Best brand of mower blades

Originally Posted by Touring5
For grass cutting performance, I haven't found the gator blades to be better than the OEM blade - in fact on my Toro super recycler, they are worse. They do seem to mulch heavy leaves a bit better, maybe. On my old Craftsman 42" lawn tractor, I've found no blade that actually mulches grass well.

I have bought the Oregon OEM style blades for the lawn tractor - no difference in performance, but they're clearly more stout than the ones I bought from Sears.



I will say that for Toro mowers, I prefer the Toro OEM blades. I use their "atomic blade" on Recycler mowers, and their OEM blade on the Super Recycler mower that I own and the ones that come through from customers. Those are cheap on ebay and they work well with those decks. Gator blades go on everything else I change blades on, mainly for the durability. I have them on my John Deere garden tractor, and I've used them with the bagger, with the mulch kit installed, and just regular side discharge. They cut well in all 3 setups and are easy to purchase on ebay. The exception would be mowers that are used mainly for bagging and require a special high lift blade to push grass into the bagger chute (Simplicity and some Craftsmans).

You bring up an interesting point about Craftsman's 42" deck and mulching. One of my neighbors has one and we have tried several different blades along with a mulch plug so he can mulch grass with it. We found the mulch plug and Craftsman mulching blades to work the best, but the grass has to be 100% dry and the 1/3 rule used (1/3 taken off the grass, 1/3 mowing speed), otherwise it leaves clumps on the ground. We've come to the conclusion it has to do with the design of the deck.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
This is ridiculous. Just about any brand will do fine. Pick the style you need, regular vs mulching.

No, chips are not throw away. Think about how a blade works, spinning around. The only thing you need to do besides sharpening is make sure they are balanced which just means take more off the side that isn't chipped.

Blades last the life of the mower unless you are deliberately trying to hit rocks like it's a game.


Not necessarily. Sure if you have a postage stamp sized yard with nothing but lush grass, your blades will last a lot longer. Will a dull, worn down, or bent blade cut? Sure, but your lawn will suffer as the blades will rip the grass instead of cutting it, and you will see all those brown tips on the top of your grass.

Introduce any dirt, sand, sticks, or leaves into the equation and you have fine particles flying around under the deck that will act like a sandblaster to your blades, dulling the edge.

I had a customer come in last year with a 42" lawn tractor (2 blade deck) that had the original blades on it. He needed them sharpened since it was missing sections of grass in the middle when he mowed. The blades were original and the machine was about 8 years old. I pulled the blades off and the edges were round. The blades had worn so much that when compared to a set of replacements, they were visibly shorter on both sides. No wonder it was leaving uncut sections of grass. I don't know what his yard looks like, but I'd venture to guess that most homeowners don't have a perfect lawn free of obstacles, sticks, or dirt.
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Touring5 said:
For grass cutting performance, I haven't found the gator blades to be better than the OEM blade - in fact on my Toro super recycler, they are worse. They do seem to mulch heavy leaves a bit better, maybe. On my old Craftsman 42" lawn tractor, I've found no blade that actually mulches grass well.

...

You bring up an interesting point about Craftsman's 42" deck and mulching. One of my neighbors has one and we have tried several different blades along with a mulch plug so he can mulch grass with it. We found the mulch plug and Craftsman mulching blades to work the best, but the grass has to be 100% dry and the 1/3 rule used (1/3 taken off the grass, 1/3 mowing speed), otherwise it leaves clumps on the ground. We've come to the conclusion it has to do with the design of the deck.


Yep. That is exactly the experience I've had (always end up with large chunks that fly off after building up on the tires. Good thing is it's 23 years old and it's still going strong (a few repairs here or there, of course).
 
Originally Posted by Tom NJ

Originally Posted by ABN_CBT_ENGR


First you need to know what you are cutting ( just grass, grass and a lot of dirt, grass and shrubs or hard obstructions)

First is the steel- is it generic high or low carbon or tool steel? ( for grass either but the more punishment the stronger you need)

Then comes the biggie- is this stamped, machined or forged?

Look at what the blade is made from and how its made relative to your applications


Good information, but unfortunately none of the blades I looked at online tell me if the blades are stamped, machined, or forged. I'll be looking for that information now.

I am mostly cutting just grass, but inevitably will always hit some sticks, small stones or gravel, and kick up a little dust if the ground is very dry.


Consumer and commercial mower's blades are stamped out of medium carbon steel then machined sharp. You won't see forged or machined higher carbon steel unless it is Agricultural / Industrial.
 
Originally Posted by TheLawnRanger
I like Rotary Copperheads.
+3
https://www.rotarycorp.com/pages/copperheadblade
When I owned my shop, Rotary Corporation was the largest manufacturer of lawn mower blades in the world and had the reputation of producing the highest quality high carbon steel austempered blades on the market. In addition to selling blades themselves, they also supplied the OEM blades to several lawn mower manufacturers.
 
These do a great job of mulching , especially for bagging . The original blades on the John Deere D-130 made the chute clog often . Go to Lowes , Home Depot and Amazon for favorable consumer reviews .

IMG_1065.JPG


DSCF4806.JPG
 
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I'm anxiously awaiting a set of Oregon Gator Blades for my riding mower. Cant wait to see how they do as my previous set of mulching blades (cub cadet) left decent sized clumps all over my yard.
 
Originally Posted by Skol8480
I'm anxiously awaiting a set of Oregon Gator Blades for my riding mower. Cant wait to see how they do as my previous set of mulching blades (cub cadet) left decent sized clumps all over my yard.


Gator Blades do a great job of mulching - but they need more power to keep up the rpms as they are thicker than most stock blades.
 
I’m still experimenting. I’ve found that a certain brand and type of blade will perform differently on different brands of mowers. For instance, a Gator G3 may perform well on a Hustler and not so well on Exmark or Toro with the same deck size. I’ve tried the G3 on my 54” Toro. They cut beautifully. However, they pack the deck with clippings. I have found that the Bad Boy OEM mulchers do a better job than the Oregon G3 #96-803. Get this, Oregon makes the Bad Boy mulching blade. I have tried the Sunbelt XHT blades on my Toro. Scratch those, they are junk. I have yet to try the Oregon #94-060 high lifts. So far, OEM Toro high lift, Bad Boy high lift, Bad Boy mulching and Rotary Copperhead high lifts have given the best performance.
 
I run 2 different blades. On my toro, the orgeon gator blades are offset and cut about 1/2-3/4 inch lower at the highest deck setting. They do mulch leaves and small sticks well, and if you have the fusion blades they are harder, and ding resistant. They do seem to clog up worse if the grass is a bit damp.

I run the gator blades the last 2 mowings of the fall, and the first 2-3 mowings of the spring, for the leaves. Then i switch back to the oem Toro blades for the rest of spring/summer.

The oem Toro blades cut a bit smoother, and are a taller cut , and thats what i want after spring.

This seems to work best for me.
 
I run 2 different blades. On my toro, the orgeon gator blades are offset and cut about 1/2-3/4 inch lower at the highest deck setting. They do mulch leaves and small sticks well, and if you have the fusion blades they are harder, and ding resistant. They do seem to clog up worse if the grass is a bit damp.

I run the gator blades the last 2 mowings of the fall, and the first 2-3 mowings of the spring, for the leaves. Then i switch back to the oem Toro blades for the rest of spring/summer.

The oem Toro blades cut a bit smoother, and are a taller cut , and thats what i want after spring.

This seems to work best for me.
The Toro OEM blades do a great job however, they are pretty expensive. I just finished removing the Gators and put on a set of Rotary brand High Lifts. It’s a direct replacement for Bad Boy High Lifts. Rotary makes a direct replacement for the Toro OEM High Lifts but, I may have to special order from the dealer. I can buy a set of Rotary brand blades for around $33 while, the Toro OEM go for around $60.
 
Originally Posted by Skol8480
I'm anxiously awaiting a set of Oregon Gator Blades for my riding mower. Cant wait to see how they do as my previous set of mulching blades (cub cadet) left decent sized clumps all over my yard.


Gator Blades do a great job of mulching - but they need more power to keep up the rpms as they are thicker than most stock blades.
They are about twice as thick as the OEM ones on my cub cadet, you definitely notice it when you engage the clutch but once they're up to speed I haven't noticed any drop in power and they do a much better job mulching the grass and leaves. I quit raking entirely, one or two passes and the leaves are gone.
 
After reading the replies I'm thinking the Gator blades may not be a good choice for lawn tractors with larger decks if you're bagging. Like for example my PYT9000 50" with three blades. Smaller clippings may not blow out as well and will clog the deck and chute. And the gator blade does not provide as much lift because it's serrated.
 
After reading the replies I'm thinking the Gator blades may not be a good choice for lawn tractors with larger decks if you're bagging. Like for example my PYT9000 50" with three blades. Smaller clippings may not blow out as well and will clog the deck and chute. And the gator blade does not provide as much lift because it's serrated.
Correct! Stay away from the Gator type blades for bagging. High lift blades will do a better job.
 
MARBAIN blades. They have a patented process for hardening the steel. They came on my new Ferris ZT. I've mowed 62 hrs without sharpening and they are still making clean cuts. They cost more but are worth it IMO.
Update: I had them sharpened on a belt grinder at the local mower shop at about 70hrs. At 105 hrs they still cut cleanly. I was afraid that grinding on them would change the edge holding ability. Hasn’t seemed to. I mow about 3acres of 50/50 grass/weeds on rough pasture fields. What other blades can you get away with sharpening once in 105 hrs and still cut cleanly with no split grass blade.
 
Pretty impressive. At 40hrs my OE snapper blades needed a little tlc, but they also hit a few spots of gravelly dirt (right next to a gravel road) and a couple of rocks. I have gators on my wife's Deere L110 and with less use, they were considerably duller.. But she is also a bit less... discriminating when comes to mowing 😂

As long as whoever is doing the sharpening doesn't get them too hot, you'll be fine.
 
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