Finish mower blades???
- Thread starter winston1
- Start date
Scotty Dive
Veteran Member
I took out the torch and started flattening some extra blades I had and it occurred to me that I can't get these perfectly flat. Isn't this going to create a slight wobble and put stress on the spindles?
hi Scotty Dive, It should not be an issue if both blade tips are flattened to where the drag is about the same. Grind balancing the blades is important for any blade during sharpening however. Most important is not trying to Re-Heat Treat the metal, let it air cool so the metal does not become brittle.
Quality mower blades are made from Tool Steel with a Rockwell Hardness C-50 (+ or -, 2), my test blades are made from Cold Rolled 3" x 1/4" Flat stock. They work OK, they just don't keep a knife sharp edge long hitting ant hills, however neither did the OEM blades.
Good Luck and I really wish No-Lift Blades were offered for over the shelf sales. During my search I only noticed the Toro Zero Turn models using them.
I don't reckon my blades were perfectly flat or true either. I have a little balancing jig I put them on when sharpening. You can hang the center hole on a nail and get pretty close. All I know for sure is after the flattening they run smoooooooooth and half the horsepower, half the noise, a whole lot less dust.
Scotty Dive
Veteran Member
I flattened three blades and installed them on my exmark walk behind. The difference was very noticeable....lower noise and very very little dust. However, I noticed it was missing a lot of grass blades. I am thinking because they were flat there ws no lift and the cut of the lawn suffered. I immediately went back to my gator blades.
Brake Weight
Silver Member
I've got a Sitrex finishing mower and the blades on it aren't straight. They have a rise in the middle about 3/4" high. The blade angle is ridiculously high also. It sounds like it's taking off every time I engage the PTO. I took one blade to my local shop and he didn't even make a move when he said he couldn't help me. He said they don't have blades like that and that if they had one that'd fit it'd be straight and cause the mower to cut 3/4" higher.
I've looked online today an there are hundreds of blade vendors out there. I've found some that will work and they are that Gator Mulcher design, too. $15/each + shipping x3, has me waiting on a few eBay stores.
At that price, and one was so inclined with the needed tools, this would be a profitable business to get in. Get the specs for everyone's blade and start making them short order style until the business got going. Just saying.
I've looked online today an there are hundreds of blade vendors out there. I've found some that will work and they are that Gator Mulcher design, too. $15/each + shipping x3, has me waiting on a few eBay stores.
At that price, and one was so inclined with the needed tools, this would be a profitable business to get in. Get the specs for everyone's blade and start making them short order style until the business got going. Just saying.