Replacing Viking GB455 Mulcher Blades
Disclaimer
This is an informational blog on how I personally sharpened my Viking GB455 mulcher blades, do this at your own risk. These are not instructions.
Always remove the spark plug lead from the spark plug prior to doing any work on garden equipment.
Do not put your fingers in rotating parts of the machine. There is enough mass in the chipper drum to take a finger off.
Viking GB455
Flail Mulcher Chipper with side chuteBelow you can see the blade for larger sticks and branches.
Tools Needed
(with amazon links)Socket Set
Spanner Set10mm
13mm
16mm
17mm
Allen Key Set
Whetstone 180 Grit
WD-40
Process
Firstly I unplugged the spark plug and then took off the hopper off, I did this buy removing four bolts at the base.
I then had to dig out some of the chips from the allen key bolt heads.
I was then able to get the 10mm socket onto the inside of the bolt, holding it in place with the Allen key while being very careful not to put my fingers or hands anywhere that the chipper barrel would spin and cause injury.
The bolt closest to the motor is a pain to get out, just had to go slowly and patiently.
When I got the bolts out of the blade, it fell down into the bottom of the drum so i unbolted the guards from the front and the bottom, this allowed the blade to fall down.
Blade out, time to get some measurements, clean it up and sharpen.
The blade measured 110mm x 35mm.
The holes measuring:
- 20mm
- 55mm - centre
- 90mm
Clean up with a wire brush reveals the damage to the blade. We can see in the middle, there is a dip in the blade.
Using the 180 grit whetstone / diamond board, i was able to clean up the worst of this edge.
This took around an hour and one sore arm.
While I had it open, I took the measurements of the flail hammers
Something I had noticed after purchasing the unit second hand was a burn mark on the side of the tins opposite the motor, I had assumed that a bearing had gotten hot, however after investigating i found that there was no bearing on that side, and the unit had been used to spread straw at some point.
The straw had gotten bound up and resulted in a burn mark.
This took around an hour and one sore arm.
While I had it open, I took the measurements of the flail hammers
Something I had noticed after purchasing the unit second hand was a burn mark on the side of the tins opposite the motor, I had assumed that a bearing had gotten hot, however after investigating i found that there was no bearing on that side, and the unit had been used to spread straw at some point.
The straw had gotten bound up and resulted in a burn mark.
Assembly of the unit is just the reverse of taking it apart. Do not use any lubricants on the fixings as we do not want those coming apart.
Back to making mulch!
