One of the many reasons we see landscapers come to our service shops is not necessarily for fresh blades, but for the hardware and belts that accompanies the blades. The wear and tear the blades receive is obvious and noticeable. It’s what you don’t see that can become the bigger issue.

The ‘nuts and bolts’ are literally, the nuts and bolts. Swapping out fresh hardware when you change the blades is going to keep your machine running smoothly. Bolts are technically a high tensile spring and can weaken and stretch out after many uses. Prevent the “knuckle busters” of trying to remove a rounded off bolt heads. Replacing a new cup washer will ensure a tight and exact fit. 

This is also a great time to inspect your mower deck belt. Frayed or cracked belts will have a definite impact of the life of your belt. Prevent unplanned downtime and if you are replacing the blade and hardware, this is a great time to replace the belt. Kubota OEM belts are a “True Fit” by size and made for an exact fit in the Kubota pulley. Look for damaged pulleys that can shorten the life of the belt as well.  

Another unseen piece when changing blades are your filters. With rainy season here and machines running from sunrise to sunset, those filters can get really clogged with debris. Changing these out when you change your blades is easy and necessary. We have all done this, but blowing an air filter out with an air hose and nozzle can carry the risk of creating small cracks or holes in the filter paper. This also destroys the fine-pored structure of the filter paper. As a result, the filter can no longer trap the dirt, and the air flow is reduced due to the clogged filter medium. This results in reduced performance and potential for a major repair. To get the most out of your Kubota equipment, we highly recommend using Kubota Genuine Products.

The SZ26NC-61-2 is one of our most popular, professional grade stand on mowers. We do a ton of work right before rainy season for our fleet landscapers. Blades, hardware, filters, fluids are all updated, and we don’t see them again for almost a year. All machines should be inspected at a minimum once a week. If your mowers are running 3 hours a day, they should be visiting a Florida Coast location every month for service. 

For more tips and tricks on keeping your zero turn in top shape, visit any of our 10 locations across Florida.