Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Uneven cut - Honda HT-R3009 riding mower

The (single) blade is straight, bearing is good everything seems ok as you spin it, but the mandrel must be mounted slightly out of position because the blade is higher at one part and lower at the opposite end. there is a triangle shaped housing bolted underneath to the center of the deck. can that be loosened and re-positioned to true-up the shaft, or is the mandrel bent and needing replacement.

On a Deere, an I assume on your Honda, the blade is leveled in relation to the ground by adjusting the deck.

You should be able to adjust the deck hangers to level the blade side to side, and it should be 1/8" to 1/4" lower in front than the rear. Spin the blades end for end and verify that they match. You could have a bent mandrel, or a bent blade or both. Or your deck itself might be bent, or the hardware holding the mandrel bearings in place might be loose, or the bearings could be worn out causing the blade to wobble around while you are cutting.

Thanks for the replies. On the Honda there isn't much leeway to be able to tilt the deck left side or right. there are two hangers in front that only position or center the deck front to rear. There are also two adjustable hangers that connect to the height adjustment they only allow less than half inch of adjustment and I tried changing them to no avail.

If the mandrel were bent I would expect to see a wobble at the top belt-pulley or in the blade...neither is noticeable. The mandrel bearing is rock solid & spins quietly & true, no play or wobble at all. It seems like all that is left is that the deck itself could be whacked out of place in relation to the mandrel position (but their is no major hit/bend/crunched damage, and/or the hardware holding the mandrel in place is nudged out of position the bolts are tight and there is no visible displacement of any kind but that would make sense since this deck has been cutting like this since day one and if there is play in the mounting position when assembling it, it may have been done wrong from initial assembly. What I'm wondering is if the bolts that hold the mandrel base in place have any adjust-ability to them or if they fit into holes that don't allow any movement.

The bolts don't have any adjustment. Does the deck look to be level to the ground, or is it also unlevel?

That's what I was afraid of. ("The bolts don't have any adjustment") The deck (underside) measures level with the floor but the blade measures as if the mandrel is not vertical. I took the blade off and it seems like there may be some something missing that should hold the blade centered in the right position. i.e. there is a lot of slop in the position of the blade. There is only a bracket (above the blade) and a large (approx 3") cupped washer so the blade has about a half inch of movement around the bolt. The blade wasn't vibrating so I figured it was on correctly but it would have been tough to get it perfectly centered and the bolt tightened. Should there be some sort of spacer that would hold the blade in position? I found 3 washers that I can put on it and I made a sleeve to fit over the bolt to hold the washers in position. That should hold it in place. I'm waiting for a new blade that I ordered before I put it back together. Hopefully that will correct things. If not, the mandrel mounts must be holding it at an angle.

Sounds like a previous owner substituted a non-standard blade for what was supposed to go there. You never want a blade with a 7/8" dia. hole being held on with a 3/8" dia. bolt (guessing at sizes). It doesn't matter much if the deck housing is level, it's the blade itself that needs to be leveled up. If you need more than the 1/2" you mentioned available in the hangers, then something else is messed up.

I checked the blade stats on two different sites, and they list a 1.02-inch center hole which is what I have, and the 3/8"bolt fits the shaft, so there must be something missing. There must be some kind of spacer that I don't have.

This link might help. It shows a blow up of parts around the blade shaft area.
http://www.planopower.com/store/honda/honda_ht-r3009_blade_shaft.shtml

argh... that diagram is sooo close, but it doesn't show the bolt that holds the blade on or if there is a spacer....:wall: Thanks for the link though, it'll be helpful if I need to replace the shaft.

I just spoke with a parts-man from that site (plano power equipment). He checked his schematic for the blade attachment and said there is no spacer. He described it just as mine is, a bracket that holds the blade, then the blade, then a big cupped washer. there is a raised 'hump' on the blade centered around the center hole and he said that holds the blade centered in the cupped washer as you tighten it... sounds odd but that's what it looks like.... (maybe the open space allows the blade to shift if it hits something... taking up some of the impact & saving the mandrel) which it looks like what happened to mine, because you can tell the blade was a bit off center by the marks it left where it was last positioned (i.e. about 1/4" off center). Funny that it could be that far off center and I wouldn't feel any vibration. maybe this will all work itself out when I get the new blade.

PROBLEM SOLVED! got the new blade on adjusted everything and still could not get it to level side to side with the floor within the range of adjustments available. So I went over every inch of it carefully and finally noticed that the rear deck hanger on one side was reversed. i.e. the part with the clevis pin was outside the hanger pointing at the frame on one side, and inside the hanger pointing away from the frame on the other side. Thanks for the helpful info guys!

Glad you got it fixed. Thanks for the update.