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Quick Question - Reverse threads on mower deck blade bolts?

73K views 15 replies 15 participants last post by  Rarefish383 
#1 ·
Are the bolts holding on the blades on my 54" deck (for a 445) reverse thread or normal? I've having one helluva time getting any of them off...
:thanku:
 
#4 ·
Yeah, I almost broke my 3/8 drive ratchet as well, it slipped out of the gearing, I thought it had broke... soooo, I went to Sears and bought myself a 1/2 drive flex/breaker bar and a set of 1/2 drive sockets. I still had to put a piece of 1" pipe over the handle to get the bolts loose.. yowsers!

Anyway, thanks for the info. I did get them all off, and without breaking anything :) :thThumbsU
 
#8 ·
Make sure you put in new bolts and coat them with anti sieze...I never reuse those bolts...
 
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#16 ·
Absolutely, always use anti seize. Some people think it makes the bolt slippery and it will vibrate out, WRONG. I use it on my stump grinder bolts, bush hog swinging 20 pound blades, brush chipper knives spinning 10-12000 rpm, and both of my JD blades. If I torque a bolt to 90 pounds, it breaks loose at 90. I don’t torque my mower blades, if I use a breaker bar, it’s one good grunt going on, and one good grunt coming off. Since I got my new compressor I only use the impact. Zip on, zip off. Anti seize is the single most under rated tool to maintaining out door equipment. I never have rounded nuts or bolts since I started using it.
 
#9 ·
I have a JD 445 the Treads are Right Hand, These are good size Bolts, if i remember right it takes a 15/16 socket, to make them come out with out so much trouble, put a little Never Seze on the threads before you reinstal the blades, what you need to do is get a short chain, like 1/4 in. about 3 or 4 ft. long, with a hook on one end, place the hook over the end of the blade and rap the chain around something to hold the blade, i put a 3/8 in. bolt through the chain end to keep the chain from slipping, now that you have the Blade where it wont turn, take a good 6 point socket on either a 1/2 impac or a 1/2 in braker bar with a short piece of pipe for a cheater bar, i have a piece of 1 in. pipe about 18in. long that i use, when you put the blades back on check in the owners manual they may have how much torque they need, if not just use the braker bar, but not the cheate bar, i bet the bolts were put in dry last time there were out, OR some one put them back on with a impac wrench and went WAY to TIGHT, I just went out to the shop and checked the Book, it calls for 83 FT. Lb of torque, i dont ever do that because i have worked of stuff enough to know, if you are not familar with things like this, best thing i can tell you to do is tighten them up about as tight as you would tighten the lug nut on a car tire, another Thing the heads of the bolts will ware, dont let them go to the point that your socket wont catch, i change my bolts about ever 3 years,
 
#15 ·
Ditto on using an impact gun. Also you can use a 2 foot piece of 2x4 to put between the blades and housing to stop them from turning.
If using thick blades consider using longer bolts so that you have enough thread engaging.
If threads are stripped out you can often use a "bottoming" tab to get more thread with longer bolts.
 
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