Blades for bagging leaves?

LawnBoy89 · Oct 22, 2005

Are there any type of aftermarket blades that increase suction under the deck of a mower (48'' ferris belt drive). I just bought an accelerator bagger which is fune but my mower blows all the leaves in front and around it instead of actually putting them in the bag.

What I am asking is, are there any type of blades out there that suck the leaves in? Thanks.

o-so-n-so · Oct 22, 2005

I use standard High Lift blades to bag.

I usually run gators with a mulch kit on my 48" WB to chop up the leaves and go back over with the ZTR and bag the leaves. Cuts my haul off by 50%.

DAVELAWN · Oct 22, 2005

gators blades are nice

dfor · Oct 22, 2005

Gator blades are what you want. There is less blowout and they grind the leaves better.

Smithers · Oct 23, 2005

gators over high lifts. the leaves get vaporized into dust. i have a special attachment, so no more blow outs.

topsites · Oct 23, 2005

High lifts create the most airflow (i.e.: suction but in some cases blow-by / blow-out).
Gators create the least as the fins cut through air... Blow-by / blow-out can also be caused by this due to insufficient lift.

LawnBoy89 · Oct 23, 2005

Hmm.

petrentz, what is the special attachment that you have for reducing/stopping the blowout. Also, I think I will pick up some gators, are they real expensive or what?

Thanks for all the info.

QualityLawnCare4u · Oct 23, 2005

I also use gators when I use my accelerator on my 737, works good with very little blow out plus does not fill up near as fast as the high lifts filled the accelerator up.

sildoc · Oct 23, 2005

doubles gaters over gater mags. reduces leaves to nothing. fills the accelerator and packs it in.

bobbygedd · Oct 23, 2005

meg mo's, hands down the best leaf cleanup blade system going. vaccuum? you want vaccuum? at full throttle they suck the earthworms out of the ground

Smithers · Oct 23, 2005

LawnBoy89 said:
Hmm.

petrentz, what is the special attachment that you have for reducing/stopping the blowout. Also, I think I will pick up some gators, are they real expensive or what?

Thanks for all the info.

cozmo, if you have an exmark, you can buy the skirt (aprin) for the front. it reduced my blowout by i'd guess 85-90. i have been very happy.

i'd never go three blades on one spindle....i think that would be too much. the manufacturers barely discuss 2, let along adding a third one in there.

meg mo's are too expensive.

get the blades from landscape supply - the sponsor up at the top. he is a great guy.they cost about $6.84/each....that's about $8-$10 less than your dealer.

bobbygedd · Oct 23, 2005

if blowout is a problem, then you are simply not using the machine properly

Smithers · Oct 23, 2005

bobbygedd said:
if blowout is a problem, then you are simply not using the machine properly

you are right...i collect leaves with the mower upside down.

QualityLawnCare4u · Oct 23, 2005

petrentz said:
you are right...i collect leaves with the mower upside down.

LMAO

Id like to see that done!

LawnBoy89 · Oct 23, 2005

Yea, how am I not using it right? I tried slowing down, I tried slowing the RPM's down, I did pretty much everything I can I guess I will just buy some gators, they are cheaper then normal blades at my dealership!

petrentz, where can I find this skirt that you talk about, I have a ferris but I'm sure I can rig it to fit.

bobbygedd · Oct 23, 2005

LawnBoy89 said:
Yea, how am I not using it right? I tried slowing down, I tried slowing the RPM's down, I did pretty much everything I can I guess I will just buy some gators, they are cheaper then normal blades at my dealership!

petrentz, where can I find this skirt that you talk about, I have a ferris but I'm sure I can rig it to fit.

you are not doing it right, if blowout is effecting your leaf cleanup, that, is the bottom line. do a search in threads made by me, concerning leaf cleanup while using meg mos. it also aplies to leaf cleanup with any blade system you use. i'd love to sit here and explain it to you, but, i gotta go make meatballs

Smithers · Oct 23, 2005

LawnBoy89 said:
Yea, how am I not using it right? I tried slowing down, I tried slowing the RPM's down, I did pretty much everything I can I guess I will just buy some gators, they are cheaper then normal blades at my dealership!

petrentz, where can I find this skirt that you talk about, I have a ferris but I'm sure I can rig it to fit.

well, i bought mine at the dealer for about $30. It is basically a flat piece of 4" metal that bolts to the inner deck and just extends the depth of the actual mulching area.

you can probably trace the deck out with a pencil and a cardboard and then have a metal shop make you one. then bolt it and you are in business. it extends only about 1/4" -.5", but it does wonders.let me know if i am not explaning it right.

TLS · Oct 23, 2005

Does this Ferris allow you to change the position of the blade on the spindle bolt?

IF so, raise the blades up higher in the deck. This will stop blowout.

LawnBoy89 · Oct 24, 2005

TLS said:
Does this Ferris allow you to change the position of the blade on the spindle bolt?

IF so, raise the blades up higher in the deck. This will stop blowout.

Hmm, yes, they are all the way on the bottom right no so I guess I will lower the deck and raise the blades? Thanks for the help, I'll try that and also buy some gators.

PeterA · Oct 25, 2005

Lawnboy89,
Is your catcher mounted as far forward as possible? Check to see if anything is hitting the front baffle of the catcher at the intake. All the debris tends to flow along the front of the deck, so if the catcher is not all the way forward it may be getting blocked a bit at the front. If the rear baffle on the catcher prevents the catcher from going as far forward as you would like, it is ok to grind it down a bit (this does not void the warranty and is easy to do with a simple angle grinder). Another thing you might try is not cutting a full 48 inch swath on each pass. Put the catcher over the already cut area, putting about 10-12 inches of already cut area under the mower. You might also try using a high lift or double only on the spindle next to the catcher. This way you get a "suction" all the way across the deck, instead of jamming too much air and debris from the two left blades into the right blade (this may be one cause of blow out). Thanks for using our catcher.

Blades for bagging leaves?

LawnBoy89

o-so-n-so

DAVELAWN

dfor

Smithers

topsites

LawnBoy89

QualityLawnCare4u

sildoc

bobbygedd

Smithers

bobbygedd

Smithers

QualityLawnCare4u

LawnBoy89

bobbygedd

Smithers

TLS

LawnBoy89

PeterA

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