Hello all! First post was in Introductions section and I come here with hat in hand trying to figure out if build up layers of grass would make blades so out of balance as to cause the terrible racket coming from under my mower deck after resharpening the blades last night.
2018 John Deere X580 with 48” “Deep” (or, “Accel?”) 3-blade mower deck that I grease regularly, change oils and filter on every 25-30 hours, etc.
Yesterday afternoon I finished mowing early and, at the factory recommended 50-hour mark, I decided to change the trans axle fluid and filter (which, while the filter was black, fluid came out clean and I placed a magnet in funnel as I poured the old, 50-hour trans fluid into old jugs and there was zero, zip, nada particles on the magnet. Yay.)
Start the tractor up and run through forward and reverse as recommended, check transmission which is silky smooth and top off so trans fluid reservoir reads “Full.” Trans maintenance done. Check.
Anyhow, since I had the mower deck out from underneath the tractor, I decided to go ahead and lightly pump 2-3 squeezes of John Deere grease into the mower deck bearing zerks (I do this pretty much annually) AND used a variety of scrapers etc to scrape all the built up “cake” of old grass, etc (I am super fastidious about practically NEVER mowing wet grass - I typically mow between 3pm and 5pm) from under the mower deck housing and chassis etc AND despite dwindling light I decide to go ahead and sharpen the blades.
I use a Dremel mower blade sharpening attachment to maintain pretty much the exact OEM angle of the sharpened portion of the blade and got the blades sharpened in good time. There was some old grass “cake” / “buildup” on different portions of the blades and I used a metal putty knife and a sand paper flapper disc on and angle grinder to really clean all that old grass “cake” / “buildup” off the body of the blades. Here is where the problem began as by now I was really running out of light and I really wanted to use a wire brush “cone” on an angle grinder to really get the blades down to metal only but instead, I got the blades put back on the deck and the deck reinstalled under mower only to start the mower and upon engaging the blades the racket could only be described as “catastrophic sounding“ and I immediately disengaged the blades and parked the tractor inside til earlier today.
Got sufficient sleep and upon full sunlight I take the deck out from under the tractor, check to make sure the blades are all installed correctly etc, tightened bolts, etc. and check the belt is engaging all the spindles correctly etc
Reinstall the mower deck again and upon engaging the blades to rotating the racket is still there.
This is disconcerting as typically when I engage the blades into rotating it could best be described as a low tone ”hum” as opposed to the “chattering” I have going on now …
Question: is this sound indicative of blades being that out of balance from simply “dressing up” the sharpened portions and doing a rushed job of removing old grass “cake” / “buildup” off the blade bodies?
I’m pulling my hair out here and while I do not relish pulling that deck out from under the tractor and removing those blades yet AGAIN, well, I’d rather do anything than wear out my spindles pre-maturely ….
Thanks in advance for any insight / advice / guidance …
2018 John Deere X580 with 48” “Deep” (or, “Accel?”) 3-blade mower deck that I grease regularly, change oils and filter on every 25-30 hours, etc.
Yesterday afternoon I finished mowing early and, at the factory recommended 50-hour mark, I decided to change the trans axle fluid and filter (which, while the filter was black, fluid came out clean and I placed a magnet in funnel as I poured the old, 50-hour trans fluid into old jugs and there was zero, zip, nada particles on the magnet. Yay.)
Start the tractor up and run through forward and reverse as recommended, check transmission which is silky smooth and top off so trans fluid reservoir reads “Full.” Trans maintenance done. Check.
Anyhow, since I had the mower deck out from underneath the tractor, I decided to go ahead and lightly pump 2-3 squeezes of John Deere grease into the mower deck bearing zerks (I do this pretty much annually) AND used a variety of scrapers etc to scrape all the built up “cake” of old grass, etc (I am super fastidious about practically NEVER mowing wet grass - I typically mow between 3pm and 5pm) from under the mower deck housing and chassis etc AND despite dwindling light I decide to go ahead and sharpen the blades.
I use a Dremel mower blade sharpening attachment to maintain pretty much the exact OEM angle of the sharpened portion of the blade and got the blades sharpened in good time. There was some old grass “cake” / “buildup” on different portions of the blades and I used a metal putty knife and a sand paper flapper disc on and angle grinder to really clean all that old grass “cake” / “buildup” off the body of the blades. Here is where the problem began as by now I was really running out of light and I really wanted to use a wire brush “cone” on an angle grinder to really get the blades down to metal only but instead, I got the blades put back on the deck and the deck reinstalled under mower only to start the mower and upon engaging the blades the racket could only be described as “catastrophic sounding“ and I immediately disengaged the blades and parked the tractor inside til earlier today.
Got sufficient sleep and upon full sunlight I take the deck out from under the tractor, check to make sure the blades are all installed correctly etc, tightened bolts, etc. and check the belt is engaging all the spindles correctly etc
Reinstall the mower deck again and upon engaging the blades to rotating the racket is still there.
This is disconcerting as typically when I engage the blades into rotating it could best be described as a low tone ”hum” as opposed to the “chattering” I have going on now …
Question: is this sound indicative of blades being that out of balance from simply “dressing up” the sharpened portions and doing a rushed job of removing old grass “cake” / “buildup” off the blade bodies?
I’m pulling my hair out here and while I do not relish pulling that deck out from under the tractor and removing those blades yet AGAIN, well, I’d rather do anything than wear out my spindles pre-maturely ….
Thanks in advance for any insight / advice / guidance …