Gator Blade Mulching on a 42" Craftsman

[Touring5]

From my reading in this forum, it seems that the gator blades seem to be an improvement on old mowers, but a step down on new mulching deck designs.

So here's my somewhat specific question: Has anyone used the gator blades on an older Craftsman 42" deck? My rider is a 1996 model that sports the "QC" 3-in-1 mowing deck. The mower is very good for side discharge with the OEM blades, but mulching performance is poor (leaves lots of clumps unless cutting very dry grass). Overall it's been a very good and reliable unit, but it would be nice if it mulched even close to as well as my Toro recycler walk behind.

 

[JTK]

You'd have to try them for your specific conditions.

I've read of lots of owner's experiences using these blades on their 2 & 3 blade cutting decks, Craftsmans included. Some love the results & performance. Some don't.

There's just too many variables that can effect cut quality and performance, then toss the owner's expectations into the mix...

Joel

 

[FNFAL308]

All you can really do it "try" them, you may find they work fine..
Gator blades work well on some mowers and in some grass applications but are no means the best for everything.

The grass type and the deck(baffle)design will determine what works best as well as the blade speed. These mowers(and many other home owner units)don't use very good spindles so they don't have a lot of blade speed when compared to the larger commercial mowers..

If the Gators don't work I would try a wave style mulch blade if you haven't done so already?

 

[PontiacFan]

Originally Posted By: Touring5
The mower is very good for side discharge with the OEM blades


Side Discharge is where Gator Blades do there best work, since the blades shred the grass as it is discharged.

Quote:
but mulching performance is poor (leaves lots of clumps unless cutting very dry grass)


Mulching Performance will only be good if the grass is 100% dry and the grass is not to high.

Quote:
but it would be nice if it mulched even close to as well as my Toro recycler walk behind.


It never will, I have a Toro Super Recycler, and underneath the deck it has plastic pieces that help with the mulching, your Sears Deck underneath is probably the same as any other riding mower that shoots grass out. JMO