Yup. It's very DIY. Make sure you have the appropriate tools to remove the bedknife screws. Sometimes an impact is needed if they are really corroded on there.

You'll need to be able to back off the reel to the bedknife, and then adjust it back, giving it a backlap with some compound to mate the two surfaces.

Shouldn't take long with the right tools, and prep.

 

Yup. It's very DIY. Make sure you have the appropriate tools to remove the bedknife screws. Sometimes an impact is needed if they are really corroded on there.

You'll need to be able to back off the reel to the bedknife, and then adjust it back, giving it a backlap with some compound to mate the two surfaces.

Shouldn't take long with the right tools, and prep.

+1

The path to success is removing the old screws without incident - I've seen both flat head and allen head screws on these, I would just recommend making sure the screw heads are clean of dirt, or anything that would keep your tool from seating well. Striping a screw is no fun and these can have a tendency to be "stuck".

I'd suggest looking up the Shop Manual as well and following the torque sequence/spec for the new screws, and I like to use anti-seize although I can't remember if the manual says to...

 

Thanks @crussell and @FATC1TY.

Do I need to take off the shoe which the bedknife attaches to? This is what I'm not sure about. Or do I put the mower up on my workbench and remove the bedknife as is?

Please see the image below of my mower.

 

Just get it in an orientation that you can work on, no need to remove the bed bar, just the screws holding the knife on.

 

Get an impact screwdriver. The screws are there in high torque plus there is always some rust. The impact will take them off easy.

 

I would highly recommend some penetrating oil and letting it set for 10 mins before you start removing screws, if you haven't started yet.

 

Hi all,

Quick update:

I used some penetrating oil and an impact screwdriver to remove the screws. Picture below.

When I am adjusting the bed knife height, there is about 1 inch to the very left which doesn't cut paper. If I go to increase the height, the blade becomes a little stiff to move with my hand. How hard should it be to move the blade by hand? I don't want to have it too tight.

 

In my experience it took a good bit of backlapping for it to cut paper cleanly across the reel with very little contact, more than I first thought. I did replace the reel and bedknife though. The reel should spin easily.

What tool is everyone using to torque the bedknife screws to spec? I looked into torque screwdrivers that were more expensive, also read about adjusting a torque wrench and converting inch pounds to foot pounds.

 

In my experience it took a good bit of backlapping for it to cut paper cleanly across the reel with very little contact, more than I first thought. I did replace the reel and bedknife though. The reel should spin easily.

What tool is everyone using to torque the bedknife screws to spec? I looked into torque screwdrivers that were more expensive, also read about adjusting a torque wrench and converting inch pounds to foot pounds.

I use a 3/8" Drive Torque-Wrench and a socket bit adapter. Basically anything that registers the torque you want in it's specified range, preferably not in the bottom 20% but sometimes you gots whatchu gots.

 

Hi all.

Quick update:

I couldn't get the blade cutting paper across all the bedknife so I brought it to my local John Deere and they sorted it for me. It is cutting perfectly now.

 

Hi all.

Quick update:

I couldn't get the blade cutting paper across all the bedknife so I brought it to my local John Deere and they sorted it for me. It is cutting perfectly now.

Just curious, did they tell you what it needed? Cone shaped reel?

 

Hi @lbb091919 ,

They were able to backlap it better than me! That is what was on the invoice.

 

Probably just needed backlapped a bit more aggressively. You had a reel that was mated yo the old bedbar.

Glad it's working for you. Learned some maintenance along the way too.