Toolguy
Platinum Member
There has certainly been a lot of raves about Gatorblades here. I thought I would start my own thread about my Gatorblade experience since it seems my results have been different than the majority. Most guys talk about how well they work on the BX series and how they need adapters to fit. I have a B3030 with a 60" MMM. I bought a set last year and they bolted right on, no adapters necessary. I tried them out with high expectations when the grass was growing fast and the first time I used them I thought they did just OK. Not really much different than the stock blades. The next time I mowed I noticed that they blew the cut grass out in clumps instead of a nice even distribution like the stockers. That surprised me since I thought they would chop the grass up more than they did. I tried them again the next time I mowed and had the same result. I originally bought them because I wanted something that would pick up the grass better when the front wheels push it down as they drive over it. I didn't think they did any better than the stockers in that department either. So, I took them off, sharpened the stockers to a very sharp edge and have been using them ever since with good results.
Now it is leaf time time here and for the last couple of mowings I have been using my 3pt mounted leaf vacuum. I got to thinking about the slightly used Gatorblades I had in the barn and decided to give them another try this past Saturday. Chopping up leaves is where they should really shine, or so I thought. I sharpened them up and put them on thinking that I might finally get some use out of them and my $45 would not be wasted. I had a nice thick layer of dry maple leaves along the woods where I normally start mowing. I drove into them at a moderate speed. I hadn't gone a hundred feet when I was in a dust cloud so thick I could hardly see. The radiator screen on the tractor was completly covered and leaves were blowing everywhere. The Gatorblades were causing so much wind under the deck that a lot of the leaves were blown away before they could get under the deck and blown out the chute into the vacuum. I had a small area under some trees that I tried to vacuum up the leaves from but I just kept blowing them around and never could pick them up. The stock blades create wind under the deck too but not to the extent of the Gators. I stopped and put the stockers back on so I could get my work done. Needless to say, they worked fine and I got my leaves picked up.
I would just like to know why the Gators don't work for me like they seem to for everyone else. Is it because the "B" decks come with better blades than the "BX" decks and therefore perform as well or better than the Gators? Do the "BX" blades not have as much lift as the "B" blades? I also notice from some of the pictures that the BX decks have a flat, narrow plate bolted under the leading edge of the deck. Does that make a difference. Something must be different about a "B" deck. It looks very similiar to the "BX" decks other than the gauge wheels. I hope I don't come across as bad-mouthing Gatorblades. I really don't mean it that way. I am just trying to figure out why they work for some and not for me. Any ideas?
Now it is leaf time time here and for the last couple of mowings I have been using my 3pt mounted leaf vacuum. I got to thinking about the slightly used Gatorblades I had in the barn and decided to give them another try this past Saturday. Chopping up leaves is where they should really shine, or so I thought. I sharpened them up and put them on thinking that I might finally get some use out of them and my $45 would not be wasted. I had a nice thick layer of dry maple leaves along the woods where I normally start mowing. I drove into them at a moderate speed. I hadn't gone a hundred feet when I was in a dust cloud so thick I could hardly see. The radiator screen on the tractor was completly covered and leaves were blowing everywhere. The Gatorblades were causing so much wind under the deck that a lot of the leaves were blown away before they could get under the deck and blown out the chute into the vacuum. I had a small area under some trees that I tried to vacuum up the leaves from but I just kept blowing them around and never could pick them up. The stock blades create wind under the deck too but not to the extent of the Gators. I stopped and put the stockers back on so I could get my work done. Needless to say, they worked fine and I got my leaves picked up.
I would just like to know why the Gators don't work for me like they seem to for everyone else. Is it because the "B" decks come with better blades than the "BX" decks and therefore perform as well or better than the Gators? Do the "BX" blades not have as much lift as the "B" blades? I also notice from some of the pictures that the BX decks have a flat, narrow plate bolted under the leading edge of the deck. Does that make a difference. Something must be different about a "B" deck. It looks very similiar to the "BX" decks other than the gauge wheels. I hope I don't come across as bad-mouthing Gatorblades. I really don't mean it that way. I am just trying to figure out why they work for some and not for me. Any ideas?