Best blades for Florida grass

[Magna-Matic]

Hello All,

The question was asked how often to sharpen lawn mower blades.
The general answer is 8-12 mowing hours.

After that many hours the pointed TIP of the blade becomes rounded, once this happens the blade will tear the grass. Having a consistent angle across all of the blades in the deck with the TIPS square will yield the highest-quality of cut. It is bit of a mis-conception that a lawn mower blade must be sharpened on the cutting edge to the point that it can draw blood.

Another important point about blades is that they are measured diagonally (like a TV) this is because the 2 TIPS of the blade stick out the furthest, so often when you have a mower leaving blades of grass standing between the blades of a multi-blade deck, it is because the ENDS or TIPS of the mower blade are so severly rounded that the blade is now shorter that when the TIPS are ground back to the proper angle.

This neglect of the TIPS and quick grinding on the edge with an angle grinder (and balance is ignored) is often times the reason double cuts are required, and why the mower is not running at it's full performance.

We have some educational info at our site about blade tip geometry and other points, we're also in process of producing more educational videos, so more to come. Here is a link to the info we have up now.
http://www.magna-matic.com/educational-info.html

Thank you,

[Ric]

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I haven't cut grass as a business in almost 10 years. But IMHO Gator Blades don't hold an edge Like not Gator Blades. I believe a softer Metal is used in Gator Blades so they can be stamp forged into their famous shape.

When I was in the Grass cutting Business I used Walker mowers with the Double blade mulching set up. These were Factory blades and I believe stayed sharper longer because of Stronger steel used in making them.

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[Florida's Suncoast Lawn Care]

Originally Posted by Ric

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I haven't cut grass as a business in almost 10 years. But IMHO Gator Blades don't hold an edge Like not Gator Blades. I believe a softer Metal is used in Gator Blades so they can be stamp forged into their famous shape.

When I was in the Grass cutting Business I used Walker mowers with the Double blade mulching set up. These were Factory blades and I believe stayed sharper longer because of Stronger steel used in making them.

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Yes you are probably correct. I have noticed the high lift blades are holding an edge longer and aren't wearing nearly as fast as the gator blades did. I was almost even tempted to cut gator type of notches into my blades. But it would be impossible. They should make like a add on kit to make it mulch better.

[A Leaf Above]

You have to realize that straight blades are only cutting and discharging where as the gator mulching blades are made to toss the grass upwards so as to cut the grass into smaller pieces ..So if you think about it the gators are cutiing each peice of grass say like 3 times whereas the straight blades are only cutting it once per say ....So the Gators are cutting 3x the amount of grass so they should wear faster ...

[Johnagain]

Here is a good place to order some blades from. I've been using them for about 4 years and never had a problem with them.

www.expressmowerparts.com

[jvanvliet]

Originally Posted by A Leaf Above

You have to realize that straight blades are only cutting and discharging where as the gator mulching blades are made to toss the grass upwards so as to cut the grass into smaller pieces ..So if you think about it the gators are cutiing each peice of grass say like 3 times whereas the straight blades are only cutting it once per say ....So the Gators are cutting 3x the amount of grass so they should wear faster ...

I'm not so sure it's the actual grass that causes an accelerated dulling of the blades as much as it is the debris sucked up into the blades, sand for instance.

[williams lcm]

My JD blades (3) for a 60inch cut are running me $73.At the Deere dealer. Express mower parts about the same once you include shipping. I sharpen daily .
IT only take 5min to sharpen.

[Tri-City Outdoors]

To us the "best" blades depend on the amount of grass being cut. We use high lift in dense turf & med. or low lift the more dirt we encounter. We always try to buy a thick blade. The lift wing normally thins out 1st for us not the cutting edge. Which is why we vary our lift based on the amount of dirt.

Personally I do not notice a difference in cut regardless of lift size or if it is a notched lift wing. However I do notice a difference if it is a mulching blade. Just today I was think I would never buy gators again and that I would only buy the wavy mulching blade.

Sharp blades are on the mowers each day. Between the two mowers and having nice lawns we are able to provide a sharpe cut to the residentials. we do the HOA retention ponds and whatever on the mower with the dullest blades.

[Florida's Suncoast Lawn Care]

Originally Posted by williams lcm

My JD blades (3) for a 60inch cut are running me $73.At the Deere dealer. Express mower parts about the same once you include shipping. I sharpen daily .
IT only take 5min to sharpen.

5 minutes? Jacking up the mower and removing 3 blades and then sharpening each one? Then putting them back on and the mower back in the trailer takes me like 30 minutes. I just bought a new set at the local lawn shop for 17" blades 50" mower for $62 with tax. I should have bought them on Ebay for $40 no tax. Lesson learned. The lawn shop charged $42 for the same set 3 weeks ago. They said they raised the prices. Well the prices of gas and other things keep going up I'm just going to start buying and selling cars again. $65 and $75 a month for lawns in this area is ridiculous. I had a customer drop me today at $25 a cut and trim for another guy that said he would do the same thing for $15 on her corner lot. LOL. Customers won't pay around this area and they are ignorant of the fact of what it cost to run a lawn business and they don't really care. I'm going to take advantage of people's ignorance with car sales instead of suffering for their ignorance with killing myself. I think I will hold out until next June. We shall see.

[Florida Gardener]

Originally Posted by Florida's Suncoast Lawn Care

5 minutes? Jacking up the mower and removing 3 blades and then sharpening each one? Then putting them back on and the mower back in the trailer takes me like 30 minutes. I just bought a new set at the local lawn shop for 17" blades 50" mower for $62 with tax. I should have bought them on Ebay for $40 no tax. Lesson learned. The lawn shop charged $42 for the same set 3 weeks ago. They said they raised the prices. Well the prices of gas and other things keep going up I'm just going to start buying and selling cars again. $65 and $75 a month for lawns in this area is ridiculous. I had a customer drop me today at $25 a cut and trim for another guy that said he would do the same thing for $15 on her corner lot. LOL. Customers won't pay around this area and they are ignorant of the fact of what it cost to run a lawn business and they don't really care. I'm going to take advantage of people's ignorance with car sales instead of suffering for their ignorance with killing myself. I think I will hold out until next June. We shall see.

I wouldn't do it either if that is all your able to get and people dropping you like that...not worth it. Better to figure it out now then waste any more time.
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