I've got a Masport lawnmower with those short blades (2) attached to a round middle bit of metal (what a wonderfully technical description... I'm a bit challenged on this as you can probably tell.. )
After many hours of use the blades are really looking shocking and just ripping the grass off rather than cutting it... .. can I remove them and get them sharpened or do I just go buy new ones??? any idea of the cost of either option???
Make sure you disconnect the spark plug lead from the spark plug & make secure so it can't accidently come back into contact with the plug before attempting any work on underside of your lawnmower
Most bar or drum tractor mounted type mowers have a knife (short blade) that can be unbolted & reversed to provide a new edge
If the 2 knifes on your mower can be removed you will see if they are able to be turned over, if not since you've got them off quick swipe over a grinder or bit longer with a file, if they real bad grinder be best. Sharpening should cheapest option
Mower shop or small engineer workshop if not got the gears at home
Just don't turn the blade while you still have spark connected
What you're describing is a "flail blade" system, the same as on our Victa mowers. You'll probably find that the replacement price makes sharpening the old ones impractical. Also new ones will be balanced whereas if you sharpen them this probably won't be the case. You should also be supplied new fitting bolts as part of the new blade kit as the old ones can weaken over time.
Be prepared for a surprise when you compare new ones to what's left of the old ones [:0]
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yep agreed new ones cheaper and easier than get sharpen and am sure your smart enough to change them over ( girls can do anything ) and they are easy to do to.. um i found out the hard way that new ones were cheaper than getting sharpen
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I go with above even though we could sharpen them, as the bolts are often damaged so hard to get off and need replacing too, plus as said they are balanced and you can damage bearings on shaft if unbalanced $$$$$$$$$$$
after having the hard word from my brother (a lawn mower man in Auckland) I've decided not to risk having one fly off and take off my foot (god I hope he's exagerating) so the lawn mower is off to the Ashhurst Lawnmower centre on Friday morning (ready for a full on lawn mowing weekend!!!)... I imagine I could do it.. but I won't...
According to a professional mower I know, the blades should be kept sharp, with a maximum time of 8 hours mowing between each sharpening for most mowers of this type. You don't want to be replacing the blades this often![:0][]
The sharpening should not need to be a heavy grind at this interval, so should not affect balance any more than wear does, and really should improve it.
When we were running a mowing business we didnt sharpen ours that often!
Running maintenance meant giving them a flick over with a file every 20 hrs or so and then grinding them when there were obvious pieces chewed out of them (hate clients who leave things in long grass)
No matter who grinds them they then need to be balanced ... properly
Flail blades are a whole nuther story asthey are so small in relation to the areaof the spinning disc. Unless you are doing significant grinding on just ONE of them it's not usually much of a problem
But the DO need to be sharp or you are just ripping the grass
just got it back after a full service and new blades.. aparently there was a lot of stuff (flax and cabbage tree leaves) around the back of the blade thing (the big circular thing holding the blades) and it had damaged the oil seal and the mower was not going to last much longer so I'm glad I took it in for a service.. will enjoy mowing the lawn properly this weekend.. !!! worth the money spent.
3 girls farming;398096 wrote: just got it back after a full service and new blades.. aparently there was a lot of stuff (flax and cabbage tree leaves) around the back of the blade thing (the big circular thing holding the blades) and it had damaged the oil seal and the mower was not going to last much longer so I'm glad I took it in for a service.. will enjoy mowing the lawn properly this weekend.. !!! worth the money spent.
LOL Yes that would tend to slow you down!
One of the things we hated was having to pick up all the flax and cabbage tree leaves before we could mow. No wonder they were used to make baskets etc .. soo strong.
It's worth having a look under your mower every couple mows ... they usually need the thick layer of grass gunk scraped off anyway and it lets you know what else you have caught up.
Oh ..dont get too close to weedmat either! The threads from that will wind around the mower too and there are often loose bits hanging onto grass
