Double on troy built

[Mike Paulsen]

I would really like to try double on my 33" troy built but it is timed blades. Is anyone doing this on a 33" or have idea?

[Eric ELM]

Try putting shorter blades on top. All they do is chop grass up, so shorter blades would work out fine, I would think. I have not seen this mower, but this is the best idea I can come up with for you.

[Lawn Dog2001]

I wouldnt try it. We use the same mower as our small WB. I have had the machine for about 3 years. I have had to rebuild each of the spindles once. And I will probably have to tinker with them again this winter. These machines are no built like any of the profesional use walk behinds. They are more or less for residential use. I dont think the spindles will hold up. Plus the blades have to be in perfect time with each other. If they are even the slightest bit out of place they will touch. Trust me this has happened to us many times once our spindles started to go. If you put a double blade on the blades would touch constantly. Plus, I dont know about yours, but I consider mine the best mulching mower I have ever owned. It mulches circles around my Exmarks. So why mess with a good thing.

[Calvin]

Lawndog,
Your Troy-bilt 33 mulches circles around your Exmarks???????
Did you turbo charge the Briggs on that thing?

[Lawn Dog2001]

Calvin,

I dont know why it mulches soo good. But for some reason it does. I think its because there are no mulching baffles, the grass can recirculate over the entire deck. All I know is(as ridiculous as this sounds) we use the small Troy Bilt to clean up after the Exmarks. I think you would all be surprised, for the money this is a pretty decent machine.

[Calvin]

Lawndog,
There has to be something wrong with the RPM's on your Exmarks. The mulching baffles improve mulching capabilities. Are you using the complete micro-mulch system on your Exmarks or just the plug? What Exmarks are you running? There's no way that Troy-bilt should out mulch them. I've bought 2 Troy-bilts over the years & traded both in because of inferior cut.

[oneEXMARKfan]

Do most mowers with timed-blades rotate in opp. directions? I know my good friend has a JD with a Freedom deck (made that way) and he loves the way it mulches. Was just wondering if the blades turning in different directions would have anything to do with it mulching better.

[dmk395]

I own the Troy-Bilt also and feel its a great machine. It really does mulch nicely.

[Lawn Dog2001]

Calvin,

I run two MetroHP 48's with 15hpKaw's. The RPMs are fine. I just started using Emark this year and for the most part I am satisfied. Most of the time they mulch good. But if the grass is even a little to thick or wet, they leave a mess. I have complete mulching kits with baffles included on each machine, and both do about the same job. My Troy Bilt will mulch anything. Ive mulched yards too wet and thick to even consider mulching and they turn out fine. Sometimes I may have to double cut to get the lawns perfect. But most of the time as long as the blades are sharp, they leave nothing behind. The Exmarks do stripe much better, and the cut is a little nicer. But the micro mulch system dosent impress me all that much.

By the way, the Troy Bilt blades both go the same direction. So that isnt the reason for the good mulching. Ive never seen a machine with blades that spin opposite eachother. They may mulch nice but it sounds like it would leave some weird stripes.

[Calvin]

Lawndog,
I never got past sideblowing the heavy spring growth with the Troy-bilts before trading them in. Terrible job in those conditions. I still have one my dealer is selling for me on consignment. I may go pick it up & give it one more try during mulching season. Do you use yours on leaves?

[Lawn Dog2001]

It does an ok job on leaves. I find that my 21's seem to mulch leaves a little better than my Troy Bilt does. We sharpen the blades on all of our machines weekly, and in bad conditions we scrape the decks after each yard. I am sure that has a lot to do with the good mulching as well. Sometimes in bad conditions I will run the TB under a pine tree every so often, and disengage the blade. That will drop down a lot of wet grass stuck in the deck and improve the cut. Now that we are in the dryer part of the year, its probably a good time to give the TB another chance.

[jannan]

I have a couple 33' Troy Bilts and personally I would be afraid to use double blades on them. The spindles on these mowers are not overly strong. If I am remembering correctly they only have a 7/16 bolt holding the blade to the shaft. As you must know the blade has flats machined on it so the blade can slide over the shaft( the shaft bears the stress of the blade). If you added a second set of blades, only the 7/16 bolt would be holding it. I beleive the second blade woud be below the deck lip and with only the 7/16 bolt holding the blade I would be very nervous. I also think the Troy Bilt spins too slow as it is. Adding a second set of blades would probably slow it down more. Just my opinion, but some things you may want to think about.