gator mulching blades

[wheelhorsin1974 6]

I have a1998 314-8. It cuts awesome if u mow the grass often but if i skip a week and mow when its higher i need to go over it twice. Leaves rows of uncut grass like i didnt overlap enough but i do. Just wondering if the gator mulching blades do not spin fast enough to work properly. Seems like these older mowers spin half the speed of the newer ones. Was thinking a factory blade may cut the higher grass more evenly. I cut grass for people and i lose my rear when i need to cut it twice. Im cutting in 2nd gear. Seems plenty slow. The blades were just sharpened.

[leeave96 490]

I hope I don't get slammed by my gator blade using Wheelhorse Brethren for my comments, but I don't see how the gator type blades could be as effective at blowing grass out of the deck when the turned-up "fan" part of the blade - for lack of a better word has slots cut in it.  Think of it like waving your hand through the air with your fingers open.  If your fingers are tight, you pick-up more air and that IMHO is what the non-gator blade ought to do.  So it would seem to me if you have tall grass and want to avoid windrowing with a SD deck, you need to do several things.  One is to use regular blades, two - mow at full throttle and three (don't recommend this as I am more fearful of lawyers than anything else) is remove the metal deflector on your deck.

 

FWIW, I just mowed half of my yard with an old IH Cub Cadet with 48 inch deck.  Considering how tall and thick the grass was, it did a great job, but there was lots of clippings.  I finished the other half of the yard with my 520H and 48 inch deck and was VERY much surprised at how much better this deck cut.  It waded through the grass with ease and blew the grass further out than did the IHCC.

 

With regard to the gator blades - take what I say about them with a grain of salt.  I just got a set of them (with a deck purchase), but haven't had a chance to try them.  I know they get GREAT reviews.

 

Good luck!

Bill

[wheelhorsin1974 6]

I think im going to get a set of factory style blades. Does anyone recommend any high perf blades that arent mulching blades. Does gator make the regular style or are they all mulching??

[Tankman 3,523]

 

I finished the other half of the yard with my 520H and 48 inch deck and was VERY much surprised at how much better this deck cut.  It waded through the grass with ease and blew the grass further out than did the IHCC.

  

Good luck!

Bill

Like Bill, my 48" SD decks with new blades really move the grass. Lawn looks great and, although I mow weekly, no raking, blowing, sweeping required. I mow in a different direction and / or angle at each mowing perhaps this adds to the excellent WH mower performance (?).

I have five decks, four are 48" SD's. Great deck. Sold my 25 hp Cub with a 54" deck, the "Signature Cut" didn't do more for me than a set of new blades on my WH decks.

I find it surprising, looking at used decks, how people sharpen deck blades. Doubt most have a clue how to properly sharpen old blades, I chuckle and toss the junque'd blades. :smile:

[Brownta 5]

The gator blades cut grass clippings repeadly. Those slots in the blades throw the cut grass down into the knife part again and again to make small clippings. I had the same experience you are talking about. I think the gator blades cause ther to be too much grass in the cut while mowing. Instead of throwing the cut piece of grass out, it cuts it 2-3 times then throws it out. So all that grass keeps the deck from lifting the tall grass to get a level cut. You get smaller clippings but they don't cut as nice. I also had the issue of having more clippings thrown out the front of the deck and my Onan was sucking all them up pluggin the air screen. I switched back to the standard blade and it looks so much nicer. I don't have spots of grass that wasn't lifted up and cut. Sell those gator blades for scrap and get yourself a set of regular blades or high lift blades. All toro blades are high lift I think. So if you purchase a set of them, you will see much better resluts.

[546cowboy 302]

I had some Gator blades on a 60" deck when I bought a 520 a few years ago. I found the quality of cut to be far less than the standard blades in 6" grass as they left strips of grass with every pass. Had to mow it again with another tractor and W/H blades.

 

I was telling a friend about that and he had some on one of his tractors and said he never had that problem. Well we were standing by some 6" to 8" grass, so he got on his tractor and mowed through it a couple times. The results were the same as I encountered. Little strips of grass sticking up, like right between the blades and at the edges.

 

I always mow at wide open throttle and I do mow at a different direction every time.Always have, always will.

[Hodge71 690]

Boy you guys make me wonder what I'm doing different to get such great results with my Gator blades. I have 2 sets, one on a 48 SD that I took off my 1996 416 and put it on my Dads 1973 12Hp Automatic because his original deck was shot, and the second set I just put on a 42 RD that i just bought for my 416. My Dads lawn looks like a golf course and mine isn't far behind it. I would say the only difference being that my Dads lawn is well established and fertilized professionally, mine isnt fertilized professionally and therefore a bit thinner. I did put my gators on my 42" RD WITH, yes thats right...WITH the new set of factory blades that I bought to use until the gators showed up. I honestly will be a fan of gators for life. I havent had any issues with grass sticking up in stripes where they miss.

[Don1977 605]

Gator blade were not designed to cut wet grass. There were designed to mulch dry leafs.

[Tankman 3,523]

Looking at the cutouts (top edge) of the Gator blades makes me think, "Less lift, vacuum is or has to be lost therefor not cutting even."

Although tempted to try 'em out, the stock TORO blades are doing an excellent job. I don't want to waste time trying Gators while my Horses are performing so well.

I did have a 90" gang reel setup, worked great but sent it off. Why? Just wanted to try it, worked great but had too many lawn obstacles and had to bring out a Horse of hand mower anyway. If I had a lot of grass (straight) I would have kept the reel setup and cut frequently, fast 'n often. :smile:

[Jim_M 179]

I really like Gator blades, they're made from good steel and hold their edge very well. With that being said, they have their limitations. You have to mow often with gator blades, they don't do well in tall wet grass.

 You should mow often with any blade anyway. To keep grass healthy you should never cut more than 1/3 of the length the blade of grass off.

 I realize that's not always possible sometimes in a rainy spring the grass can get away from you, but if you can mow often enough to never cut more than 1/3 of the length you will be happy with gator blades.

[wheelhorsin1974 6]

I love the blades performance if u keep on the grass as soon as it needs mowed. If u encounter a lawn that has been mowed less than it should be i believe the gators are the wrong choice. I mow my lawn often but when i mow for others and the grass is high i need to double cut it with the gators. From what you all are saying i need a more universal blade for the "neglected" lawns i mow. Makes perfect sense. Thanks for all the input. This forum is full of great people with great comments and info!!!!

[dsholler 54]

This topic comes up every few months, there is lots of info on the forum about it. One of the threads has a link to an article bt Toro about the difference between their own regular blades and mulching blades. Basically says only use the mulching blades when it is very dry and you need to mulch stuff, like leaves. This was their advice to their own commercial customers about their own gear, so I don't think it was biased.

[wheelhorsin1974 6]

Ok. Thanks

[puddlejumper 67]

 I was going to buy a set for a 1200 cub and the salesman told me that due to the fact they are designed to cut the clippings numerous times they use a lot of horsepower and as said above dry well maintaintained lawns only. If your yard gets out of control its just to much to ask out of the design of the blade and a unnecessary strain on the engine.

[Davidbrianlove 0]

I really wish I read this thread before buying a set of Gators for my 42" RD deck on a 312-8.     The cut quality was very poor ( sorry, my schedule usually dictates cutting once every two week ), and I was very bummed out last night - I guess I'll be taking them off - anybody want to buy a set of 3 14.5" gator blades, 3/4" hole, with less than an hour's worth of use for $30 + you pay shipping???

[wheelhorsin1974 6]

Mine are coming off soon too. They are great if u mow twice a week which sometimes i cannot. They are great blades but not for higher grass.