was doing wrong?
Yeah. I missed it also.....
From age 9 on up at 5 am even on school days. But I loved every minute of it.
It made us who we are today. 
Necessity is the engine of drive

Tom King

I've used a side grinder for as long as I've used a mower, until last Winter, and a pro blade sharpener showed up on CL.  Now they're not only sharp, but pretty too.  I have it mounted on the door of a shop, and it's used when the door is hooked open.  There is also an Oregon blade balancer on that door.  The other door, of those double doors, has a chain sharpener on it.  That way, the mess stays outside, where it doesn't matter.

I have a chain hoist in the shed for the mower, and an air wrench. 

On the 7' rotary cutter, I fabricated a door on the back deck that opens, allowing the use of a 9" side grinder.  That cutter, with dual rear wheels, cuts as good as a finish mower when it has sharp blades.  Two guys stopped by when I was making that door.  One guy said, "I want one of those!!"  The other guy said, "ALL Bushogs should have one of them!!"

The 15' batwing allows access to all the blades when the wings are up.  The same 9" side grinder gets used for those too.  I have a wooden contraption that holds the blades so they don't move.

I like to cut the grass, not beat it down.  We have a lot of grass to cut, and we keep up several old museum house yards.  We're not the cheapest grass cutting outfit, but they come out better not having to get us to fix windows.

Southside

So milking cows is easy - the robot (that I don't own, maybe some day) - makes it effortless, now paying for the $300K robot is a different story....

No more burying water lines for me!!  Picked up a very heavy 3 bottom, 3pt hitch sub soiler this spring, going to fabricate a couple of curved line guides onto the back of the shanks and reel holders on top of the frame.  Be able to bury water, electric, and PEX all in one pass, 3' apart from each other, all while sitting in the air conditioned cab of Big Green - 8 wheels and 300 HP worth of comfort.  

We "build" fence every stinking day, cross fencing for rotational grazing.  Most of the time it's not too bad, but when the ground it baked hard dry or it's hurricane like rain - well that's not exactly fun....
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

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