Blade Sharpening Cost

[snowjeep]

What do you all pay for blade sharpening a high lift blade? I have a dealer I got all my equipment from and they have been very good to me. But they get $9.00 to sharpen high lift blades and $7.00 for staight blades.

[Wells]

Thats the same price a local company around here charges. A good number of LCO's sharpen their blades daily or at least weekly and $9 per day per blade is going to take a big bite out of your profits. It would be cheaper in the long run for you to purchase a blade sharpener like a Magna-Matic or at least a bench grinder or angle grinder.

[johndeereguy]

Not to sure what the thinking is, but I don't pay $9 a piece to buy NEW blades, much less hiring somone else to sharpen them. If you can'y sharpen your own blades, you are not going to be in business long.

[jeffscap]

What do you all pay for blade sharpening a high lift blade? I have a dealer I got all my equipment from and they have been very good to me. But they get $9.00 to sharpen high lift blades and $7.00 for staight blades.

I agree with wells-Thats going to get pretty costly in the long run @ 9.00 a crack. One or two mowers would probably be okay for awhile , but after that I would be lookin' for a grinder pronto. Even a hand grinder would survice for awhile with a blade jig.But like deere said probably cheaper for you to just buy Xtra blades.

[Albery's Lawn & Tractor]

about 30 bucks for a bench grinder, then about 5 min and I'm done. Sharpen your own. Also sharpen blades for others so it literally pays for itself.

[Allens LawnCare]

Hit up Ebay and buy a Blade balancer....Its works like a sea-saw, little heavy on one side, grind it down.....it doesn't compare to the $130-$170 magnetic wall balancer but I've had no problems with it....and each blade cost me $0.00 to sharpen..I think I got the balancer for $9.99 including shipping

[topsites]

Ok, do this:
Run to Harbor Freight Tools and get a handheld Chicago Electric angle grinder for $10 or $15.
Then, run to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy a blade balancer for another 5 bucks or so (the metal ones are better if you can find).

Since you have to pull and reinstall them anyhow, you'd save money diy'self by not having to stop by the stealership all the time.

Because I agree, you won't be around for long paying that kind of money, but if you ever feel like paying $7 - $9 / blade again, know that you can order them brand new from J Thomas and several other places for that kind of money.

Yeah man, don't let them gip you like that.

[lawnspecialties]

$4.00/blade for mine.:)

[Lynden-Jeff]

$8/blade here. I sharpen every day of the week and then get them sharpenedon the friday and balanced. No problems so far.

[BigRedTruck]

what the hell does that do? Kinda new to this, so not sure on that one.

[mow2nd]

Hit up Ebay and buy a Blade balancer....Its works like a sea-saw, little heavy on one side, grind it down.....it doesn't compare to the $130-$170 magnetic wall balancer but I've had no problems with it....and each blade cost me $0.00 to sharpen..I think I got the balancer for $9.99 including shipping



or run a nail in the wall.........works like a charm

[The Rookie]

I have a blade balancer and never use it unless the deck starts acting like a washing machine on spin cycle.

[Uranus]

I will never pay to have my blades sharpened. Do it yourself. With a 60 inch with three blades, no way am I paying 27 bucks per week for sharpening. Toss in the 36" and in less than 1 month you can save enough to buy a decent bench grinder.

Blade balancer---Been mowing for 8 years now. Never used a balancer. I bought 1 for 4 bucks and tested my 4 sets of blades. 10 blades total. I only bought it because some buddies of mine had lunch with me and we got to talking about problems we have had in the past and spindles came up. Well I bought it and tested it. All 10 were fine. As long as you sharpen both side about the same amount of time and pressure then you should be fine. But check them any ways.

[txgrassguy]

There is no way I would pay someone else to sharpen my blades.
At $9.00 each for six three bladed ztrs, four two blades walkbehinds, five push mowers and two shredders I would go broke in a hurry.
I bought an old Foley rotary blade grinder for $100, trained the crew how to properly sharpen blades and every thursday morning all blades are sharpened.
At last count I had 103 blades and it takes about 2 hours to properly sharpen/balance this amount of blades.
Now that spring has arrived, my company mows over 150 acres per week with more commercial customers calling so the acreage will be increasing.
The old Foley has worked well but I think it is time to invest in a new Mag Na Matic sharpener and balancer.

[supercuts]

blade balencer is just a pointy cone shaped thing you set your blade on through the hole in the middle. even the blade isnt even balanced, one side will drop lower. you need to grind the side the drops a little until both sides are even. this keeps spindles lasting longer. another way to think of it is a fat kid and a skinny kid on a tedder todder/see saw. the fat kid weighs more and will sink his side down, you need to make him go on a diet before the see saw will sit level

[supercuts]

oh yeah, snowjeep, learn how to sharpen right now if you think your going to last. i sharpen every morning. i put the blades in a vice and use a hand grinder but if they get a big nick in them i go to the bench grinder.

[hackitdown]

I would never pay $9 to sharpen a blade, since I only pay about that for new blades. I use my $49 bench grinder and a nail in the side of the workbench as a balance check. Besides, I can remove, sharpen, balance, and re-install my blades in less time then a trip to the dealer. Also, I have four sets in rotation, I just wait till all four sets are dull, sharpen them all at once, and keep the others ready in the garage.

[phillirk]

I would look into purchasing a rotary blade grider. I have information if you want it. They are awesome! They have 5 different ones to choose from and in the long run, it will save you so much money!!! I know Deering Industrial Sales out of Indianapolis, IN sells them.

[YukonG]

Ok, do this:
Run to Harbor Freight Tools and get a handheld Chicago Electric angle grinder for $10 or $15.
Then, run to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy a blade balancer for another 5 bucks or so (the metal ones are better if you can find).

Since you have to pull and reinstall them anyhow, you'd save money diy'self by not having to stop by the stealership all the time.

Because I agree, you won't be around for long paying that kind of money, but if you ever feel like paying $7 - $9 / blade again, know that you can order them brand new from J Thomas and several other places for that kind of money.

Yeah man, don't let them gip you like that.

As a steel worker for many years, I have been through many grinders. I would not buy the cheap one from Harbor Freight. I have been through several of them; and they don't last. Save yourself time and money, and buy a decent grinder. Use a nail to balance the blade. Sharpening your own blades is very easy once you figure it out. Just be sure to wear eye protection.:)

[Prime Cut Lawns LLC]

I only pay $5.00 per blade. At only $15.00 bucks a pop it would take quite awhile to pay for a "real" blade sharpener! I've got 5 sets in rotation and exchange the blades about every 8 to 10 hours.

[Fox Lawn & Garden]

2.00 per blade here. (off the machine)

[fiveoboy01]

I can't believe ANYONE would pay to have their blades sharpened...

I have four sets of blades for each of my mowers.

That's 12 for the exmark, 12 for the scag, and 8 for the lil' exmark.

32 blades x 9 bucks equals 288 bucks. My oregon blade grinder costed me 300 and it works fine.

I generally change my blades once at the beginning of the week, and once in the middle of the week. Might be more often depending on what I've mowed over or if I pick up a rock or something.

If I paid 9 or even 5 bucks per blade, I'm sure I could have purchased about 4 grinders by now.

[SUPERSPORT]

Where do you get blades for $4 or $5? 3-Craftsman mulching blades cost $50.

[fiveoboy01]

I meant 9 or 5 bucks to have them sharpened, not the purchase cost.

[topsites]

I did want to add to this thread, with a 1.5hp RBG that has a 12" wheel it's not so cheap anymore...
The grinder cost me $300 (1 month old) and will likely last forever, but each wheel is like $80 and they seem to wear fast in comparison to the handheld angle grinders... That, and the stupid wheel likes to wear off-center so then it starts to wobble :cry:
Oh yeah, take a dressing stone to it, don't forget a new wheel is $80 thou...
It is nice thou, if it takes me 20 minutes to sharpen a good dozen blades.

As a steel worker for many years, I have been through many grinders. I would not buy the cheap one from Harbor Freight. I have been through several of them; and they don't last. Save yourself time and money, and buy a decent grinder. Use a nail to balance the blade. Sharpening your own blades is very easy once you figure it out. Just be sure to wear eye protection.:)

I guess it depends, a nice Dewalt is at least $50...
I had figured like yourself that the Chicago Electric's from Harbor Freight wouldn't last, so I bought 3 of them... Never wore out the first one, thou I only used it for a year, it got to where it would've been cheaper to buy Chicago Electric grinders for $10 each than it would be to even replace the grinding wheel.

All I ever use it for is sharpening blades, maybe once in a moon some cutting, but mostly light grinding.

Now if you plan on GRINDING, then get a Dewalt, makita, whatever.

[YukonG]

I guess I just have really bad luck with Chicago Electric machinery.
I've not had one of their angle grinders last more than 1 hour. But I was grinding like you said; light duty grinding though.
I have been through at least 4 of those.

[phillirk]

The grinder we have was expensive but worth it. We only have to do 2 passes on each blade side. It only takes a moment to get a blade sharp. It also allows us to do 6 ft blades w/o any problems as there aren't any poles or anything to get in the way. It also only has one elevator, which allows the blades to be even when it gets sharpened. It is an industrial blade sharpener. One of the guys who recommended it to us has had his for years and never had issues or problems. I can see why. The warranty is non like any grinder of its kind. We purchased our unit from Deering Industrial Sales out of Indianapolis. It was all good.

[POPO4995]

Delta bench grinder....$65.00 and blades are sharpened every other day.