Toro 74204 Operator's Manual page 36

Maintenance
Sharpening the Blades
POTENTIAL HAZARD
When sharpening blade, pieces of blade
could be accidentally thrown.
WHAT CAN HAPPEN
Thrown objects can cause serious eye
injury.
HOW TO AVOID THE HAZARD
Wear proper eye protection when
sharpening blade.
1. Use a file to sharpen the cutting edge at both
ends of the blade (Fig. 21). Maintain the original
angle. The blade retains its balance if the same
amount of material is removed from both cutting
edges.
1
Figure 21
1. Sharpen at original angle
2. Check the balance of the blade by putting it on a
blade balancer (Fig. 22). If the blade stays in a
horizontal position, the blade is balanced and can
be used. If the blade is not balanced, file some
metal off the end of the sail area only (Fig. 20).
Repeat this procedure until the blade is balanced.
1
Figure 22
1. Blade
34
m–1854
2
m–1855
2. Balancer
Installing the Blades
1. Install the blade onto the spindle shaft (Fig. 20).
IMPORTANT: The curved part of the blade
must be pointing upward toward the inside of
the mower to ensure proper cutting.
2. Install the spring disk and blade bolt (Fig. 20).
Torque the blade bolt to 85–110 ft-lb
(115–150 N m).