Drum mower replacement blades question

[icehorse]

I'm getting ready for haying. I've been tedding and baling for a few years now. This year I also have to do the cutting. So I have a new drum mower to figure out.

I can't seem to find replacement blades that are exactly like the blades that come with the mower. The official replacement blades are out of stock. (We might be seeing a lot of that these days )

Each drum has 4 blades, let's say North, East, South and West (N E S W). My thought is that if my replacement blades are slightly different than the original blades, if I have to replace a blade, I should also replace the opposite blade to keep the drum balanced. So if E goes bad, I should replace E and W.

Does that make sense?

Has anyone actually gone thru this?

Thanks.

 

[Russell King]

I have no experience with your mower type but you are correct that the blades will have to be matched on opposite sides of the drum to maintain balance.

 

[D2Cat]

I would replace all 4 on the hub if you replace anything.

Is this a new mower to you? Why do you think a few of the knives need replaced? Have any of the ever been sharpened? Might take a 4" angle grinder with a flap disc and clean each one to make them cut better. If you dress them all balance won't be an issue. because you will be taking a very little off each one.

 

[icehorse]

I would replace all 4 on the hub if you replace anything.

Is this a new mower to you? Why do you think a few of the knives need replaced? Have any of the ever been sharpened? Might take a 4" angle grinder with a flap disc and clean each one to make them cut better. If you dress them all balance won't be an issue. because you will be taking a very little off each one.

Sorry for the confusion. It is a brand new mower, at this point, the blades are fine. But once haying has begun, I'm on the clock. I need to be prepared to fix problems as they occur. So I hope that I won't hit a rock and damage a blade, but if I do, I need to be able to replace the blade and move on.

 

[D2Cat]

Unless you're mowing something that is not a hay field you won't hit rocks. You'll have the disc spinning a couple of inches above the ground. Depending on how may acres you mow you can probably mow all year without any attention to the disc. If you do hit something solid that one blade rotates out and doesn't effect all the others. I don't think you have any thing to worry about.

 

[icehorse]

Unless you're mowing something that is not a hay field you won't hit rocks. You'll have the disc spinning a couple of inches above the ground. Depending on how may acres you mow you can probably mow all year without any attention to the disc. If you do hit something solid that one blade rotates out and doesn't effect all the others. I don't think you have any thing to worry about.

Every year I let cows on the fields for a few weeks after haying. Cows dig, and our soil is quite rocky.

 

[D2Cat]

Every year I let cows on the fields for a few weeks after haying. Cows dig, and our soil is quite rocky.

I've had cattle for several years and never had them dig. Now they will knock over a new protein tub and roll it over half an acre, or knock over a mineral feeder, but no digging!!

 

[icehorse]

I've had cattle for several years and never had them dig. Now they will knock over a new protein tub and roll it over half an acre, or knock over a mineral feeder, but no digging!!

I wonder if it has to do with breed or climate? The ones that I let graze will make "cow holes", shallow and wide. The rancher tells me when they lay in these holes it keeps them cooler?