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An old question but putting this here for anyone with a similar issue:
Remove the cutting cartridge from the mower. Remove the 24mm bolt holding on the drive cog (this is reverse threaded). Remove the grass shield at the rear of the cartridge (3 screws either side). Remove the top bar with handle (10mm socket recessed in the end of the bar. You should now be able to remove the blade, back off the adjusting screws either side and remove the bearing housings.
Remove grass box support cradle. Unscrew 2 allen bolts (one each side - located in front of cutting cylinder). Remove mowe side casing (drive side). Pull out entire cutting cylinder assembly. Usually they slide out without issue, but sometimes, they will jam and need levering out. There's nothing holding it in except the 2 screws.
Insert the scarifier assembly and secure with the 2 bolts.
Your lawn tractor will have a lever that raises and lowers the mower deck which houses the two cutting blades. By lowering your mower deck to the desired cutting height, the blades should automatically engage. By raising the deck back to it's highest position, the blades will automatically disengage. Should be simple enough. You can consult your mower manual. If you don't have one, you can easily find it online using the make, model and year of the lawn tractor.
jack the tractor (using a tractor jack) or remove the deck, measure the blade tips against each other where they meet in the center of the deck and see if they are the same tip to tip. Bearing wear, a bent deck or blade can make them cut at different heights in the center.
To replace blades, belts, sharpen blades, etc. one must remove what is called the cutting deck from the tractor.
Once the deck is off the tractor, pull it out, turn it over and you can work on the blades.
Gary
Hi howardandjan, You call it "old Qualcast punch" if it's called Qualcast punch it's not that old, it was originally called Suffolk punch (after the horse) and came in 14" and 17" cuts, the 30s (30cm approx 12") was originally called suffolk colt. when Qualcast took over just about all the british cylinder mowers Atco,suffolk,webb etc they started swapping names about but you should be able to get parts from any good mower shop try winchester garden machinery in hampshire always found them helpful
Check your tire pressures: 10 psi. for rear tires. 14 psi. for the front.
Note that according to MTD: Making sharp right hand turns. Twin-blade mower decks are designed with
the discharge on the right side and two side-by-side blades. The
side-by-side twin blade decks have the left hand blade positioned
slightly forward and in front of the right blade. This provides cutting
overlap when traveling in a straight line. As a result, the tractor
should mainly operated making primarily left hand turns when cutting.
During left turns this cutting overlap is maintained. If turning right
when, it is possible to negate this overlap and leave an uncut strip.
The problem you discribe is the classic broken blade spindle or quill. The tube that supports the bearings between the deck pulleys and the blades is almost certainly broken. Look under the deck [mower OFF] at the piece right above the blade that is malfunctioning and you will probably find a bad bearing or a chunk of the tube that holds the bearing/blade to be missing. That happens when the blade gets 'wacked'. The outer edge is cutting too high because the belt is pulling the shaft toward the center of the deck. The quills are fairly easy to replace. Get the model number off your tractor before you go to buy the part.
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