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I just changed the blades on my Toro Timecutter riding lawn mower.

While putting back the blades I did not pay much attention to the side of the washer that touches the mower blades.

But per this article, it says that the "You want the cup to go towards the mower blade itself."

First, what does the "the cup to go towards the mower blade mean". Does it mean \/ (with the blade being at the bottom or /\ (again, blade being at the bottom).

Second, is this critical for the functioning and safety of the lawn mower. I just made the change yesterday so can go through and do the whole thing again but wanted to know how critical it is to have the washer placed correctly.

To be honest, the washers seemed to be flat without any cup but again I'm not sure and it is hard to decipher without first taking the deck out.

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  • Cupped washers are a form of spring. If the washers are not cupped and are supposed to be, you should get new ones that are.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented Apr 14 at 13:30
  • For someone else or next time, sometimes the two sides(top/bottom) of the washer will look a bit different(have an imprint of the surfaces), from being in place, if the bolt side and blade side are not perfect mirror images and were put right before.
    – crip659
    Commented Apr 14 at 20:19

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If you look at the ends of the blade, you'll see the curve going up; that is the way it should be oriented towards the deck.

The OEM replacement blade washers for that mower do appear to have a slight cup in them. That helps compress the blade to the shaft. If they appear flat, you may need to replace them with the cupped/concave side towards the blade.

These are both important. Blade orientation for the quality of the cut and the washer for securing the blade.

enter image description here

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  • Thank you, I took out the deck and took a look and it seems out of the 3 only one had the wrong orientation. Unbolted it and fixed it back. Thanks for all the help.
    – Sangeet Agarwal
    Commented Apr 14 at 19:08
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The washer should be installed with the concave side toward the blade.

The idea is that the washer then will be compressed slightly and the extra force will keep the blade and nut tighter.

If the washer you have does not have a concave and convex side it may be old and the cup has been compressed out of it. Getting a new washer may not be critical, but it would be in the interest of safety.

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  • /\ (blade is at the bottom) ?
    – Sangeet Agarwal
    Commented Apr 14 at 16:54
  • @Sangeet Agarwal, Yes.
    – RMDman
    Commented Apr 14 at 16:58
  • Thank you, I took out the deck and took a look and it seems out of the 3 only one had the wrong orientation. Unbolted it and fixed it back. Thanks for all the help. Wish I could select 2 correct answers...
    – Sangeet Agarwal
    Commented Apr 14 at 19:11

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