You will get a lot of variation in answers here. Ranging from-Balancing is useless, not needed, does no good... to-Always balance, a nail is all you need, the cones are fine, etc... and of course the expensive choice as you have seen.

To each their own. I have a balancer from Mag Matic, they also have factory blemishes on sale occasionally. Though not that much cheaper. I think Oregon makes a version and maybe a Chinese knockoff also is out there similar.

All I can say is the mag matic is very sensitive, probably overkill and not needed. But I love mine!! Buy once, cry once... how often are you going to use it and will it make your life easier.... those are things only you will know the answer to for you.

Has/does it save me parts.... no idea. I am sure it does do something for the longevity of spindles. How much I cannot tell you. I don't even know how one can judge such a thing without years and years of use with and without one on the same mower. Some will tell you that this balancing stuff goes out the window as soon as you hit anything. This is possibly true. But there is a big difference in my used, well seasoned blades I use now and brand new Oregon blades or even SCAG... for one... I have yet to see an Oregon blade, scag blade or a XHT blade be balanced from the factory. They have all be HORRIBLE, way off. So it may help to keep me from grinding too much off when I might have otherwise.

 

You will get a lot of variation in answers here. Ranging from-Balancing is useless, not needed, does no good... to-Always balance, a nail is all you need, the cones are fine, etc... and of course the expensive choice as you have seen.

To each their own. I have a balancer from Mag Matic, they also have factory blemishes on sale occasionally. Though not that much cheaper. I think Oregon makes a version and maybe a Chinese knockoff also is out there similar.

All I can say is the mag matic is very sensitive, probably overkill and not needed. But I love mine!! Buy once, cry once... how often are you going to use it and will it make your life easier.... those are things only you will know the answer to for you.

Has/does it save me parts.... no idea. I am sure it does do something for the longevity of spindles. How much I cannot tell you. I don't even know how one can judge such a thing without years and years of use with and without one on the same mower. Some will tell you that this balancing stuff goes out the window as soon as you hit anything. This is possibly true. But there is a big difference in my used, well seasoned blades I use now and brand new Oregon blades or even SCAG... for one... I have yet to see an Oregon blade, scag blade or a XHT blade be balanced from the factory. They have all be HORRIBLE, way off. So it may help to keep me from grinding too much off when I might have otherwise.

You definitely raise very good points here. I appreciate your response!

 

I have the MagMatic straight blade sharpener AND the MagMatic balancer. Both are excellent products. As Eric502 mentioned, many will argue no need. I like the idea of sharp and balanced blades. Balanced has got to be better than NOT balanced.

I've put many a new blade on the MagMatic balancer and every single one is way out of balance. Have to remove a lot of material right off the bat to bring them into balance. I have 3 mowers, 8 blades that get sharpened often so I'm glad I have both.

 

A nail on a wall, a cone, etc isn't even close to the MagnaMatic. Only you can justify if the unit is worth it. Oregon makes a similar, cheaper unit. I'd get the MagnaMatic- seems like the grand daddy unit. On sale now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Magna-Matic-...0&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019490&hvtargid=pla-905247049656

 

I love mine; used in conjunction with the All American Sharpener 5005. Probably overkill, but so is my mower, blower, trimmer, etc....

 

I don't know, my $5 balancing cone works good for me and after many years in this business I hardly ever use it anymore... I don't see the spindle bearings going out any faster or slower as a result one way or another, not saying that keeping them balanced is a bad idea, I do however question just how far we should go...

 

I also have the MagnaMatic balancer and the 9000. I sharpen my blades and replace them at least once per week between three mowers. I'm fairly obsessive about that but it truly improves my cutting time and the quality of cut. So to me, it's important to have quality stuff.

I've been mowing professionally since 1999. I've only had to replace a spindle one time. Is that due to luck or my obsession about sharp and balanced blades? I don't know. But both of those items ran about $1000 at least 15 years ago and neither one has ever failed me yet. For me, it was well worth the purchase price.

I guess it all comes down to how often you sharpen blades and how long you plan to stay in this business.

By the way. Many people would be surprised how out of balance brand new blades often come from the factory.

 

My cone is still working close enough for me. I set it on a shelf at eye level so it's easier to see the cone rock one dorection or the other. I'll probably grab that Oregon balancer next year once I'm done making mower payments.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I’ll probably just sit on it for a little bit and try to come up with a good reasoning when my wife ask why I spent 200 dollars lol. Just wanted to get some insight from guys who have been doing this a lot longer than me. Again, thank you for the responses.

 

FWIW, I changed the blades on my new Scag before it was ever used. Went to a different lift. Out of curiosity I checked the factory blades for balance. They were considerably out of balance.

If a manufacturer with the market value that Scag has had over the years ships out mowers with out of balance blades, I have changed my mind about the importance of blade balance. Granted, I do check my blades after sharpening to assure that they aren't ridiculously imbalanced, but anywhere close and I feel ok about it.

And also consider this: An imbalanced blade rotating at a moderate rate might cause some pushing and pulling on the spindle shaft. But when spun up to the revolutions that we use mowing, would that imbalance actually cause any appreciable or damaging push-pull on the spindle? Or maybe I'm thinking all wrong about that?

Just my .02.

 

FWIW, I changed the blades on my new Scag before it was ever used. Went to a different lift. Out of curiosity I checked the factory blades for balance. They were considerably out of balance.

If a manufacturer with the market value that Scag has had over the years ships out mowers with out of balance blades, I have changed my mind about the importance of blade balance. Granted, I do check my blades after sharpening to assure that they aren't ridiculously imbalanced, but anywhere close and I feel ok about it.

And also consider this: An imbalanced blade rotating at a moderate rate might cause some pushing and pulling on the spindle shaft. But when spun up to the revolutions that we use mowing, would that imbalance actually cause any appreciable or damaging push-pull on the spindle? Or maybe I'm thinking all wrong about that?

Just my .02.

Yeah, I see what you’re saying. That interesting that blades coming from the factory are nowhere near balanced.

 

Everyone to their own idea, however I have been running commercial mowers for 25+ years and have never balanced a blade, we have wear and tear on the spindles but never to the point I wondered if the blades out of balance was the issue.

 

Thank you again to everyone’s insight, my mind is rested a little easier. I do think one of these days I will succumb and purchase one. For now though I’ll stick with the cone balancer.

 

May be just me but I also use a small bubble level on my 5$ cone thing.

 

I've been using a Mag 1000 for 20 years to balance my blades and I have never had to replace a spindle bearing. That includes on a Turf Tracer HP with over 3,000 hours on the sealed bearings.

They're good for quickly and easily detecting bent blades too.

I don't go crazy trying to get my blades perfectly balanced, just close.

 

once you have a deck crack from blades not being balanced you will spend 60 dollars for a good balancer

 

Nothing is impossible, but an unbalanced blade cracking a quality commercial deck is extremely unlikely.

 

Nevermind asked and answered.

 

Knock off works for me.

 

I have been using the AAS 5005 and just recently purchased the Magna-Matic MAG-1000 but have not used it yet. Any thoughts on whether blade balancing is more or less important with electric mowers? Thank you.

 

I finally purchased a Magna Matic; other copycat brands had complaints about the balancer itself being out of balance.

One thing with which I wholeheartedly agree: new blades are considerably out of balance and not only end to end but they often are further off side to side from the hole being drilled off center. Magna Matic suggests throwing out blades that are off side to side; I grind off one side until it's balanced figuring may as well try it as to throw it out. I have been able to get them balanced, but it can take a lot of material removal.

I could get somewhere in the ballpark (maybe the outfield) with very careful use of a cone balancer on end to end but it's much more difficult to balance side to side with one. A nail won't even get you to Waveland Avenue (where massive homers land outside the stadium at Wrigley Field).

One thing to consider is that out of balance increases with the square of the RPM, so on machines that turn a high blade tip speed balance may be more important. Another thing to consider is the lower deck vibration of a balanced blade and vibration's contribution to fatigue level.

 

I have done industrial and high tolerance grinding 20+ yrs. I did some contract grinding of lawn mower blades (reel type bed knives) for a lawn mower mfg co.
These blades along with rotary blades are hot rolled (formed) at the steel mill along with the bevel, holes and blade flares. The mower mfg co. just cleans, sharpens and paints them when they receive them from the steel mill.
THAT is why your blades are not balanced when you purchase them