Blade Mount;
The Blade Mounting assembly on a Husqvarna Blue Bird Bed Bug is at best sloppy tolerances are so loose that it is impossible to hold the blade steady.  Husqvarna Blue Bird uses two small setscrews to attach the Blade Hub to the drive Shaft.  In reality, the setscrews only lightly hold the blade on until the machine is started.  After the Machine is running and in use it is only Luck and centrifugal force that holds the blade in place.  The 5-piece Hub and Drive Shaft assembly consists of a ¾” Shaft, Hub a ¼-inch square key and two set screws this is a single part on most other brands of Bed Edger’s. The Husqvarna Blue Bird design could have been more reliable if the parts would have been built with some precession.  The Shaft is undersize and the Hub is oversized out of the package, wobble starts day one, and gets worse with use.  This part is in serious need for a redesign if for no other reason than Safety.

Blade Support;
Holding the Blade and Shaft assembly to the frame of the machine is the job of two undersize bearings and ½ of a bearing support on the outboard bearing. The Blade is 4” wide 16” in diameter and weighs 8 pounds has minimal support.  Instead of 360-degree support for the outside, bearing the Bearing plate supports the bearing on two sides 90 degrees apart.  This Bearing Mount is a sight of frequent failures. It will loosen up because of the oversize Mounting Holes and the Bearing Mounting plate frequently breaks.  At one time, we welded and reinforced this plate currently; we just keep several in Stock at all times.

Debris Cover;
The job of the debris cover is to direct the ground contain rocks and because of the Blade Breakage Issues contain chunks of broken blades.  One would think with the importance of this part care would be taken in its manufacture.  I would suggest that heavier steel should be used however; we have never had an issue with the steel being punctured.  The issue with this part is that the mounting flanges are only tack welded.  I have noticed on the 2013 machines the welding seams have been increased.

Parts availability;
Husqvarna Blue Bird has had a major problem with Parts availability over the years.  We are early in our season and our Parts room has sufficient quantity of Husqvarna Blue Bird parts for our equipment.  In 2012, we had one Bed Bug out of service for 8 weeks because a wheel adjusting cable was out of stock.  Blades are often out of Stock. A few years ago, both of my Bed Bugs were out of Service for weeks because of “Lost Blades” The Husqvarna Blue Bird Parts Manager could not find 60 blades his inventory showed in the warehouse.