Replacement blades for 7-Iron deck

[JDgreen227]

I will note that the Gator blades turn clippings practically into a powder. Basically airborne whens it's real dry, or a glob you can't do much with if wet. This may or may not be problematic for you.

Ordered a set of JD Gator mulching blades on Ebay last night, $49, free delivery, no sales tax...the Ebay seller listing said they were $95 retail for a set of 3, plus I would pay 6% sales tax and $5 for fuel to get to the dealership. Thanks again, everyone.

 

[sunnyside360]

Ordered a set of JD Gator mulching blades on Ebay last night, $49, free delivery, no sales tax...the Ebay seller listing said they were $95 retail for a set of 3, plus I would pay 6% sales tax and $5 for fuel to get to the dealership. Thanks again, everyone.

Gees, what a deal. Let us know your take on those new Gator blades when you get to use your mower. I'm about due for new blades and leaning towards the Gators but grass cutting here isn't for a couple more months. :thumbsup:

 

[JDgreen227]

Gees, what a deal. Let us know your take on those new Gator blades when you get to use your mower. I'm about due for new blades and leaning towards the Gators but grass cutting here isn't for a couple more months. :thumbsup:

Ditto on mowing here, we have 16 inches of new snow so far this week !!!

 

[Glen Watkins]

Ya alot of white **** here and another winter storm warning in effect now but I wondered if you can sharpen these gator blades easily? Anyone know?

 

[JDgreen227]

Ya alot of white **** here and another winter storm warning in effect now but I wondered if you can sharpen these gator blades easily? Anyone know?

I could be wrong but from what the pics look like and the description of the blades they don't have any more cutting edges than the OEM JD blades do. I may be old fashioned but have always used nothing but a set of files to sharpen my OEM blades, never use a grinder. Perhaps thats why I got 8 years use out of them and they still have a lot of material left.

 

[MaJYk]

Sharpen the gator blades same as any other. The "teeth" on the back will eventually wear down, especially in sandy ground. A they do, you lose the recirculating action that causes the mulching effect.

 

[Glen Watkins]

:thumbsup:

 

[hpc]

I have a 3520 and switched from the 'standard' Deere mulching blades to the
Gator blades. Absolutely a must-have - they did a much better job of mulching and
the amount of wet clumps and blow-out was greatly reduced. Our grass is
Blue Grass and the ground tends to be damp due to irrigation - even when cutting
very late in the day on non-watering days.

One question for anyone: Has anyone tried 'X' blades? These are two sets of
blades forming an 'X' - just like the double blade option on Dixie Chopper.

 

[JDgreen227]

Gees, what a deal. Let us know your take on those new Gator blades when you get to use your mower. I'm about due for new blades and leaning towards the Gators but grass cutting here isn't for a couple more months. :thumbsup:

Update here:

I am very unhappy with the performance of my Gator blades...they cut only marginally better (10-15%) than the 8 year old standard blades do in short, dry grass, and there is ZERO IMPROVEMENT when cutting tall or wet grass. This despite running the MMM at PTO rpm (2600). I guess they were worth the $49 I paid as they cut as well as the OEM set did, but I was hoping for finer cutting so I don't have to rake so much grass.

Just wanted to post my opinion...the resharpened OEM blades were on the deck for the first 30 hours of mowing this year, it has rained 8 days out of 10 since the beginning of April here so I get way behind in mowing. I had to power wash about 20 pounds of grass off the underside of the deck yesterday and switched blades then. I was truthfully hoping for much better cutting performance than they deliver....