BEWARE!! Gator Mulchers!!!

[captdevo]

I recently ordered 2 sets of Gator Mulchers for Walker 48" GHS decks out of my Silver Streak catalog and both sets hit the deck!!
Luckily the customer i sold one set to rotated by hand first (he installed them on a new $1400 deck)
If you do purchase blades, any for that matter, make sure you rotate by hand first.
These could have made a mess of a new deck or even injured someone.
I emailed Silver Streak of this, but have not had any response yet.

[Mowman]

Capt,
Mowman here. I have a set of Gators for my 54" SD Walker. I put them on and rotate by hand and they are fine. Engage the blades and they run fine for awhile then all of a SUDDEN they start BANGING together, the right one and the center blades. I can't figure it out. The Walker dealer can not figure it out either. The deck is in TIME. The Walker blades run FINE on it. Silver Streak keeps telling my dealer that my deck is out of time, that's why they are hitting. BS!!!!!!!! So there is $50.00 worth of JUNK metal setting on my work bench. Looking at them they are straight on the ends, not angled like the Walker's. And that's where they are hitting. But hey I don't know anything, I think it's a DESGIN FLAW and they don't want to ADMIT to it. I will not WASTE my MONEY on another set of Gator's for my Walker. I'm sure you'll never hear from them. Keep me informed.
Thnaks,
Mowman

[captdevo]

As Bob Walker would say.......

"It ain't a Walker"

[TLS]

Why would you knowingly want to reduce the lift or suction of a deck by adding gators? With doubles, gators are a must, but solo, they just (dont) suck!

[captdevo]

these are listed as hi-lifts!

Why would you manufacture and sell products that aren't under supervised quality control?

Especially something which could cause loss of limb or life if mistakes are overlooked!!

I wonder how many others have been manufactured and sold.

The point I'm trying to get across is Try all blades by hand first!!

[Richard Martin]

Sounds like another in a long list of reasons not to buy a Walker.

[captdevo]

Sounds like you purchase your mowers by the aftermarket blades you can put on them!

Walkers are only for a select few.

Now that's creative.

Must be a professional.

It's not just Walkers though, I've had a couple different mowers in that have had this problem with aftermarket blades (not just gators)


The subject at hand is beware of aftermarket blades!!!

If you don't like Walkers, don't buy one!!

jjjjjeeeeezzzzzzzzzz..............

[JJ Lawn]

Originally posted by Richard Martin
Sounds like another in a long list of reasons not to buy a Walker.

Have you ever owned a Walker??

I would like to hear the rest of your list...

Jim.... A very happy owner of 2 Walkers.

[LJ lawn]

i just put on one of the gators (regular gator from landscapers supply)on my waker the other day. unfortunately they only make the one side.( i have a GHS deck R&L hand rotation) and yes this blade hit the deck,so i ground down some of the areas on the blade where it was hitting. why would someone want to reduce the suction on the deck??? why not? i'm getting tired of hauling away a ton of grass clippings and would like to find a way of NOT bagging it all by whatever means possible WITHOUT having to buy a mulching deck.if this means getting a set of blades and taking off the lift or machining up a new blade disc to accept other blade configurations as in re-timing them or whatever then i guess i'll have to.shame they don't make the other (left hand rotaton) mulching blade.i've read other posts where other people were looking for the same solution. WALKER are you listening???

[geogunn]

interesting post. I don't have a walker and I'm not looking at them. I have had gators on the ole lesco but it's hard to beat high lift standard blades for my work.

GEO

[R & J LAWN]

Originally posted by LJ lawn
i just put on one of the gators (regular gator from landscapers supply)on my waker the other day. unfortunately they only make the one side.( i have a GHS deck R&L hand rotation) and yes this blade hit the deck,so i ground down some of the areas on the blade where it was hitting. why would someone want to reduce the suction on the deck??? why not? i'm getting tired of hauling away a ton of grass clippings and would like to find a way of NOT bagging it all by whatever means possible WITHOUT having to buy a mulching deck.if this means getting a set of blades and taking off the lift or machining up a new blade disc to accept other blade configurations as in re-timing them or whatever then i guess i'll have to.shame they don't make the other (left hand rotaton) mulching blade.i've read other posts where other people were looking for the same solution. WALKER are you listening???
TRY DOING THE TWO BLADE SETUP. IT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR GRASS CLIPINGS. THAT IS IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO PULL THEM.

I USE THIS SETUP ON MY 60 IN DIXIE AND IT WORKS GRRRRRREAT.:blob3:

[Richard Martin]

Originally posted by JJ Lawn


Have you ever owned a Walker??

I would like to hear the rest of your list...

These are some of the things I don't care for in Walkers:

Low ground speed. 5 mph won't even keep up with the slowest walkbehinds. Even adding the "speed-up" kit doesn't do much. 6 mph.

Low blade tip speeds. 16,700 fpm with the longest blade Walker offers. 16,360 fpm with the 18" blade.

An extremely narrow footprint. At 29-3/4" I'd be afraid the machine would roll over on not much of a hill.

Limited engine selection and low powered engines. In the entire Walker lineup there are 6 engines available ranging from a 11 hp to a 26 hp. And after pricing an entry level Walker at $8k I would suspect that the price for the 26 hp option would be a lot more money.

Fuel capacity is small even by Dixie Chopper standards. 4.3 gallons.

Narrow tires. The front (caster) tires are a full 4" wide. The widest rear tire Walker offers is 10" and on their heaviest machine the tires are only 8" wide. This machine would sink in up to the frame around here.

[jeffyr]

Here is an email I got concerning the gators and 42 ghs deck from Michale Yeates of Gator :
"* There is a gator blade for the 42" rear discharge Walker deck. *One blade is a left hand cut 22" long with a 5/8'' center hole and two 13/64'' outer holes. The other blade is a right hand cut with the same hole dimensions. If you are interested in ordering you may call us at (217)359-1234 Mon-Fri 8:00-4:00 CST "

As for the list from Richard Martin--It's a good thing you don't have a Walker bacause It can't be the right mower for you, but that doesn't mean it's the wrong mower for me or anybody else. Properties vary as much as opinions.

jeffyr:rolleyes:

[MOW ED]

We are way off the topic of aftermarket blades here boys and starting a good pi$$ing match about Walkers.

In short, Richard your last post is quite subjective and relatively uninformed and I noticed that the post had the letter "I" in it quite a bit but the letter "I" was not followed by own one. You are entitled to your opinion but it's not fully informed. E-mail me for further info if you wish.

My question to Capt. is why are you putting Gators on a GHS deck? I'm not being critical, just curious as I own a Walker. Thanks.

[jeffyr]

Mowed,

A while ago Paradise was looking for them and started this same thread. I think he was looking for a way to reduce the amount of clippings when it is not necessary to catch them without buying a new deck. I wrote the email to gator since I was also interested (haven't bought them though).

jeffyr

[captdevo]

we wanted to try to reduce clippings and chop leaves finer for better compaction in the hopper.
But.....

If they get them right, i'll surely try them again.


Dick Marten
1. Walker makes up ground speed by maneuverabilty
2. Low tip speed is compensated by low ground speed
3. Footprint is compensated by low center of gravity
(i chose Walkers for their ability to handle steep hills, haven't found any thing that cuts as well across or up and down a hill) Bring your equipment and follow me!
4. The horsepower varies for the use of the machine. 26hp EFI is a strong engine, it sells for approx. 11k. Horse power doesn't makeup for great performance.
5. I can run my 26hp EFI's most of the day on 4.3 gallons. At the price of fuel, take your horsepower and by all you want!
6. Narrow tires keep you from laying the wet grass down and tracking. The a/t tires on one of my machines has a 12 1/2" tread width. I haven't sunk yet, and all i've had lately is rain and flood clean up.

It's all pretty simple to figure out!!

OH! and most importantly Walker Service!! can't be beat.

If you don't have one or never had one, please shut up

You should keep to the subject and reply only if you have information about your experiences!

[Richard Martin]

Dudes, getting mighty defensive aren't you? As to the comment about being uninformed, may I suggest that you check out the Walker website. Every statement I made is substanciated right there. I only made statements of <i>fact</i>.

You asked me what I don't like about a Walker, I told you.

[lawrence stone]

Maybe some Walkers will show for the Northeast rodeo.

But I would hate to see one hit an acorn and break a gearbox.

[LJ lawn]

1500 hours -no gearbox broblems yet-that's why they have shear pins on the driveshaft.broke 4 shear pins so far this year.haven't found grass high enough yet to slow down or stall my 16 hp Kubota diesel.just mowed heavy thick ,9" high fescue a couple of weeks ago down to 3 1/2"-no problem! i'll be calling about the gators-- thanks jeffyr!

[Mowman]

Speed is not everything. Look at the guy that's losing jobs because he was mowing to fast. You have to have a VERY LEVEL lawn to run 5+ MPH on. If your bouncing your way across a lawn it's not being cut even. Don't try and tell me different. I've seen lawns that have been cut at HIGH SPEEDS and the look like ****. A Walker was not built for speed. It's built for CUTTING PERFECTION!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried a Exmark Lazer HP and run it at 8 MPH and could not keep a straight line let alone stay in the seat, so tell me WHAT good is the GROUND SPEED? My Walker WILL climb STEEP hills. I have one lawn that I have to lean forward to walk up. My Walker climbs up just fine.
Every mower has it's place. I would not use a Walker to mow 10 Acres of level playing field, then the DIXIE or EXMARK would be the machine of CHOICE. To cut small residential lawns up to an acre you can't BEAT a Walker. To Each His Own!!!!!!!

Mowman

[JJ Lawn]

Mowman,

That pretty well sums it up. Walkers are made for quality, not quanity. They do get the job done.

And I tried Gator Blades on mine... did not like them. Found no advantage to using them. The Walker orginal blades work just fine.

Jim