Gator mulching blades

[Havoctec]

A search of gator blades resulted in posts from 02. My question is: How many of you are using gator blades and are you happy with them.

I have a jd 72" mmm and I am not happy with the amount of lift that the oem blades have. While it is something I can live with, any suggestions to increase it's performance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I bought a set about 2 years ago. They replaced the O.E.M. John Deere blades on my 265 w/48" deck. The originals did a fair job, but not outstanding. They were dull and had been sharpened too many times already. So I bought the Gator Blades.

I'm happy with them, but don't see them as all that much better than anything else. They do take an edge well, and STAY sharp longer than the O.E.M. blades did.

 

[Dozernut]

I have the Gator blades on a couple of mowers. As a regular mowing blade, I cannot tell any difference from a stock blade. Where they shine is when used for a mulching blade on leaves. I block the discharge chute on the mower and the Gators chop the leaves into fine pieces and I do not have to rake leaves. This is a real work saver for me as my home is in the woods.

 

[drm]

I have the Gator blades mounted on a NH 72" MMM with rear discharge. This mower deck is very close to being a mulching only deck as very little is discharged out the rear.

I like the way it cuts and does a good job of chopping up the trimmings as long as the grass is not too high. In areas that are very thick (sand mound and some low lying areas with good natural watering) I can only cut 1" or so without clumping. In lighter (less dense) areas I can cut up to 2" off.

I have not used standard blades so I can not compare but they seem to work well for this setup.

Derek

 

[thcri]

I am using the Gator blades on my New Holland 72" MMM with side discharge. I love them and would never switch back. My cut is so much nicer and even. Clippings are definantly smaller. Others that that have the New Holland mower are happy with them. Then there are others that have tried them on other mowers and can't see a difference. I think you just try them and if you like them great, if not keep them for a second set of blades.

murph

 

[kljunior]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( A search of gator blades resulted in posts from 02. My question is: How many of you are using gator blades and are you happy with them.

I have a jd 72" mmm and I am not happy with the amount of lift that the oem blades have. While it is something I can live with, any suggestions to increase it's performance would be greatly appreciated.
)</font>

If more lift is what you are after, gator blades aren't going to help. In fact, they may be worse. Gators have slices in the lift portion of the blade allowing the clippings to pass through some and thereby getting re-cut several times while above the cutting edge and before being discharged.
Look for a high lift blade option for your deck. Silver Streak may make them, you'll just have to figure out where you can get silver streak in your area.
Happy mowing /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[thcri]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
If more lift is what you are after, gator blades aren't going to help. In fact, they may be worse. Gators have slices in the lift portion of the blade allowing the clippings to pass through some and thereby getting re-cut several times while above the cutting edge and before being discharged.)</font>


I am going to disagree with your statement. Read the web page attached. The whole reason I bought the Gator blade was because I needed hi-lift. My front tires where knocking down the grass and then my mower would not mow where the tires were. A few days later the paths of my front tires the grass would stand up again and I would have to go out and mow again. Withe Gator blades I don't have to worry about that as the blade lifts the grass up now.

Gator Blade Home Page


New Holland has made them an option on their decks and I even think in some cases they are standard.


murph

 

[brewdog]

It seems to me that Gator blades would NOT be good when the grass is wet. Can you explain your experience with wet grass and Gator blades? Thanks

 

[thcri]

For the times I did mow when wet it was ok. But keep in mind I try and stay off my lawn when wet because of the weight of my tractor.

murph

 

[Johnagain]

I have put over 10,000 hours on different ZTR mowers when I owned a Lawn Care Service and have run many blades from low lift, Gator and High lift. The gator blades have more lift than the low lift blades but not as much as high lift blades. Living here in FL we changed blades daily and sometimes twice a day to keep sharp. The gator blades are designed to mulch grass but only do so when you keep a sharp edge on the saw teeth. I have found out that the last tooth will also wear out before the edges on the other standard blades. This is no problem but they just don't mulch as well when this happens. The only time I use my gator blades is for mulching leaves in the winter because they cost almost twice as much per blade.