OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Reel Lawn Mowers, Atco & Villiers etc. Fixed Blade Removal

Good Morning Gentleman

I would be most grateful for advice on the removal of the fixed blade from my recently inherited Alroh machine. It looks to have a dozen Flat Phillips Head srews and they have been in situ for 25 years.

I have access to an impact driver and wonder whether to start with it or try with a large driver after some serious 24 hr CRC'ing...

many thanks

Rob

Hi Rob, No mate, you don't remove the bottom blade from its holder....You send both the cylinder reel and the bedknife holder complete to the guy that's going to sharpen them. If the bottom blade needs replacing or removal, he has the correct gear to do it and has new screws to replace the old ones....

Thanks Darryl
So
Its set into a "bed" and the whole bed is removed? No need to mess with screws. I was a little concerned so thats good news. I take there will be bolts holding the bed in place. When I pull it apart I guess I'll be able to see things a little more clearly.

There is a wholesaler up here who does the grind for service cventres and wont deal with the public which is fair enough. They wont even give indicative prices so I am left at the mercy of the mower shop...He is a nice guy I hope !

I saw the sharpening tool you posted. Where can you actually buy those or is it an internet buy ex the U.S.

Cheers

Hi Rob, yes, mate, the bottom blade is attached to its "bed" which is its holder....on the Scott Bonnar it is fabricated in cast iron hence my caution in using a impact wrench or rattle gun or (heaven forbid) a hammer any where near it. Being dissimiliar metals, the screws have a habit, especially with moisture all around, to almost weld themselves in place....making removal very difficult, unless you know what you are doing. A mate of mine cracked his, and they are many $$$ to replace.
My bottom blade holder (bed) is attached by 4 bolts and very easy to remove.....As for your Alroh, I don't know the set up, but should be relatively easy to remove.
Please let us know how you get on.

If you even loosen and retighten the screws holding the blade to the bed, the spring steel blade will probably take a different shape and it will be absolutely essential to regrind it. For practical purposes think if the blade and bed as a single piece - separating them is going to cost you machine-shop time to get your mower working again.
The job you can do at home is touching up the front vertical face of your blade without removing it from the bed (and usually without removing the bed from the mower). The top edge of the front face of the blade constitutes the cutting edge. With some skill and care this minor sharpening process can be done as often as necessary at home or on the job somewhere - just make sure that the front face of the blade remains perfectly straight and exactly transverse to the mower, not hollow-centred like an old cut-throat razor that's been badly sharpened. As soon as you go beyond that, you need fairly serious workshop equipment and it is going to cost you.

Hi Grumpy, as usual, very good advice.
If you saw my post on the "Bed Knife Buddy", this handy little commercial grade tool will do the job perfectly for you, and can be done without removal of anything, and done quickly.

It is designed with the file at the correct angle to ensure that the edge of the bedknife is vertical....and will even move the cylinder reel out of it's way as it does it!!
No mess, no fuss, easy-peasy!!

It does look like a worthwhile tool Deejay - I've watched a guy do the operation on-the-job in my backyard on a big ATCO mower, using a hand-held oilstone, and I wasn't convinced he was getting the front face square to the top face of the blade, though he was certainly trying. What I don't understand, though, is how that little gadget keeps the front face from being sharpened more in the middle than at the sides, so it finishes up hollow in the center. As you know, the cutting edge has to be perfectly straight and exactly parallel to the axle of the cylinder if the mower is going to work.

Hi grumpy, I can see what you mean there mate, but I think the secret is that you use only light pressure, and remember that it only used to remove minor blemishes on the front edge.

My greenskeeper swears by it; if it were causing the bedknife any sort of "hollowing" anywhere, with the tolerances they use on their green mowers (to prepare their greens to championship level) I can't see them being used or purchased for that matter. Remember they are a commercial product for professionals, not necessarily for home use.....but for my money, worth every cent.

I agree that it could be a useful device for a craftsman to use - just an oilstone with a built-in jig to give you a square corner at the cutting edge, and a plastic body to make sure the cylinder's cutting edges can't touch the oilstone. On the other hand if it had the effect of convincing amateurs that they can hack at their fixed blades without much risk of harm ...