Twin blade mower, blades hitting each other

smokingman

Hi all,

I have a castlegarden twin deck ride on mower and while mowing at the weekend, I had a rock stuck against one of the blades.
I turned it off and removed the rock but now the blades hit each other when they spin - the second blade is effectively out of sync now as they usually turn at a 45 degree angle compared to each other so that they never touch.

Just wondering if it's a big job to set the other blade back to being "in sync"?

cheers in advance!

niceirishfella

not a big job at all, get the correct socket, loosen the nut holding the blades, readjust, tighten the nuts, then turn the blades by hand to ensure they are not contacting - job done.

smokingman

niceirishfella wrote: »

not a big job at all, get the correct socket, loosen the nut holding the blades, readjust, tighten the nuts, then turn the blades by hand to ensure they are not contacting - job done.

Sweet, cheers dude!
Was worried there might be something to do with the belts as well but I'll try that and see how it turns out.

niceirishfella

Not a belt issue, one of the blades is out of place.
Get the deck up on its side, clean it all down of grass/gunk and turn it by hand and you'll see where its banging.
Then, re-adjust.
Check the blades tho' for damage and it might be a good time now to take them away to be sharpened when you have them off and its near the end of season and would save you the bother in the spring.

HTH's

anthonyvbyrne

I can see by the dates that this was a few years ago, byt the advice about adjusting the Blades is wrong. You need to dis-engage one (either of ) the baldes from the toothed belt before re-alligning the blades at 90 degrees to eachother, then re-engage the belt. I have had to do this twice in the last 10 years.
Now I need to strip down the whole deck, replace the rusted out shell, and re-build my blades / pullies / belt, etc into new shell. I will probably replace the blades while I am at it. the old ones are pretty banged up.

galwaytt

anthonyvbyrne wrote: »

I can see by the dates that this was a few years ago, byt the advice about adjusting the Blades is wrong. You need to dis-engage one (either of ) the baldes from the toothed belt before re-alligning the blades at 90 degrees to eachother, then re-engage the belt. I have had to do this twice in the last 10 years.
Now I need to strip down the whole deck, replace the rusted out shell, and re-build my blades / pullies / belt, etc into new shell. I will probably replace the blades while I am at it. the old ones are pretty banged up.

You're a life-saver: just got a new (to me...), used Honda HF2417 and have just cleaned & repainted the deck. But, I cheated - I got the shop to remove the deck as part of the deal. I didn't bargain on it being fully built up when I collected it to paint it, though ! (my bad )

So, stripped it etc etc, and am having a 'senior' moment........cannot for the life of me remember how to 'time' the blades - is it just 90 degree out-of-phase ? How critical is the accuracy of setting it ?

Finally, how to tension the serpentine belt - how to set belt tension ? How much mid-belt deflection is the right amount ? Want to have it done when shop opens after the w/end, so I can get my hands on the mower......

I've scoured the internet for a workshop manual, but can't find one.......

anthonyvbyrne

Just about the belt tension ... Well. This might sound glib, but, here goes. Loose enough so as not to risk straining / damaging the belt or pullies, but not so loose as to risk tooth slippage and blade crashing. About the Timing accuracy, 90 degrees ( by visual inspection ) +or- say 5. It dosent matter so long as the blades miss eachother ( bu a good bit )as they pass.

galwaytt

Perfect Anthony, tks for that.

alexjames

I see this is a few years old so hopefully someone can still help me, I have a castlegarden ride on and just changed the blades as soon as I engage them there fine for a few seconds but then they start hitting of each other. Thanks for your help guys

The blades need to be at a ninety degree angle to each other. If they are not then the timing belt is out or broken. what happened that you had to change the blades? did they hit a rock or something? this can put the timing belt out.

If you have to change the belt i'd examine all the pulleys too Its a toothed belt and if there is any damage on any of the pulleys this can cause unnecessary wear on the belt.

Matty6270

Hi. I know this thread is a few year old now butits worth a try. I hit a stone tonight with my Cashel garden lawn mower. Now the blades are hitting each other.
Is this a case that the blades are bent or have I bigger problems. I have read here that the blades are meant to be 90° but mine aren't. How can I adjust these

tedimc

Similar to me, but I actually broke the belt between the two blades.

What I had to do, and I think you will be the same:
Drop down the deck from the mower
Pull it out and remove the plastic side covers.
Remove the main pully and then the main deck cover.
See if you can adjust the blades by hand without loosening the tensioners.
If not, loosen one side only and align the blades so there is 90degress between them.
Retighten and replace.

It's actually not too bad - maybe 10-15 mins work.