Hi, While looking at photos of Rover Heavy Duty machines, I am struck by the fact that quite a few photos show the blade belt turned leftways, so that the blade disc is running counter clockwise. But the way I have always used mine is with the belt on a quarter turn right (from point of view behind the engine), and so the blade disc runs in traditional clockwise rotation. That is in fact the way Rover showed it on their schematics. Rover made flat blades, so theoretically you could reverse them to cater for CW or CCW rotations. Would there be any dramas in running it the CCW way, e.g. could a constant left-wise rotation coupled with vibration and bumping obstacles cause threaded parts on the belt drive to come undone over time? It may be that Rover designed it to run both ways, or that was entirely coincidental. Anyway it has been enough to confuse me and cause me to ask why am I seeing photos that show the belt with CCW blade rotation? I guess it would be okay, so long as the operator remembered to turn the blades around the opposite way??? I think I will "go by the book".
With a Deutscher it wouldn't matter because Deutscher in their wisdom made their blades flat and sharpened both edges so you could just swap the blades over out in the paddock and all you needed to swap them over is a hammer to undo the brass nuts holding the blades on. You could run the blade carrier in either direction without changing the blades. As for the Rover, I would run the blade carrier in the standard clockwise from above direction
Itβs likely they optimized their machines to run this way, like in the parts image.
I haven't been able to find any images of Rover blades that would suggest they are able to be used in the opposite direction. meaning the rover blades are made with the cutting angle on one side to suit one direction.
Reversible blades are usually like the blade A below ,showing which edges are sharpened ,these are flipped over but the cutting direction remains the same.
I guess if people run the Rover slasher the wrong way they would sharpen the edge of the blade to suit that direction.
Image below ,blade B shows how the cutting edge would be if you changed the cutting direction.
If the slasher was made to cut in both directions the cutting edge would typically be beveled to suit but it's generally on one side.
I hope I'm not posting in the wrong place but you blokes here seem to have plenty of knowledge about these mowers.
I've recently been able to use one and it's a weapon. The problem though is when in self propelled mode I found myself jogging behind it and barely hanging on because it just travels too quickly. After reading the manual I realize that it probably has the largest drive dogs attatched. To slow it down would it be simply a case of filing or grinding down the dogs to a smaller size?
Simply filing or grinding down the dogs might not be as straightforward as it seems. You need to ensure that the modified dogs still engage properly and provide enough grip to move the mower, especially on inclines or in thick grass.
The problem with trying to grind down the dogs is that the gripping teeth are short and if you decrease the diameter of the dog there would be no teeth left to grip the tyres.( To attempt this you would need to machine them down in a Lathe then machine the teeth into the dogs )
It would probably be easier to make a sulky for the mower and you could just use a couple old bike wheels or whatever you can find.
Grinding down the drive dogs is unlikely to be a successful or safe solution. Building or buying a sulky is a much better and more practical approach to controlling the mower's speed and making it easier to operate.
I guess another option is to find a few old mower shops and see if they have old stock of the smaller drive dogs.
The larger dog drives are made for the sulky see pic below from owners manual.
Thanks Max. I'm mowing on 10 to 20 degree slopes at times so the sulky would be dicey.
I've not been able to find the drive dogs available anywhere. I've looked at the BBT slasher mower sold in Australia and the self propelled mechanism on it seems to be similar. They sell their "Wheel Crawlers" as a spare part but the dimensions look wrong. I'll continue to look for some old stock. Thanks again for your help.
The drive dogs look easy to make AkL , easier than modifying the ones you have.
You would just need some round steel , short lengths with the centre holes drilled on a lathe.
Then you could weld 4 short lengths of 1/4 Inch Square Key Stock to each round hub that was drilled or machined out.
Then you just cut the back of the dogs for the drive pin to lock into with a hacksaw or file or grinder.
I think a drill press could be used instead of a lathe to drill the centre holes but it would take longer as you would drill half way, after you centre punch the centre ,then drill the other side half way through to get the complete hole through.
Drill the centre hubs out with a smaller drill than needed first ,then if the holes in the centre don't line up perfectly use a round file to make a straight hole then drill all the way through with the correct size drill bit from one side.
I guess you could drill the centre holes without a drill press ,I've done it before but it takes a while to get a good centered hole.
