Replacing Blade on Snapper Rear Engine Rider

16 years ago

Hi,

I must have forgotten to put away all of my sprinklers, since i ran over one while picking up leaves. So now the blade is slghtly bent on one end and bumps up against the edge.

My 28-inch HI VAC came with an extra blade but it looks different than the ninja blade. It's duller and more square looking. Is that for leaves rather than grass?

In any case, i cannot seem to get the bent blade off. Perhaps I have the wrong tools? Is there a trick to getting it off? What tools should I use?

Thanks!

Bowden

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Comments (5)

mikie_gw
16 years ago
I use an open end on top, a socket on bottom & drop a dowl rod down one of the holes in the deck to lock the blade.

One time I forgot about the wrench on top... flew a real long ways under my car when I started it up. Burried itself good too. Might be lucky I had both feet on top.
rustyj14
16 years ago
The nut that holds the blade on is usually quite tight. You must hold the top nut, block the blade, and use a big wrench on the bottom nut.
Another caveat: Sometimes, the large flat bar on the underside, that the blade bolts onto, might be bent down, allowing the blade to hit the edge of the deck. Seems unlikely it would bend, but they do. And they are very hard to take off, if the machine is very much older than 5 years. If so, removal of the deck makes it much easier to work on. That blade with the square end is the stock blade. Some have 3 holes on each back edge, which is where the "wings" bolt on, that are used for the grass catcher system! The wings give "lift" to blow the grass up the tube into the grass catcher on the back--hangs on the bent pipes at the rear, behind the engine.
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johntommybob
16 years ago
When you hit the sprinkler with enough force to bend the blade it had the effect of over tightening the nut that holds the blade on. It can be a real bear to get it off. The ideal thing to use would be an air impact wrench like the ones they use at tire stores. I did the same thing when I hit a brick. my blade didn't bend and I didn't know I had a problem until I tried to remove the blade to sharpen it. I couldn't budge it.

Good luck!
rustyj14
16 years ago
Correction on the blade removal!
i don't know what i was thinking, but to remove the blade, take out the 2 bolts outboard of the center bolt.! It will then fall right off!
Been so long since i removed the blade on my machine, i forgot about those bolts holding the blade on.
HTH: Rusty Jones
javert
16 years ago
One important thing, wiseb, and that is DO NOT try hammering the bent blade back into shape and reusing it. Throw it away; once bent, a blade can be dangerous.

Can't answer the question about the difference between the two blades.