The end of last year I purchased new blades for the Woods Dixie Cutter Brush Hog mower deck.
At one point in it's career it looked like this:
Sweet, don't ever take it out of the garage and it will maintain the wonderful luster.
Anyway, back to the "hour" project. The deck, here at the bunker, never really got any preventative maintenance from previous ownership. The blades were very worn and the seal on the bottom of the right angle drive leaks gear oil.
No problem, I'll just fix it right up.
After mowing the field the end of last season, I raised it up and figured out how to get the blades off. There is an access cover on the back of the deck but the threaded stud is rusted solid and I don't want to break it off, yet.
Crawling under the unit and using a parts diagram I was able to loosed the looking bolt on one of the blade pins and tool out the hardware and blade. The other pin was tight so I put it off until I got the parts and could spend the time. Little did I know.......
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon.
Plan: swap the blades and mow the field.
Blade Pin: Fuck that, you're gonna be here until dusk.
The one pin came out with one hit. I had cleaned and greased it last season when I reinstalled it.
The other one.
I heated both sides of the blade mount at the thinnest cross-section to see if I could get it to expand.
After heating and pounding and prying and swearing and heating and ... you get it.
I finally grabbed the grinder and notched all around the end of the blade to get it out of the way.
I also ground a flat on the pin so I could put a large pipe wrench on it and get some "bite"
If memory serves me, they are 4140 hardened steel.
Adding some WD rust penetrant and a few hits the pin finally moved.
Since the blade was out of the way there was space to pound the pin in. Then I could get a crowbar behind the pin and pry it back out a bit.
Back and forth a few times then I added the pipe wrench and was able to get some rotational movement.
Finally out
Now, for those of you that would have suggested I un-bolt the mount crossbar, you will notice that the bolt holding that on has a captive washer the someone welded to the crossbar. The center bolt , above my finger is 1 1/8 hex. The washer has a hex broached in it and it welded.
I'll tackle that when I do the seal on the gearbox. ( I also need a smaller grinder)
Even though it was going to be a "quick" project, I considered safety up front. There was also a fire extinguisher handy during heating and grinding.
The old blades were pretty worn.
I have all new pins and hardware to reinstall during the week.
Also, those are steel-toed shoes. I learned my lessons over the years.
More later........
Stay safe out there...
Ah Feel Your Pain....
ReplyDeleteNever give up, never surrender.
You can feel good about putting that one in the Win Column.
Maybe a little something to try if there is ever a Next Tiime/
Drag out your welder and run a little bead around the top of the head of that pin.
It will come loose then when it cools off.
I had to resort to that on a U Joint cap on a International Semi Truck once.
Beating on it with a five pound sledge and a huge drift pin wouldn't budge it. Out of desperation I ran a small bead across the top.
It broke loose after that.
Damn. I dread getting to mine even to sharpen them. Now that they're worn enough to need replaced, I'm realllllly dreading it.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts on anti-seizing them, or just greasing them up and praying?
been there-done that...coat the pin, locking plate, shims, slide in clip and bolt with anti-seaze when you reassemble..it will all fall apart next time...also-super clean all parts before assembly...I stopped sharpening those knives years ago...buy new knives every year or two and move forward.
ReplyDeleteAnti-seize is your friend. Use it liberally. I bought a Diamond shredder for my skid steer and love it. It's made to be bullet proof and will cut down 5-6" trees but to change the blades I had to drive out a roll pins that hadn't been anti seized and were a bear to get out. My old Bushhog brand shredder was easy. An access hole in the deck and use the 3/4" impact to take the nuts loose and a hammer and bar to drive out the pivot bolts and that old shredder I bought used and went through hell before the deck finally wore out from vibration.
ReplyDeleteVeterans day is Thursday November 11th 2021
ReplyDeleteThanks for catching that. I know what happened but it’s no excuse. I appreciate you letting me know.
DeleteIrish
Veterans Day is Thursday November 11th, 2021
ReplyDeleteAfter I got tired of beating on a ball joint I grabbed my air chisel.
ReplyDeleteBrrrp.
Done.
And yeah, Antiseize is your friend.
There is a brand a notch or two above WD-40 called SiliKroil. It's pricey but works. I found out about it from a work project where we had a particular vehicle with 1.25 inch diameter stainless bolts that were galling and "cold welding" to bronze alloy bushings inside a forged aluminum part. We would use kid's play clay to build a sort of bucket around the bolt then pour in this SiliKroil and let it soak for a day or more before finally breaking them loose with big tools. I got some for farm projects like this and if I can remember, I will pre-soak for a day or two before the "combat" ops. Good times, fixing old farm equipment!
ReplyDeleteHazeGray
as they said above, never sieze is your friend.
ReplyDeleteAnd when you go to pull the blade holder so you can replace the deal, you'll likely need a bit of chain and a hydraulic jack to get it to move off of the splined shaft...and a bigger torch than you showed in the picture.
Suggestion: Get a small pistol grip air chisel and a blunt chisel for it. You can often :rattle" the part loose(er) that way. It really works!
Get a cheap set of air chisel tools. You can hack the longest one off. A trip through the scrap yard and a piece of 7/8" rod, anything around that,hack off a short piece, A little over an inch, drill, braze, and you have a Badass air hammer.
ReplyDeleteIf you spot a hammer face that looks like a body hammer, they are handy on sheet metal, but if you're trying to beat on seized up stuff, as soon as it drifts to one side, that face snaps off.
MAPP gas is fine for soldering copper tubing, but is no comparison to an oxy-acetylene torch sporting a rose bud tip. About the time that collar got cherry red, that pin would have come out. Been there, done that, with track pins on a JD 450C crawler. We actually had The Farm's torches and mine heating it at the same time. First time we split the tracks, it took hours.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as suggested, ever-sleaze is your friend. ;-)
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
The bearing in the gearbox is probably going to call for a preload.
ReplyDeleteCheck your owners manual if you got one.
You've got a lot more patience than I do.
ReplyDeleteI'd have made that bolt liquid.
On my brush hog I ended up using a cutting torch to cut the head off then cut the core out of one of the bolts to remove it.
ReplyDeleteYour main error was not soaking the pins with PB Blast penetrating chemicals. WD is wimpy by comparison. Have soaked things with PB for 2 or 3 DAYS ahead of working on em, wrap a rag around it after spraying and spray more on it. They seem to come loose with minimal effort. The only real bugaboo is when you are dealing with aluminum alloy with steel fasteners such as caliper bleeders or equipment zerks, those are a bitch to work loose when very old.
ReplyDeleteI live in a desert area, and often miss fields. Then I see posts like this, and remember that there are some benefits to just being surrounded by sand! Sorry about all that, Irish - looks like a pain.
ReplyDelete--ExpatGuy
I have a Woods XT160 rotary cutter that is very similar to yours. You just reminded me why I have been putting off replacing the blades. I purchased a set of blades and a stump jumper kit that has sat in my shop languishing for years. The gearbox on mine leaks pretty bad and makes unhealthy sounds which will need replacing too. I see that you have similar tastes in tractors. I love my John Deere 4410. It is not exactly a farm tractor but it is a nice size for cutting trails in the woods as well as our fields. It has been a great tractor. NEVER been to the shop (knock on wood & hope I don't jinx it) but she is slowly falling apart with all of the plastic body parts. Sadly, John Deere tractors have earned a sour reputation over the years for numerous problems & reliability, not to mention outrageous price increases. I am in the process of upgrading to a larger tractor in the 100 hp. range. Been looking at the Kubota M5-111 cab tractor and the TYM T-1104 Cab tractor. We run a beekeeping operation and my little JD 4410 struggles to just barely get the 1,500 lb. totes of honey bee dry feed off the ground. Not the tractor's fault, I am way over taxing it. I really enjoy reading your blog, it is a must read for me everyday with morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteI have a Woods XT160 rotary cutter that is very similar to yours. You just reminded me why I have been putting off replacing the blades. I purchased a set of blades and a stump jumper kit that has sat in my shop languishing for years. The gearbox on mine leaks pretty bad and makes unhealthy sounds which will need replacing too. I see that you have similar tastes in tractors. I love my John Deere 4410. It is not exactly a farm tractor but it is a nice size for cutting trails in the woods as well as our fields. It has been a great tractor. NEVER been to the shop (knock on wood & hope I don't jinx it) but she is slowly falling apart with all of the plastic body parts. Sadly, John Deere tractors have earned a sour reputation over the years for numerous problems & reliability, not to mention outrageous price increases. I am in the process of upgrading to a larger tractor in the 100 hp. range. Been looking at the Kubota M5-111 cab tractor and the TYM T-1104 Cab tractor. We run a beekeeping operation and my little JD 4410 struggles to just barely get the 1,500 lb. totes of honey bee dry feed off the ground. Not the tractor's fault, I am way over taxing it. I really enjoy reading your blog, it is a must read for me everyday with morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteWas helping a friend with his one day. We were using about 8 foot long cheater pipe. Yes when it broke free both of us went flying a couple feet. We laughed but got it done. He went out and bought an industrial impact wrench for the next time. I reminded him of it recently. I thought because he did not like flying, now he has his pilots license.
ReplyDeleteYou did just fine with what you had on hand, sir. Ohio Guy
ReplyDeletePer Pop Mechanics, use a mixture of acetone and transmission fluid (90w oil) equal amounts. Have used it for years. Inexpensive and it works,
ReplyDeleteDarn, I just love a man with SKILLS!
ReplyDeleteCap'n Jan
Impact driver is your friend, got the blades off my old Husky ride on no problem - brrrt done. the old blades had done 940 hours, well frozen. (I did put copperslip on the threads for the new blades though! :) )
ReplyDelete