Gator's VS Exmark Mulching Blades

[Esby]

For mulching leaves this fall I am debating between gators and the exmark mulching blades that came with my mulch kit. I am going to install the mulch kit and use it on almost all of my properties for the leaves. So I guess I was just wondering which blades to throw on my Lazer Z HP 52" to turn those leaves to dust!

[Southern Lawns]

Had a much better result from the Exmark........on Centipede, St. Augustine and Zosia.
Raymond

[TLS]

Esby,

Since you probably dont have any Centipede or St Augustine grass up north, I found a combination of both Exmarks wavy mulcher paired with a Gator works very good for making "bug dust" out of the leaves.



I wish we had "Warm Season Grasses" up north. I have a few Zoysia lawns, and boy are they easy to cut! No stringers, no weeds, looks like a carpet, but look like crap for the other 9 1/2 months of the year!

[Premo Services]

When using single blades, I have tried the gator mulching blades with the micro mulch kit and they don`t do very well, the eXmark mulching blades work great.:blob3:

[Eric ELM]

When I looked at a picture of a Toro mulching blade, I thought it looked just like a Gator blade. What is the difference between those two blades? How about the Exmark Mulching blade, how does it differ or is it the same as the Toro blade?

[geogunn]

esby--you are in MN? you oughta be finding out which is best very soon!

can you plow with that lazer?

GEO

[LoneStarLawn]

Originally posted by Eric ELM
When I looked at a picture of a Toro mulching blade, I thought it looked just like a Gator blade. What is the difference between those two blades? How about the Exmark Mulching blade, how does it differ or is it the same as the Toro blade?

The eXmark mulching blades don't have the "teeth" like the gator and toro blades do. They look like a standard mulching blade.

[Esby]

Thanks guys for the great responses! We are going to stick with the "wavy" exmark mulching blade when the leaves start to drop, which is actually begining as we speak. No plow for the Lazer, but it would be an idea!!-but probably not

[65hoss]

The eXmark blade is made especially for the correct airflow. Which is one of the keys to the entire micro system. Gators will mess up that airflow. I tried. I have a set of gators I use with the ultravac.

[casey]

65hoss,
Did you try doubles with Exmark mulchers & gators or straight gators? Just put doubles on & still unsure if the gators with the Exmark mulchers is an improvement. Thought the gators might help with thick leaf covering.

[65hoss]

I tried straight gators with the mulcher. I believe with doubles you would get WAY to much air movement and cause more problems.

[jrblawncare]

Hoss,Have you tried just gators when using side discharge only...what kind of results did you have?I do not have a mulch kit for my 52"HP,but I do have the ultra vac.

[65hoss]

When I don't have the mulch kit on I run gators. They do great. Especially when I have the ultravac on doing leaves. Really shreds them. When side discharging or bagging I always use gators.

[Kent Lawns]

Ran 'em both, side by side.

No doubt the Gator shreds leaves far better.

Eric,
The Toro blade teeth point outward, the Gator teeth point inward.
That blade is not offered by eXmark.

[EJK2352]

Eric,
You have the Exmark mulching blade pictured on your web site. It is #8 in the blade pictures that Tommy took That you have posted on your site. The Atomic mulching blade Toro uses is much like a Gator blade. A friend of mine uses Exmark's with the Micro mulch set up and he says the Gator's work better on that set up than the Exmark mulching blades do.:) ;) :) ED

[Eric ELM]

Originally posted by Kent Lawns
Eric,
The Toro blade teeth point outward, the Gator teeth point inward.
That blade is not offered by eXmark.

So is the Toro Mulcher blade is like number 6 of the blades Tommy took?

I have 3 sets of those that are simular that I got from Dixie Chopper. You can see the ones I use in the picture above the ones Tommy took. I run those along with the ones like number 1 blade on the one Chopper and I run a number 5 and a 8 on the old one. I get the number 8 blades at Lesco. I had no idea those were supposed to be a mulching blade. They look more like a regular blade to me. ;)

Anyone wondering what these numbers mean, look at the double blade page on my website.

[LoneStarLawn]

Eric how do you miss Toro's ads in all the magazines?

Lawn & Landscape (August 2001) has the Toro Atomic Mulching Blade ad on page 90.

Here is a smaller pic too.
http://www.toro.com/professional/images/lcb_mis_atomicblades_s_lg.jpg

I don't see much difference in the gator blade..(I don't see the inward outward thing)
http://www.gatorblade.com/assets/images/autogen/a_bladeflow.gif

We have gators but we have the exmark mulching blades with the kit.

[Eric ELM]

Originally posted by LoneStarLawn
Eric how do you miss Toro's ads in all the magazines?

If it's not stainless steel, I go to the next page. :D

Just Kidding

I will check it out Alan :)

[mac43rn]

I know I have posted a lot the past few days but I must extend my appreciation once again. I have narrowed my search for the perfect mower down to the exmark hp or the exmark turf tracer hp with 36" deck. This will be used to mow lawns 1/2 acre or less. My yard is right at 1/2 acre and the other yards I will be cutting are less then this. My yard is irrigated, will receive 4-5 various treatments a year. What I am getting at is this yard will be thick and green a large portion of the year. My question is how does the emark mulching kit work in this type of grass. (By the way the grass is a three way blend tall fescue with 10% ky bluegrass.) I did a search a find several post on how well the mulch kit does on leaves, but leaves are not a big problem for my lawn. How well does it do in thick grass.

Thanks

[65hoss]

I tried the gators with the mulching kit. For grass they don't do very well. It leaves a line of grass down the right side. But for leaves, gators chop them up better and turn them into dust. The gators with the mulch kit do better than the exmark blades for leaves only.

Different conditions:
Grass===exmark mulching blade
Leaves==Gators


Doubles with mulch kit is way to much. I had a cloud of dust 5 ft high in front of the mower I was driving into.

[casey]

Doubles (gators on top, Exmark mulchers on bottom) is the best combo for leaves but you have to make some deck mods to prevent blowout. Works better than double gators as you seem to get more lift & proper airflow.

[TLS]

Casey, I tried that last year and thought it was great until I tried the following....

Gator MAGNUMS on bottom, regular Gators on top! Plenty of power, plenty of clipping action! I was getting too much DOWNward wind with the Exmark Mulching blades. They probably are great with the mulching kit, but without it, there are better combos.

[casey]

TLS,
Thanks, I'll try them.

[mr_bojangles]

blades are cheap, buy a set of each and see which ones you prefer. If nothing else you have a spare set in a jam, or for use on a rough lawn.