Cutting blades dull on a new mower

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Bought this Toro 20333 mower a few months back (maybe did 4 hours of easy mowing up to this point). The TruGreen guys who assess my lawn look at the grass and tell me to sharpen my blades. I take a look at the blade, and sure enough, they are pretty dull. They say that most mowers, when sold new, typically don't come with very sharp blades. Has this been your experience too?
 
I have a Craftsman. Second year I had it I figured it was time to sharpen the blade. So I drug it into my woodworking shop, ground it about as sharp as a steak knife.

Mowed the lawn once and it was completely dull. And I mow my entire lawn in 12 minutes.

If you find a good/cheap aftermarket blade let me know, but my experience is that the OEM blades are so poor they won't even stay sharp.

Hopefully Toro puts a little more quality into theirs.
 
Razor sharp will dull very fast. The correct cuting angle is about 15 degrees I believe. I sharpen with a bench grinder once a year but, the blads need a "touch up" with a hand file every couple of months to cut well.
 
On a related note, who makes good aftermarket blades? Is the Ace Hardware brand any good?

Also, some of the blades specifically say "mulching blade". Is there something special about such blade that makes it different from other blades? FYI, my Toro is a mulching mower.
 
The mulching blade has a longer cutting length on the blade than the standard lift and cut blade. I bought an Ariens ride-on at HD that came with the standard blade. My previous Craftsman had a mulching blades that cut much shorter length clippings.

I purchased some mulching blades at Lowes as they had an excellent selection, and put them on the new mower. The clippings are much shorter. I don't use it as a true mulcher by putting the cover on the shoot. The new blades seemed sharp enough to me.
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You can read this thread if you want more information on mulching blades.

HTH
J
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Bought this Toro 20333 mower a few months back (maybe did 4 hours of easy mowing up to this point). The TruGreen guys who assess my lawn look at the grass and tell me to sharpen my blades. I take a look at the blade, and sure enough, they are pretty dull. They say that most mowers, when sold new, typically don't come with very sharp blades. Has this been your experience too?



Very interesting. What do you look for in the cut grass blades to indicate a dull mower blade? Does the grass have spit/torn ends or something?

Also, a good sharp blade preserves your engine because it doesn't have to work as hard and get as hot to do the job.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
What do you look for in the cut grass blades to indicate a dull mower blade? Does the grass have spit/torn ends or something?

Yeah, the ends are rougher than usual.
 
yes blades on a new mower are always dull from my experience. They were on my JD rider when I bought it and on every mower that I have ever known.

I sharpen my blades every month more if I run in rough or rocky areas and of course if I hit something they are inspected and sharpened.
 
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