Thanks, Tim! I've had the Magnamatic for many years, going all the way back to our time in Northern Maine. I've often thought about getting the larger version but I have a design that I want to build and I feel it's superior in concept
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504 There's a ton of videos of the Ventrac and attachments being used on UA-cam, but not too many regarding maintenance. Keep it up!
Hi Bradley. Have you ever just flipped the blades? I bet that is a 'no-no' as the bevel is in the wrong direction, but also wondered how much of a difference it would make. I am at the point I need to either sharpen mine or replace them.
It really wouldn't be a problem just to flip them upside down as the cut height will only be the difference of the blade thickness, about 5/16". In a brush cutting situation, this would never be noticeable. I have 2 sets of blades but have never used the new set and I've been abusing the original set for years but keep them sharpened as needed. I have a newer Tough Cut maintenance video that shows a bit more...ua-cam.com/video/f1HtzvTCpTg/v-deo.html
Enjoy the videos 👍 I got a new 4500Z love it! Did you grease the underside rollers on the deck? Just curious maybe it slipped you! Thanks for sharing 👍
Ryan, you can't just swap them between spindles. There are 2 different kinds of blades, 2 lefts and a right. When you place them down together, you'll see that the bevel is opposite for each type
Hm, interesting. All three of my blades are exactly the same. Each of my blades has a cutting edge on either side, so it would cut whether it’s spinning CW or CCW. It appears they’re designed that way for the specific purpose of being installed on a CW spinning spindle or a CCW spinning spindle.
@@rhelms11 If you look at how they work, you'll see that if you damage one of the CW blades, you have to change it with the CCW blade for a fresh cutting edge. Changing out a CW blade with the other CW blade will not accomplish anything. I had meant to say that I came up with a design to make each of them truly interchangeable, whether CW or CCW
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504the blades are the same and are made to be installed either way and will cut and when one side is dull or chipped, just flip them over
@@albrownmd not entirely correct. Since the right blade spins counter to the middle and left, you can swap the right blade with the middle or the left, but cannot swap the middle for the left, meaning you can swap blades that spin in opposite directions. If you simply flip the blade upside down, you'll have a change in the cut height equivalent to the blade thickness, or about 5/16". In heavy brush that may not even be noticeable though
Peter, the pins that are used to set the cut height are removed, the desk raised and pins replaced to keep in raised position. The Jack Stand must also be placed in the middle notch to allow clearance for the deck to be raised
Bradley, thank you for your great, detailed videos. There was one step you did with the hitch pins that I can't figure out. Now I did figure out how to rotate the deck up to work on the blades, but I can't figure out how to change the pin location to adjust the deck height. Any suggestions? I am going to take another look tomorrow, but I sure was stumped today.
Dan, this is a question that I've been asked before on this channel and I plan and doing a video about it. Here is the response I use to answer that question. This is a subject that I take very seriously. I don't know if this is a judgmental question or one of genuine curiosity. To fully explain, I need to give a back story and is probably a topic that I should cover in a future video. To start, I enlisted in the Army just after the first Gulf War and was later deployed on combat roles after 9/11, some of them were even inside the Continental US. There are still sleeper cells here and whether you knew it or not, they were and are still active. It was my job to find them with the help of the FBI and CIA and prevent them from doing bad things. After my time in the service was over, I wanted to move away to a quiet place and settled down in Northern Maine where I could put a lot of those horrors behind me. We were immediately befriended by a lovely couple, Mike and Heidi. They were our first friends up there. The very day I put my sidearm away to pursue my life of peace, a news alert was on TV and radio telling everyone to stay indoors and stating that a killer was on the loose and hiding out in our rural area. He had just killed 2 people and burned their house down. Later that day I found out that those two people, killed next door to the intended targeted home was Mike and Heidi. The were shot and then burned in their home just a few minutes from us. This never happens in Northern Maine but it happened to our good friends! usgunviolence.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/double-murder-killed-heidi-pratt-oakfield-me/ At that point I was convinced that there was no place on earth where I could truly settle down in peace. It gets worse. We moved back to SE Pennsylvania to be closer to family. One of my cousins, Dennis, a decorated Air Force fighter pilot in Vietnam with a 20 year military career, was just murdered outside his rural home just 3 weeks ago. www.berksmontnews.com/news/murder-charges-filed-in-bern-township-vietnam-vets-death/article_fdb365be-d28e-11ea-881b-cb82df4be982.html There are bad people out there and bad things happen because of them. I have the background and training to protect myself and others. The chances of law enforcement being right there at the exact moment to stop the unthinkable is not something I want to bet my life on. I don't like to open carry but in the heat of the summer it is necessary. I hope this answers your question.
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504 That's terrible brother. I really feel for you! But doesn't this just show what's wrong with society in the US and the terrible gun culture there. It has a lot to answer for!
@@danbskyguy I don't want to my channel to turn political and I don't want this to seem that way. "Gun culture" is a media term designed to displace where the problem really is. Guns aren't bad any more than the knife that killed my cousin is bad. It's the person holding it. I've noticed a trend over the years. When an animal rights activist shares a photo of a hunter on safari shooting a lion (something I personally don't agree with) it's the person they don't like. I agree. It's not the rifle that killed the lion, it's the person holding it. When something as terrible as someone using a gun to inflict death during a mass shooting, all of sudden it's the gun and not the person holding it. Make no doubt, it's the person. It's always the person. There are bad people out there and the police are rarely there at the exact moment needed to prevent them from doing bad things. I am trained and capable and I take responsibility for my own safety and that of others very seriously.
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504 So your job in the army, was to work with the FBI and CIA in the USA. You understand there are a bunch of things wrong with that statement.
@charleslynch908 nothing wrong with that at all. 9-11 changed a lot of things and there were CONUS military operations in coordination with the FBI and CIA to protect the US against terrorist threats
Thank you for your time and effort to share with us.
My pleasure!
Your Magna Matic blade sharpener looks nice. I may have to get one of those. Enjoying your Ventrac maintenance videos!
Thanks, Tim! I've had the Magnamatic for many years, going all the way back to our time in Northern Maine. I've often thought about getting the larger version but I have a design that I want to build and I feel it's superior in concept
Tim, if you haven't already, I would greatly appreciate your subscription to my channel :)
Thanks so much for subscribing! It's a great help toward my goal of reaching the magical 1,000 and beyond :)
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504 There's a ton of videos of the Ventrac and attachments being used on UA-cam, but not too many regarding maintenance. Keep it up!
Thanks.
glad it helps!
I also add a little anti-sieze to each bolt. They come off a lot easier.
I need to get into that habit
Hi Bradley. Have you ever just flipped the blades? I bet that is a 'no-no' as the bevel is in the wrong direction, but also wondered how much of a difference it would make. I am at the point I need to either sharpen mine or replace them.
It really wouldn't be a problem just to flip them upside down as the cut height will only be the difference of the blade thickness, about 5/16". In a brush cutting situation, this would never be noticeable. I have 2 sets of blades but have never used the new set and I've been abusing the original set for years but keep them sharpened as needed. I have a newer Tough Cut maintenance video that shows a bit more...ua-cam.com/video/f1HtzvTCpTg/v-deo.html
They are made to be flipped.
Enjoy the videos 👍 I got a new 4500Z love it! Did you grease the underside rollers on the deck? Just curious maybe it slipped you! Thanks for sharing 👍
Thanks for watching! There are no rollers on the Tough Cut deck though
There on each side grease hole on the side of deck on mine?
Check your video 3:20
@@daveholmes123 OK, without even checking I know what you mean now. I thought you meant striping rollers :)
@@daveholmes123 Because I have the optional castors, those little rollers are never used and no real need to check them
Do you ever flip your blades or just rotate them to a spindle of the opposite direction?
Ryan, you can't just swap them between spindles. There are 2 different kinds of blades, 2 lefts and a right. When you place them down together, you'll see that the bevel is opposite for each type
Hm, interesting. All three of my blades are exactly the same. Each of my blades has a cutting edge on either side, so it would cut whether it’s spinning CW or CCW. It appears they’re designed that way for the specific purpose of being installed on a CW spinning spindle or a CCW spinning spindle.
@@rhelms11 If you look at how they work, you'll see that if you damage one of the CW blades, you have to change it with the CCW blade for a fresh cutting edge. Changing out a CW blade with the other CW blade will not accomplish anything. I had meant to say that I came up with a design to make each of them truly interchangeable, whether CW or CCW
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504the blades are the same and are made to be installed either way and will cut and when one side is dull or chipped, just flip them over
@@albrownmd not entirely correct. Since the right blade spins counter to the middle and left, you can swap the right blade with the middle or the left, but cannot swap the middle for the left, meaning you can swap blades that spin in opposite directions. If you simply flip the blade upside down, you'll have a change in the cut height equivalent to the blade thickness, or about 5/16". In heavy brush that may not even be noticeable though
How did you get the deck in that raised position?
Peter, the pins that are used to set the cut height are removed, the desk raised and pins replaced to keep in raised position. The Jack Stand must also be placed in the middle notch to allow clearance for the deck to be raised
Bradley, thank you for your great, detailed videos. There was one step you did with the hitch pins that I can't figure out. Now I did figure out how to rotate the deck up to work on the blades, but I can't figure out how to change the pin location to adjust the deck height. Any suggestions? I am going to take another look tomorrow, but I sure was stumped today.
@@berttondo6170 The manual explains all of the combinations of caster/pin settings for heights.
Is the gun to protect you from the blades or yourself?
Dan, this is a question that I've been asked before on this channel and I plan and doing a video about it. Here is the response I use to answer that question.
This is a subject that I take very seriously. I don't know if this is a judgmental question or one of genuine curiosity. To fully explain, I need to give a back story and is probably a topic that I should cover in a future video. To start, I enlisted in the Army just after the first Gulf War and was later deployed on combat roles after 9/11, some of them were even inside the Continental US. There are still sleeper cells here and whether you knew it or not, they were and are still active. It was my job to find them with the help of the FBI and CIA and prevent them from doing bad things. After my time in the service was over, I wanted to move away to a quiet place and settled down in Northern Maine where I could put a lot of those horrors behind me. We were immediately befriended by a lovely couple, Mike and Heidi. They were our first friends up there. The very day I put my sidearm away to pursue my life of peace, a news alert was on TV and radio telling everyone to stay indoors and stating that a killer was on the loose and hiding out in our rural area. He had just killed 2 people and burned their house down. Later that day I found out that those two people, killed next door to the intended targeted home was Mike and Heidi. The were shot and then burned in their home just a few minutes from us. This never happens in Northern Maine but it happened to our good friends!
usgunviolence.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/double-murder-killed-heidi-pratt-oakfield-me/
At that point I was convinced that there was no place on earth where I could truly settle down in peace. It gets worse. We moved back to SE Pennsylvania to be closer to family. One of my cousins, Dennis, a decorated Air Force fighter pilot in Vietnam with a 20 year military career, was just murdered outside his rural home just 3 weeks ago.
www.berksmontnews.com/news/murder-charges-filed-in-bern-township-vietnam-vets-death/article_fdb365be-d28e-11ea-881b-cb82df4be982.html
There are bad people out there and bad things happen because of them. I have the background and training to protect myself and others. The chances of law enforcement being right there at the exact moment to stop the unthinkable is not something I want to bet my life on. I don't like to open carry but in the heat of the summer it is necessary. I hope this answers your question.
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504 That's terrible brother. I really feel for you! But doesn't this just show what's wrong with society in the US and the terrible gun culture there. It has a lot to answer for!
@@danbskyguy I don't want to my channel to turn political and I don't want this to seem that way. "Gun culture" is a media term designed to displace where the problem really is. Guns aren't bad any more than the knife that killed my cousin is bad. It's the person holding it. I've noticed a trend over the years. When an animal rights activist shares a photo of a hunter on safari shooting a lion (something I personally don't agree with) it's the person they don't like. I agree. It's not the rifle that killed the lion, it's the person holding it. When something as terrible as someone using a gun to inflict death during a mass shooting, all of sudden it's the gun and not the person holding it. Make no doubt, it's the person. It's always the person. There are bad people out there and the police are rarely there at the exact moment needed to prevent them from doing bad things. I am trained and capable and I take responsibility for my own safety and that of others very seriously.
@@bluecordprecisiongrading2504 So your job in the army, was to work with the FBI and CIA in the USA. You understand there are a bunch of things wrong with that statement.
@charleslynch908 nothing wrong with that at all. 9-11 changed a lot of things and there were CONUS military operations in coordination with the FBI and CIA to protect the US against terrorist threats