How to Remove the Blades on a Cub Cadet 1042

In order to sharpen or replace your lawn tractor's blades, you will need to remove the blades, which are connected to the tractor's deck. The deck sits underneath the tractor. Ensure that your vehicle is parked on level ground and turned off before performing any maintenance.

1. Park the tractor on level, solid ground and position the PTO clutch in the "Off" or "Disengage" position. Set the parking brake and remove the key from the ignition.

2. Shift the tractor's deck lift lever to the bottom notch on the right fender. Locate and remove the belt guard hex screws and then carefully remove the belt guard and the belt from the engine pulley.

3. Locate the tractor's deck support pin at the rear of the deck, which is on the underside of the riding mower. Pull the pin away from the deck lift arm. Locate the second deck support pin on the opposite side in the rear and pull it from the deck lift arm. Place the deck lift arms in the top notch.

4. Remove the bow-tie cotter clip from the deck engage cable and remove the cable from the deck. Remove the second cotter pin from the stabilizer rod and remove the stabilizer rod from the deck's hanger bracket.

5. Remove the spring from the deck idler bracket (which is bolted to the top of the belt pulley) using a wrench and then slide the deck out from underneath the tractor.

6. Flip the deck over for easy access to the blade. Place the wood block between the edge of the housing and the blade to ensure that the blade does not turn. Using the 1 1/8-inch wrench, remove the hex flange nut from the blade.

7. Lift the blades from the deck.