Cutting Blades; Changing The Deckbelt - Craftsman T1200 247.203723 Operator's Manual

Cutting
Blades
Shutthe engine offand remove ignitionkeybefore removing thecutting
blade(s) f or sharpeningor replacement.Protectyour handsby using heavy
[g oveswhen grasp ngthe bade.
Periodicallyinspect t he bladeand/or spindlefor cracksor damage,
Iespeciallyafter you've struckaforeign object. Donot operate the machine
[until damagedcomponentsare replaced.
Toremove the blades, p roceed asfollows:
1. Remove t he deckfrombeneath the tractor,(referto CuttingDeckRemoval
earlierinthissection) t hengentlyflipthe deckoverto expose itsunderside.
2. Place ablockof woodbetweenthe centerdeckhousingbaffleandthe
cutting bladeto actasa stabilizer. S eeFigure 28.
3. Remove t he hexflangenut thatsecures the bladeto the spindleassembly.
He×FlangeNut
4.
J
Figure 28
Toproperlysharpen the cuttingblades, r emove equal a mounts of metal
from bothendsof the bladesalongthe cuttingedges, p aralleltothe trailing
edge,at a25°- to 30° angle.Always grindeachcutting bladeedgeequallyto
maintainproperbladebalance. SeeFigure 29.
Figure29
if the cutting edge of the bladehaspreviously beensharpened,or if any
metalseparationispresent, r eplace the bladeswith newones.
A poorlybalancedbladewill causeexcessive vibration, maycausedamageto
the tractorand/or resuR in personal injury.
5. Testthe blade'sbalanceusinga bladebalancer. G rindmetalfrom the
heavy sideuntil it balances e venly.
NOTE: Whenreplacing the blade,besureto installthe bladewith the sideof the
blademarked "Bottom" (orwitha part number s tampedinit) facingthe ground
whenthe mowerisinthe operatingposition.
Use atorque wrench to tighten the bladespindlehex flange nut to between
70Ibs-ft and 90 Ibs-ft.
Changing the DeckBelt
Besureto shut the engine off, removeignitionkey,disconnectthe spark
plugwire(s)and groundagainst the engine to preventunintendedstarting
beforeremoving the beR.
All belts on yourtractor aresubjectto wear andshouldbe replaced if any
signsof wearare present.
IMPORTANT; The V-beltfoundon yourtractorisspecially designed to engage
anddisengage s afely. A substitute(non-OEM) V-beltcanbedangerous b ynot
disengaging completely. F ora properworkingmachine, u seidentical e quipment
beltsaslistedinthe partspages ofthis Operator's M anual.
Tochange or replace the deckbelt onyourtractor,proceed asfollows:
Remove t he deck asinstructed earlierinthissection.
1. Remove t he beltcovers from the spindlepulleysbyremoving the hexscrews
that fastenthe covers t o the deck.See Figure 30.
2. It mayalsobe necessary to loosen the hexnut on the left deckidler pulleyto
get the belt off the pulleyandaroundthe beltguard.
3. Carefully remove the deckbelt fromaroundthe two spindlepulleys andthe
two deckidler pulleys. S eeFigure 30.
4. Toplacethe newbelt,beginbyroutingthe belt around the two outer
spindlepulleys asshownin Figure 30.
5. Thenroutethe beltaroundthe twodeckidlerpulleysasshownin Figure 30.
6. Retighten the beltkeeperrodloosened earlier.
7. Remount the beltguardsremoved earlier.
8. Re-install t hedeck,makingsurethe belt remainsroutedaround the pulleys
asinstructed. T he completebelt routingisshownin Figure 30.
9. Pullthe rightsideof the belt,andplacethe narrowVsideof the belt intothe
PTO pulley.
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