RC72-F30 Blade Help

[Bkeeper]

Good Morning Everyone! First time post and first time Kubota owner! I just purchased a F3060 with a RC72-F30 mower deck used from a local school district. About 1800 hours on the unit. It needs a good going over, serviced, could use a seat in the future, the outside rail on the deck is worn through, and a set of new tires, but it runs great and doesn't look that beat. I don't think that I went wrong for the $500 dollars I paid for it. The story that I got was that they lost the right side blade when they were mowing, couldn't find it afterward and parked it. I am trying to find what parts I need to replace the blade and of course I will replace all of the blades. What is there shows a large washer on the blade side below the dust cover. I haven't taken the other two blades off yet but I don't see this washer on them. Not sure that it really is a washer or part of the dust cover. It seems to be retained in some way. The deck has been run and it hasn't fallen off. I don't see this on the parts diagram from Messicks and I am running blind here because I don't have any manuals yet. Any help will be greatly appreciated. I have a feeling that until I get all the bugs worked out you I will be relying on all of you for awhile. Thanks!

 

[Jim L.]

Congrats on your machine!

You can go to kubotausa.com/parts, select ILLUSTRATED PARTS LIST, view ILLUSTRATED PARTS LIST. When you get to the model, type in RC72-F30, and when that comes back, select it. The subsection you want is BLADE which has the exploded part diagram and part numbers.

The blades themselves can be sourced by length and hole diameter if you want to go generic.

 

[Bkeeper]

Thanks for the reply Jim. The local dealer gave me that parts diagram sheet when I ordered the parts that I thought I would need. I've also viewed it through the Messicks website. This of course was without me flipping the deck and taking a good look at what was there. The diagram only has two blades. But I still don't see this large washer on the breakdown. Maybe I am misreading something. I stopped and bought a 30mm socket so I will pull one of the other blades off to compare.

 

[Dave_eng]

I think part number 150 is what you think is a flat washer when in reality it is a splined hub retained by an external circlip.

I see part of a circlip in your photo.

Dave

 

[Bkeeper]

Ok Dave. That makes sense. It looks like the next part to go on then will be the dust cover. I thought that hub behind this was the dust cover. How do you remove the cert clip if I would happen to need to in the future? A small screwdriver or is there a special tool? So, for this side I need part #'s 170, 180, 190x2, 200 and 210...correct? Is the most likely reason for this blade to have come off that the spring washers were bad or over-tightened? Sorry about all the questions but I appreciate the help. Thanks!

 

[Russell King]

There are special pliers to remove the circlip. Go ahead and invest in a good pair don’t try to use the universal type they are more trouble than they are worth.

The pliers come in internal circlip and external circlip version so research a bit then you should be able to find the correct style.


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[Bkeeper]

Snap ring pliers. Cir clip......that's a new one for me. Thanks!

 

[Dave_eng]

Ok Dave. That makes sense. It looks like the next part to go on then will be the dust cover. I thought that hub behind this was the dust cover. How do you remove the cert clip if I would happen to need to in the future? A small screwdriver or is there a special tool? So, for this side I need part #'s 170, 180, 190x2, 200 and 210...correct? Is the most likely reason for this blade to have come off that the spring washers were bad or over-tightened? Sorry about all the questions but I appreciate the help. Thanks!

I need part #'s 170, 180, 190x2, 200 and 210...correct? Yes

Possibly the outer splined part broke #200 when the blade hit something and then the retaining bolt unscrewed and fell off

Dave

 

[Bkeeper]

Finally got the parts that I thought that I needed. I also stopped back at the place that I bought it and they had in the box a set of blades and new blade bolts. They also had shop manuals for both the mower and the deck. The maintenance person said they had ordered everything to replace the blades. When I asked if they ordered new spring washers or blade bosses they weren't sure what I was talking about. I ordered part #'s 170, 180, 190x2, 200 and 210 and some filters and such. I had not taken the two existing blades off thinking that everything is there...right? Well today I replaced the missing blade and all seemed to go fine. Then I removed the other two blades. On one of them, the bottom of the dust cover cup had completely worn through at the edges and spun loose acting like a washer. The joint/blade bosses were worn, chamfered, on the smaller end. The odd thing was that both of these existing blades had three washers, not the two that the diagram shows. Most of the six washers are completely flat or almost flat. Is there a reason they did this? Should I replace with three washers? The one that was missing seem to tighten just fine. I already have two new washers and blade bolts for each of these. But I will definitely need two new dust covers. The joint blade bosses (200) are just worn a bit at the ends creating a raised edge making it necessary to tap them through the retainers/spring washers. Is this just normal wear ? Should I order new ones? It took over a week to get the original parts through Golden Eagle. I think I'll try Messicks this time.

 

[Jim L.]

Is it possible that the cup washers flattened out, and a flat washer was added to make up for that?

Now that you have the manuals, I would check the 2-year maintenance section for things such as oil seals and the like that might have been missed previously.

Dust covers may be normal wear or lack of other maintenance.

With the manual, you now also have the proper torque values.

 

[Dave_eng]

Often the cupped washers, also known as Belleville washers, are replaced with non spring washers by people who do not understand the difference. Stick with the proper washers.

Replacing the other two blade bosses would be wise. Any wear which affects the centering of the blades will result in vibration and the retaining bolts coming loose.

Dave

 

[Bkeeper]

That is what I thought they might have done too. Not sure why though because the compressed washers take up about the same amount of space. Just making sure this wasn't a common fix for some other problem.