Hardsurfacing on blades

[CSRA Landscaping]

I didn't want to put this in the welding forum because it's more related to getting more use out of blades. I was talking recently with a friend of mine tha told me when he wasn in Louisiana that he would take and weld hardsurfacing along the bottom (flat part) of his mower blades and that would do two things:

1) Make them last longer.
2) Keep a razor edge on them.

He told me that the trick is to do it along the bottom, right along the cutting edge, then grind it down so it's very thin, and go with it.

Said that the hardsurfacing is the same thing they use on dozer blades. Eric, Bill, all, what do you guys think?
:cool:

[Avery]

Good idea, but will probably cost you more than new blades. Hardening rods are very expensive.

[CSRA Landscaping]

Yeah, Tom said they were about $2-3 a pop but that one blade would do 2 blades or so. I figure the time saved in labor for sharpening them would merit the cost.

[Avery]

Go for it. Let me know how it works. I use them now on my loader buckets. Thought about trying them on blades several years agos but the welding shop talked me out of it. Let me know how it works. Got a certified welder working for me now so I can do it cheaper. BTW the welding shop said if I did it to do it on new blades. Better than trying to build up a worn one.

[Eric ELM]

I think that if you do the first 2" of the end, this might be plenty. The only thing I would worry about is if you hit something hard, will this make the area where you built up the blade easier to break off. I think we need to think about this for a bit. We don't want a piece of the blade taking off at over 200 mph. :(

Any thoughts on this?

[CSRA Landscaping]

No doubt about it! I wouldn't even think of using that on a used blade. If it gets a set of blades to last 2 months around here, I'll be pleased! Shoot, a month and a half would be good!

Eric, I hadn't considered that. The way Tom talked, this nearly made the blades impervious. He said that he wore the blades out before they lost their edge. He told me too, that if you lay it on real thick, going back on the bottom, as well as along the edge, that makes it stronger. As I'm not a welder, I rely on your input. ;)

[guntruck]

CRSA..........interesting concept that im gonna look into. I do welding on the side have been for sometime now here and there, i wouldnt think that this welding the blade bottom would affect the integrity of the surrounding blade steel, but could be wrong. I do know as with most any weld when you do weld if its gonna break its not gonna be the weld its gonna be somewhere else, the weld is the strongest part at that point. A good friend of mine has been in welding for 10 years now im gonna ask his opinion on this matter and get back with you.

:p

[cp]

If you add the costs of new blades, welding materials and labor, and sharpening it would not be as economical as using up the standard blades.

What about the liability? Are you willing to take that chance. GOD forbid anything bad happening but what if that something went wrong and you were faced with a lawsuit situation and it was determined that you had altered the equipment....

Just a thought...Be careful and good luck..

[awm]

ive wondered why they didnt sell the blades already fixed that way. seems like a natural to me ,and if i could get double the time out of a sharpening ,id be interested. course then you got to be able to sharpen that hard metal. might take a special wheel.

[CSRA Landscaping]

Rich, let us know what type of blades you use it on and the results! That would be awesome.

CP, if we were all so concerned about what-ifs we'd never get out of bed! :laugh:

Tony, that's part of the point - they're supposed to keep their edge, so you don't have to sharpen them. Now, I do approach that with some skepticism because Tom is coming from the homeowner perspective so he didn't use them as much, yet it's worth a shot, I'd say.

[deason]

I think Eric has a good point.

Any type of steel that has been tempered is very brittle. It's a Catch 22. You cant make a dent in it, but hit it just right and it shatters like glass.
Here's something that will make you think.... Ever had a bearing welded to a shaft? you can take a chisel and hit it just right and POP... breaks clean withour a hard blow.
Mower blades are made of a soft steel for a reason, so they dont break. Any time you apply a tremendous amount of heat such as a welding rod to a steel such as a mower blade, you just created a accident waiting to happen. But if you must try it, buy some steel toe shoes.:)

[BIG RON]

Don't know about the welded blades. I have mine froze. Called cryo I think. The will stay sharp alot longer than just a plane blade.
Good luck. Like some of them said hope you don't hit anything hard.:angel:

[JLC]

I would shy away from inducing any sort of heat to a blade other than through its sharpening. It will cause it to become brittle. It is the same as welding two blades together to make doubles. A weld will always be the weakest link. It is the area where you change the metalurgical properties of the material. If you don't stress relieve the weld in a heat treating furnace I would think you would have an accident waiting to happen.

[racerdave]

Jeff, Big Ron mentioned something that is really an option to look at. The new cyrogenic (sp) method is the one of choice around these parts. It changes the metal at the molecular level and really strengthens the material and causes the sharp edges to last much much longer.
I don't know the cost for this service, but I do have a friend thats in that biz. I'll give him a ring and find out the costs.
Dave

[awm]

okay im ready to have a set cyrogenized:o .i know i didnt spell that right. anyway where can i get it done.

[racerdave]

AWM aren't you down in NASCAR country. They use this same procedure on their engine blocks and all rotating parts. I'll Have to look up the Name of the outfiT that does it. I beleive they had an ad in Lawn&landscape last month. When I get a chance to look it up and I'll send you their email address

David

[racerdave]

ok guys go look at www.coldfire.com see what you think. And I'll check on prices in my area and get back with ya'll.
ps check out the dist. list for someone in your local area.
David

[CSRA Landscaping]

Big Ron, that's a heck of a thought, what sort of results do you get from this, what's the cost, what sort of blades do you have it done on, what machine dop you run them on, etc?

Dave, the nearest one to here that I saw was in Mooresville, NC. Neat link!

[awm]

okay racer dave,but i shore hope they got a different chge rate
than what these nascar boys can pay. Well harwick just won
the race. i thought rudd was going to pull another down an under,but i guess he didnt have enough. later

[BIG RON]

CSRA I get my blades for my dixie chopper don with a co. in my area.I think if I take him a blade he dows it for 5 to 7 dollers. I just call him up and he has my type of blades on my acct. he will tell me if he has any on hand if he does he will ship them to me. If not he will order me some in and freeze them and then ship them to me. With him furinishing the blade and freezing them it runs just a couple dollars more than I was giving for my blades any way.
I some times can run 2 to 3 days on a set before changing them. Before I would chang them each day if not before. Here in SW MO. we have a few rocks more each time that we mow.
It workes good for me.:angel:

[DeepDivot]

While I may be wrong, aren't the Gravely blades hardsurfaced? Perhaps a Gravely owner out there could fill us in?

[awm]

i took a couple of sets to jerry spruell of COLDFIRE in mooresville.
ill get them back about next wk sometimes.
hope this turns out to be another little edge on the competition.later TM

[CSRA Landscaping]

Let's hear how it turns out, Tony.

[HOWARD JONES]

Big Ron, could you post the name of the company doing your blades?

[awm]

i can backup what ron said about this process.boys itll really help you. anything that makes it easier better or whatever ,im for it.