My Gatorblade Experience

[Toolguy]

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?

 

[hagman]

Toolguy,

I hate to admit this but when I first got my Gator Blades I had similar results like you are describing. When I mowed the grass was not being pulled up and the results were subpar at best. It turned out I the blades upside down! I have a 54" B series deck and after I figured out what I had done there was a night and day difference! I pull a Trac Vac behind my B7610 and between the Gator Blades and the Trac Vac I can mow almost all of my 2.5 cleared acres without emptying the Trac Vac. The stock high lift blades that came with my tractor can't begin to touch the performance of the Gator Blades. After talking to the mower shop where I take my blades to get them sharpened they told me when they have a customer wanting to return a set of Gator Blades they make sure they are mounted properly. According to them when they have a complaint with a set of Gator Blades 9 times out of 10 they're upside down like I had mine. I don't know for sure if that's your problem or not but it would be worth double checking your mounting for sure.

Hagman

 

[Volfandt]

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?

I don't consider it bad mouthing, you are making a good point and backing up your observations. Tain;t nothing wrong with that

I'll throw out a few ideas, don't know if their right or wrong but I'll run with 'em anyways.

Is it because the "B" decks come with better blades than the "BX" decks and therefore perform as well or better than the Gators?

I dunno, hard to tell. Generally the BX is considered to be a better finish mower than a B but that has more to do with the suspended MMM on the BX as opposed to the ground contact MMM of the B.
Most BX MMM's come with the std lift blade whereas theres the optional high lift blade and mulching blade. Could be that the B MMM's come with a high lift blade as std.
There has been several BX posters that have indicated that they like the high lift blade as much or better than the gatorblade.

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.

Yes it does. Basically some other manufacturers call that narrow plate an anti-blow out (or blow-by) plate. On some Simplicity decks that plate is an option and has to be added when a bagger is to be used.

When I 1st used my cyclone rake, I was using it with the std blades and at my normal mowing height of 3" there were leaves blowing out the left side of the MMM. When I changed over to the gatorblades they did the same.
When I lowered the MMM to 2.5" it practically stopped all the blow out. I now mulch & collect up the leaves at 2.5" and thats where I've had the great success I've posted on.
In the case of the B MMM I would try to go lower to see if that doesn't improve the blow out.
On the BX MMM's theres a kit (high lift blades & a baffle) thats supposed to be added to the MMM to help direct the clippings towards the bagger and perhaps theres a kit required for the B MMM also. You may check on that.
But in any case, if your std blades to a great job as is with your Trac Vac then you just may have the optimum setup already.
Sometimes trial & error works and sometimes it don't.
Good luck

 

[Berniep]

I used the gator blades on my Dixon mower and they do not have the lift of the standard high lift blades. They don't give as even distribution of the clippings as the stock ones. They do turn about 100 rpm faster and they go through really tall stuff (like about a foot tall) easier than the stock ones. Now that I have a rotary cutter for my BX I don't need them anymore. A few years ago the "IN" thing on the Dixie Chopper forums was to use two sets of blades at once in a + configuration a set of gator blades and high high lift blades. This just seems like twice as much sharpening to me but a lot of guys liked it.

 

[Toolguy]

Thanks for the replys, guys. First off, I am absolutely sure that I mounted the blades correctly. Mounting them upside down would seriously hurt their performance. Good point. Second, I do mow at 3 inches. I know that at a lower height it would blow out less around the deck. On the other hand, at a lower height it can cause the leaves to push in front of the deck instead of going under. I would still like to know for sure if the "BX" blades are different than the "B" blades. If the "BX" blades have less lift than the "B" blades then that might explain why the Gators make such a noticeable difference. My setup with the stock blades works pretty good, but it could be better. I think I will try the blow out plates. They don't look like they would be too hard to make. The holes in the deck lip are already there. I may not get that done this year any more so it will give me something to do before next year. Thanks.

 

[Scrounger]

Makes me wonder if I should be putting them on my BX. It sure sounds like they are the cats meow according to all the folks with the 60" deck on the BX.

 

[Lockport]

You certainly won't get as much lift as they are designed to flutter the clippings back into the blade to be cut again. Optimally, to mulch, the grass it should be somewhat dry such as the end of a hot streak when the grass not only cuts with less resistance but decomposes quicker to feed your lawn. In less than optimal conditions, the grass clumps and will leave a line of clippings. Miner, luckily, only does it over the septic field where the grass is always really green and wet (and long).

Did you have the Kubota mulch kit? Some decks use a plate that alters the air flow to provide the effect that flutters the grass so it is cut multile times. You might want to remove this if using the gators.

 

[Toolguy]

That could be why they don't work for me. I try to cut the grass before it gets too long so it doesn't need to be vacuumed up. Several times this summer I was cutting every 3 to 4 days when it was growing fast. Otherwise vacuuming is necessary and I would rather leave the clippings on the lawn to decompose. I do not have a mulch kit. Thanks.

 

[beersngars]

I have tried the Gator-blades on 2 different mowers and with different results. When I had a 48" wall behind Bunton mower, I really liked the Gators for heavy spring cutting and fall leaf clean up but thought the standard high lift blades did a better job otherwise. Since then I sold that mower and bought a 61" Ferris commercial zero-turn. On the Ferris the Gators by far offer a lesser cut quality, still OK for leaf grinding, but the lawn looks worse over all.

My thinking is maybe they work better in the smaller decks. A friend mows professionaly and swears by the Gators. His biggest deck is 48" and he sharpens the blades and cleans the deck daily. That my be part of the secret.

 

[LS248]

I run the Gator Blades on a BX 1800 54" deck with great results mowing at a depth of 3". Any higher than 3" seems to lose the lifting of the grass. I also run the Gator Magnums on a 72" rear discharge Bush Hog finish mower. Also with great results. On the Kubota, I had to go from 1 1/8" to 7/8" bushings, which I made myself. Couldn't be happier. Both work well for me.

Dennis