GATOR Blades - not impressed

[subzero]

after waiting almost 6 weeks for my gator blades to come to Canada.
I installed them right away and starting cutting, the grass on the sewer field was very heavy and thick and about 5 inches tall, the blade on the right side seems to leave a standing stripe in this thick grass.
I noticed that when I installed the blades, that they were a tight fit, they seem to be about 1/8" longer then my old mulching blades.
The blades are installed on a ZD28 with 72" cut - PRO Deck. with the mulching baffles installed.
Could it be that the blades are just too tight to the edge, and the grass just gets caught up in there on the heavy spots.

 

[shrekbelly]

greg,
my operator experience with gatorblades was prior to my buying my bx.
i ran a toro z master 100,19hp 52sfs. gator style blades are to be installed and used in conjunction with an OPEN discharge chute. the blades are designed
to make clippings smaller, though not the same as a mulch blade set-up with a mulch plug blocking the exit port of your deck.
i can't speak to the fit of the blades on your deck, i just know i tinkered to get it right (using two blades per spindle in an "X" cross pattern, using different types of lifts in combo with the gator on the bottom, closest to the ground. all that said, i eventually just ran the stand gator (alone, 1 per spindle).
i also found, that i got a better quality of cut, when i cut lower, for instance, i cut at 3.5 inches (it looks better than when i cut a 4.0 to 4.5 inch H.O.C.
i'm not telling you to cut lower, i just think there may be more science and engineering to quality of cut when you go lower (better vaccuum?).
with 26 hp/diesel and a pro deck, your kubota shouldn't be taking any prisoners . . . i would expect you to get a number of replies. you might also want to check the commercial mowing site. "lawn_ite.com" good luck with your blades. shrekbelly

 

[bigdad]

I use Gators on my b7510 (60" deck) with an open chute. Like shrekbelly says, the clippings are substantially smaller. I also use a Gator on my Lawnboy handmower without the mulching plug. I wouldn't go back to the stock blades. No way.

 

[Toolguy]

I tried a set of Gators on my 60" deck under my B3030. I like the stock blades better. The gators did not disperse the clippings evenly and left clumps of grass instead of the more even spread that the stock blades do. They seem to have less "suction", probably due to the the cutouts on the "wings. I even tried them on leaves in the fall and they didn't perform as well as the stock blades. I use a vacuum system to pick up the leaves so the ability to suck the leaves up and blow them out the chute into the vacuum hose is important. A lot of people rave about them so I can only conclude that they work better on some mower decks than others.

 

[orangebluegreen]

I've been using them now for a few weeks, 60" suspended deck open chute. I've been noticing my deck wasn't leaving as nice a cut as it used to and realized it had gone out of level for the first time in three seasons. Yesterday I got it to within 1/16" side to side and the fronts tipped 3/8-1/2" lower compared to the back measured on the blade. Used them today on perfect (not too wet\dry) grass and can say they must like being more level front to rear. They left very little visible clippings. The front had been 3/4-1" lower before. I would rate them perhaps slightly better at mulching but slightly worse at ease of cutting compared to my originals, at least from what I can tell. You having a mulching kit probably had the high lift blades and I've heard they work best of all.