Cutting Blades; Changing The Deck Belt - Craftsman 247.288843 Operator's Manual

Cutting
Blades
Shutthe engineoff andremoveignitionkeybeforeremoving the cutting
blade(s)for sharpeningorreplacement. P rotectyourhandsbyusingheavy
[g oveswhen graspng the bade.
Periodicallyinspect t he bladeand/or spindlefor cracksor damage,
[especiallyafter you'vestrucka foreign object. Donotoperate the machine
[until damaged componentsarereplaced.
Toremove the blades, p roceed asfollows:
1. Remove t he deckfrom beneath the tractor,(referto CuttingDeck Removal
earlierin thissection) t hengentlyflip the deckoverto expose its underside.
2. Place ablockof woodbetweenthe center d eckhousing baffleandthe
cuttingbladeto actasastabilizer. S eeFigure 22.
3. Remove t he hexflangenut thatsecures t he bladeto the spindleassembly.
HexFlangeNut
4.
Figure22
\
Toproperlysharpen the cutting blades, r emove equalamounts of metal
from bothendsofthe blades alongthe cuttingedges, p arallelto the trailing
edge,ata 25 °- to 30 ° angle. A lwaysgrindeachcuttingbladeedgeequallyto
maintainproperbladebalance. SeeFigure 23.
Figure23
If the cutting edge of the bladehaspreviously beensharpened,or if any
metalseparationispresent,replace the bladeswith newones.
A poorly balancedbladewill causeexcessive vibration, maycausedamageto
the tractor and/or resultin personal injury.
5. Testthe blade'sbalanceusingabladebalancer. 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 wrenchto tighten the bladespindlehexflange nut to between
70Ibs-ft and 90 Ibs-ft.
Changing the Deck Belt
Besureto shut the engine off, removeignitionkey,disconnectthe spark
plug wire(s)and groundagainst the engine to prevent unintendedstarting
beforeremovingthe belt.
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 of thisOperator'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 thedeck.SeeFigure 24.
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 24.
4. Toplacethe newbelt,beginbyroutingthe belt around the two outerspindle
pulleys asshownin Figure 24.
5. Thenroutethe beltaroundthe twodeckidlerpulleysasshownin Figure 24.
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 24.
9. Pullthe rightsideof the belt,andplacethe narrowVsideof the belt intothe
PTO pulley.
24