# Removing mower blades



## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

Thought I was being proactive, had my mower serviced in he spring. Then today I spent 2 hours trying to get the blades off. Any ideas what I can do?

My only thought was call the place that did he service and tell them to come take them off. I was pulling with all my might so no idea what hey did. Maybe this is how they force me to bring it back to them.


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## jha4aamu (Oct 16, 2017)

What kind of mower is it? A simple impact wrench and the appropriate sized socket and they should come off pretty easily


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## feinhorn (May 3, 2021)

this (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Arnold-Blade-Removal-Tool/3490167?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-google-_-lia-_-146-_-moweraccessories-_-3490167-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-tSM9c368gIVSQaICR0IvgOJEAQYASABEgKE2_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) and penetrating oil


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

jha4aamu said:


> What kind of mower is it? A simple impact wrench and the appropriate sized socket and they should come off pretty easily


Scag walk behind.


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

+1 on the impact wrench.


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## Amoo316 (Jul 8, 2021)

My center blade on my Scag came torqued beyond the capabilities of both a Milwaukee Impact and an air Impact.

4x4 piece of wood to hold the blade in place from the bottom. Breaker bar with 4ft cheater bar attached and just about all my strength finally broke it loose. Feel free to really go to town on that nut, you're most likely not going to hurt it.

For putting it back on, The Milwaukee actually hits harder then the air impact so I put blades back on with the air impact and remove them with the Milwaukee.


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

Yeah, it's pretty mental.

Just realized I think I can get a 15/16 for my Dewalt 18v impact. Doubt it will budge but it's a easier test than bothering a guy with a trailer to get it to his place where he had an air gun.

Fingers crossed as I was cursing the mower beyond belief yesterday.


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## Amoo316 (Jul 8, 2021)

kolbasz said:


> Yeah, it's pretty mental.
> 
> Just realized I think I can get a 15/16 for my Dewalt 18v impact. Doubt it will budge but it's a easier test than bothering a guy with a trailer to get it to his place where he had an air gun.
> 
> Fingers crossed as I was cursing the mower beyond belief yesterday.


If you put it back on with the DeWalt go easy on it. The Scag blades like most are designed to tighten when they hit an obstruction. If you go to town tightening it down, you'll be using a breaker bar every time to get them off.


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

Chicago Pneumatic makes a stubby 1/2" impact gun (CP7732C) which is what I use. You can find them on ebay for around $80 used if you look hard enough. They are short so easily fit under the deck. But of course with any air impact, they are only as good as the compressor they are hooked up to.


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

kolbasz said:


> Thought I was being proactive, had my mower serviced in he spring. Then today I spent 2 hours trying to get the blades off. Any ideas what I can do?
> 
> My only thought was call the place that did he service and tell them to come take them off. I was pulling with all my might so no idea what hey did. Maybe this is how they force me to bring it back to them.


Id use an impact driver or impact wrench to take it off. Its a game-changer. For years I removed them with a wrench or ratchet and its fine but an impact driver/wrench makes it so much easier.


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## BBLOCK (Jun 8, 2020)

try the biggest ratchet you have... and then a pipe over the handle for leverage should help.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Amoo316 said:


> For putting it back on, The Milwaukee actually hits harder then the air impact so I put blades back on with the air impact and remove them with the Milwaukee.


Today's battery guns may not technically outmuscle air guns, but in a home shop, with 3/8" lines, and small compressors, they frequently outperfom air in "field conditions". It's also amazing that a "mid-torque" gun is every bit as capable as my old Snap-On CT4850HO which was a top-of-the-line tool back in 2008. Can't believe it's 12 year old (and semi-retired) already!


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## UltimateLawn (Sep 25, 2020)

Why are these mower blade bolts on so tight to begin with? Aren't they rated for a specific torque-level best tightened with a torque wrench not impact drivers?


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

UltimateLawn said:


> Why are these mower blade bolts on so tight to begin with? Aren't they rated for a specific torque-level best tightened with a torque wrench not impact drivers?


Many spindle designs allow a blade to self-tighten just from vibration and normal torque of mowing. Then it gets worse if the blade strikes a root, rock, etc. This has been addressed on some designs. Residential mowers moved to a star or X on the spindle to prevent the blade from rotating in relation to the spindle. Some mowers have two spindle bolts or two pins/bosses to accomplish the same.


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## Amoo316 (Jul 8, 2021)

MasterMech said:


> Amoo316 said:
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> > For putting it back on, The Milwaukee actually hits harder then the air impact so I put blades back on with the air impact and remove them with the Milwaukee.
> ...


My neighbor has a small commercial style compressor and larger lines (former aircraft then auto mechanic). Like you mentioned though, his gun is probably 15-20 years old. Even with regular maintenance it just doesn't hit as hard as the newer Milwaukee.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Amoo316 said:


> MasterMech said:
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All about how many hours are on the gun too. You can rebuild the motors, replace hammers and such. But after awhile, they just get sloppy and can't transmit the blows as well. I had a co-worker who hardly picked up anything OTHER than his 3/8" MAC gun. That thing probably had the equivalent of 1M miles of NYC Taxi service on it. :lol: I know he rebuilt it several times. He never could get it to spin off blade bolts "like it used to" though. I still have my old Snap-On MG31, (another 15+ year old semi-retired tool now) love to fire it up on occasion.


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## Amoo316 (Jul 8, 2021)

MasterMech said:


> Amoo316 said:
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I picked this puppy up at a pawn shop last year for $35, opened it open, refreshed the inside, put her back together and she does a pretty good job.


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## gene_stl (Oct 29, 2017)

Whenever you get them off and do the service, when you put them back on, schmear the nut with CopaSlip or other copper based anti-seize compound. Makes life much easier down the road.


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

BBLOCK said:


> try the biggest ratchet you have... and then a pipe over the handle for leverage should help.


Thats a good way to break a ratchet. People often want to use a ratchet like its a breaker bar but thats not what they are for.


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

I personally use a Husky 3/8" air impact wrench (rated at about 250 lb-ft) with a 20 gallon air compressor and it works well. If that fails me, I break out the Husky 1/2" impact that is rated at 800 lb-ft.
Id looked at going electric but why spend hundreds of dollars on electric tools when pneumatic tools are cheaper and Im going to have an air compressor for airing up tires anyways?


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

Retromower said:


> I personally use a Husky 3/8" air impact wrench (rated at about 250 lb-ft) with a 20 gallon air compressor and it works well. If that fails me, I break out the Husky 1/2" impact that is rated at 800 lb-ft. If the big Husky is strong enough to bust lug nuts off of my car, its not going to struggle with a lawn mower blade bolt.
> Id looked at going electric but why spend hundreds of dollars on electric tools when pneumatic tools are cheaper and Im going to have an air compressor for airing up tires anyways?


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## Amoo316 (Jul 8, 2021)

Retromower said:


> Id looked at going electric but why spend hundreds of dollars on electric tools when pneumatic tools are cheaper and Im going to have an air compressor for airing up tires anyways?


I keep the 12V - 1/4" Ratchet, 3/8" Ratchet, 3/8" Impact, 1/2" Impact, Drill, Driver and mini sawzall in my truck when I travel for tournaments. I also keep a full set of regular and impact sockets as well as wrenches. Also have the portable charger with me that plugs into the USB port in my truck.

Lost count of how many times just walking out to the truck saves me from having to go all the way out to the shop.

Ram Boxes FTW


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## BBLOCK (Jun 8, 2020)

Retromower said:


> BBLOCK said:
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> > try the biggest ratchet you have... and then a pipe over the handle for leverage should help.
> ...


Agreed, using a breaker bar would be the smarter choice


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

Oh man, thanks guys for the suggestions.

My buddy had a 3/8 to 1/2 adapter which allowed me to get the 15/16 socket önto my 18 v Dewalt impact driver. This was enough to finally get them off. I thought the last one was stuck, but after a few pumps it finally broke loose.

The suggestion of an impact driver made it so I didn't have to transport the mower back and forth, so thank you again.


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

Amoo316 said:


> Retromower said:
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> 
> > Id looked at going electric but why spend hundreds of dollars on electric tools when pneumatic tools are cheaper and Im going to have an air compressor for airing up tires anyways?
> ...


I totally get the appeal of electric for most. Pneumatic tools seem cheap until you price out the air compressor that you need to properly run them and then you are kind of limited if you want to use them and have it be a portable setup.
Ive got a 20-gallon air compressor and its kind of the smallest that you would want to go for using a die grinder or impact wrench. You can use a 3-gallon but you have to use the tool in short bursts and even then you have to stop a lot and let the compressor catch up.
With electric tools, you just put the battery in and go. Honestly, if I werent wanting to air tires up; Id probably have went Milwaukee M12 but it used to drive me crazy having to drive to the gas station just to air tires up.


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## Retromower (Jan 28, 2021)

BBLOCK said:


> Retromower said:
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I cant say that Ive never used a ratchet as a breaker bar. Ive put Home Depot's, "no hassles, no questions asked" policy to the test on Husky ratchets a few times because I knew better. LOL


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## Woffski (Apr 26, 2020)

feinhorn said:


> this (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Arnold-Blade-Removal-Tool/3490167?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-google-_-lia-_-146-_-moweraccessories-_-3490167-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-tSM9c368gIVSQaICR0IvgOJEAQYASABEgKE2_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) and penetrating oil


Yeap! What Feinhorn has recommended. The issue is immobilizing the blade as you attempt to loosen the bolt.


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