I know this subject has been visited before. I was talking to my dealer about this and he couldn't recommend it and had never heard about it. I'm running a Scag SSZ 52" and a Great Dane Super Surfer. I'm all for better dispersion of clippings. I understand that longer bolts may be required. Where does one find these? Also, when putting the blades on, would I just put them at 90 degrees and the bolt holds them in place. None of the guys up in this area have heard of using double blades. What works best, the gator blades, high lift or just a standard blade?I may start a trend.
dont know about the scagg.but i do have great dane chariot and your set up is may be like mine .just take one of the spacers out to make up blade thickness no new bolts(mine had 3 spacers now it has 2 plus dbl blades. use a wire wheel to get the paint off of the areas that will be together.this keeps them from moving if you hit some thing. i have mine like a cross.i love the dbl.blades i run high lifts on bottem and a gator on top. hey watatrap i have been at south bend you have gamblen boats dont you sure has been along time ago
If you need to get longer bolts for your Scag, get HARDENED bolts. Also, you will need to try different combonations of blades for your mower to see which one works best for you. If you will go to http://www.elmlawnsite.com/lawnsite_post_links.htm there are two links to very informative double blades posts.
Watatrp: I run my 52" Scag Hydro with Advantage deck with the double blade set-up and my dealer didn't say anything bad about it, although I'm not sure he had seen it done before. You don't need a longer blade bolt. If you remove one spacer it equals out as the additional blade is almost the sime thickness as the spacer. I ran them all summer and the only thing to watch out for is to ensure you grease the spindles often. Other than that running the double blades is a dream! Also, I run the gator on top with a regular Scag blade on bottom during the growing season, during the fall season with leaves I swap the gator to the bottom. It seems the gator on the bottom mulches the leaves much better. I have yet to run with double gators. Hope this helps.
watatrp: I also have a page on my website about Double Blades if you want to check that out. Scraper: I don't think you will like Double Gators, I tried them and didn't think much of them on grass, but on leaves they are OK. AWM: I ran Double Blades on 2 different 20 HP Magnum Kohler powered 60" Choppers with no problems for years. 18 HP should be plenty on a 52", so 20 should make them spin just fine. I ran doubles on a 50" 16 HP JD diesel for a long time too. I hope this helps Eric
Here's all the double blade info, http://www.lawnsite.com/search.php?...ctname=yes&action=dosearch&getdaily=&pagenum=
By putting another blade on the unit you may void the warranty and be increasing the risk/saftey factor. The blades, according to ANSI must stop for commercial mowers in 7 seconds. If the test was only performed with 1 blade and the results were right at the 7 second time you will be out of the ANSI specification for safety. The blade brake clutch is specified with a certain amount of known inertia to the clutch manufacturer's by the Company who built the machine. If the application was "marginal", in order to provide a dollar or two lower price to you, the clutch will possibly be overloaded and fail prematurely. What to do: Scream to your dealers that you have to be able to run 2 blades. Ask them to put it in writing that this does not void any warranty and is still a "safe" machine as determined by any industry governing bodies.
Of course if the mowers are out of warranty this detail doesn't matter. I'm sure most of us have already removed our chutes too. I for one, am not silly enough to put my hands down there while the blades are still spinning. If I can save time and energy by doing this I think that the risk of replacing a few worn out parts is worth it. I do have insurance for the unforseen.
