Changing blades

[jrebeiro]

How often are you guys changing your blades in walk behinds. I have a 48" scag. Should I change them or sharpen them and how often. Also how do you sharpen gator blades?

[joshua]

1st this depends on how many lawns you cut in a week. 2nd how well do you want to cut the grass, smooth or tear it with the blades giving it a bad cut. i'm thinking that you want smooth and want the grass to maintain a heathly state. personly i change mine every 3 days in the spring, i cut about 50 lawns a week but most are almost an acre.
good luck to you

[TJLC]

I was told to sharpen blades about every 4-6 yards. (80x125 yard) I replace them when the wing (not sure if this is the proper name) wears thin. You must keep your blades sharp at all times. Also make sure they are balanced. As far as sharping gators, I don't use them, so I'm sorry, I can't help you there.

[awm]

your question is almost refreshing.sometimes
i dont think lco give their selves enough credit
for knowing what jq public doesnt know.
sharpen the gator like the rest of your blades.
if by chance you are wondering about sharpening
multi edge pt (top) probably wouldnt hurt but
dont take much off. by the way ,when sharpening try to take as little metal off per as possible.luck to ya

[Eric ELM]

I sharpen several sets of blades so I can put on sharp blades each day or more often if needed. I use my RBG grinder to sharpen all my blades, Gators included. I talk to another company owner a lot on the job and he changes the blades on his W/B each day. I only use DC's, but each day is the best for a good cut. When you change the blades often, it takes lots less time to sharpen them.

If you are using double blades, I only change the bottom blade each day, the top one once a week. The top blade only chops clippings so it isn't that important that it is razor sharp.

[awm]

YOU GOT MY ATTENTION . THE TOP BLADES DONT NEED TO BE THAT SHARP HUH LEARN SOMTHIN NEW EVERY DAY.later on

[jrebeiro]

Eric

So on your site when you say change blades you are actually rotating blades not just chucking them after a day. Cuz I would think that costs would add up by replacing 3 blades at $10 a piece every cutting day.

[Eric ELM]

jrebeiro: What I mean by changing the blades is taking off the dull ones and putting on sharp blades. I have over 20 sets of blades, so I don't sharpen them every day. I usually just sharpen all the blades we have taken off during the week on a weekend day.

NO, I don't throw them away when I take them off, I sharpen them for the next time I put on sharp blades. I do not put the top one on the bottom, I take them all off, put a sharp one on the bolt and the one that was on top, back on top.

AWM: The bottom blade does all the cutting, since it is the lowest. It needs to be sharp to make a nice clean cut so it don't damage the ends of the grass. The top one only chops the clippings up more, so who cares how clean of a cut that is, as long as it cuts. That is why I just sharpen them once a week.

[Fantasy Lawns]

when you return to the next cut on the yard ....if you see a dull jagged ...brown edge on the "tip" of the grass growth ..yur blades were dull .....fungi love dull blades ....we switch about every 6-8 hours of mowing ...depending on conditions (wet grass or dusty dry areas)

[big mike]

this year i'm going to sharpen my own blades and my question is there a trick to sharping them do you do only one side and should i get a bench grinder or should i use one of those one's that fit into my drill,and what doe's rbg stand for? and do you use the balancer that looks like a cone the one were you sit the blade on to balance?any info would help thank's big mike

[Mark]

Like Eric says i change my bottom blades everyday,and the top gators every 4-to-6 days. Sharp blades are a must, they really lay down very nice stripes,in-fact i just got in about a hour ago and my voice mail has a aparment complex for me to bid on tomorrow,the nice thing about it is they are right next to some apts i aready do,they told the owner of the apts i do now that i do a very good job,and wanted my number. Thanks to the sharp blades,couldn't do it without them. Marks Mowing Service

[lawnman_scott]

Yes what does rbg stand for. i figuer its ________ bench grinder. am i close? i do mine once a week, i do about 120-130 lawns a week, but most are small around here. To sharpen gators i used a small 3-4 inch angle grinder, it did an ok job. I dont use gators anymore for that reason

[swn]

Rotary Blade Grinders. I don't have one, but am considering buying. I use a hand held grinder. This works pretty good for me. You sure are mowing a lot of lawns a week!

[jasonp]

I have a couple of yards that all have at least one pine tree on them and after cutting up a bunch of pine cones it dulls the blades quik, I think it depends on how many yards you cut and what all you hit. Around here if you where to cleanup every little thing before you mowed you would never get trough, I always dread the first couple of cuts, I can dull a set of blades on just one yard sometimes.

[awm]

mike yes try to sharpen the angle side
of the blade . i do smooth the backside down but
dont put any angle on it. as far as angle of edge
30 degees or just copy new blade angle.
luck to ya

[big mike]

thanks awm, that helps alot i'll try it out.