Bahia grass wears out mower blades

[EddieWalker]

There was a discussion on here awhile ago about mower blades and a few comments that it was hard to understand how quickly Bahia grass wears out mower blades. I go through 3 sets of blades a year on my Scag zero turn mower.

I changed my blades yesterday. This is when I scrape my deck and do my maintenance.

This new set will last the rest of the year, and then into Spring. Then I'll buy another 3 pack with a total of 9 blades from Louisville Tractor | Scag Mower | Ferris Mower | Bobcat Turf | STIHL | ECHO | Shindaiwa | | Zero-Turn Mower Parts | Lawn Mower Parts | Tractor Parts. They changed their name to Andersons, but the website is still the original name.

The picture speaks for itself. This is about 2 months of mowing about once a week, for a couple of hours.



I've tried Gator blades, high lift blades and Bahia blades. Nothing cuts as nice, or lasts as long as the factory Scag blades.

My soil is red clay. I've heard that sand will do this, but I do not have any sand on my land.

 

[Wakey]

Wow, rocks don’t do that much damage to my blades!

 

[RickB]

There was a discussion on here awhile ago about mower blades and a few comments that it was hard to understand how quickly Bahia grass wears out mower blades. I go through 3 sets of blades a year on my Scag zero turn mower.

I changed my blades yesterday. This is when I scrape my deck and do my maintenance.

This new set will last the rest of the year, and then into Spring. Then I'll buy another 3 pack with a total of 9 blades from Louisville Tractor | Scag Mower | Ferris Mower | Bobcat Turf | STIHL | ECHO | Shindaiwa | | Zero-Turn Mower Parts | Lawn Mower Parts | Tractor Parts. They changed their name to Andersons, but the website is still the original name.

The picture speaks for itself. This is about 2 months of mowing about once a week, for a couple of hours.

View attachment 713253

I've tried Gator blades, high lift blades and Bahia blades. Nothing cuts as nice, or lasts as long as the factory Scag blades.

My soil is red clay. I've heard that sand will do this, but I do not have any sand on my land.

Crazy.

 

[ChuckT]

That wear is (extreme but) typical for blades used in sandy, Florida, soil. I have had to change and/or discard a set every 3 months.

 

[sea2summit]

Interesting, I was blaming all the ant hills.

 

[the old grind]

Mole hills too. I tried 'sand blades' once. They differ by offering less lift. (flatter 'wing') I kinda thought they tossed less out of the chute, meaning fewer/smaller 'hay rows' when mowing with the ZTR. They were thin and bent to easily, IMO not worth firing up the blue wrench to straighten. I buy my HD Oregons from Agri-Supply and no longer keep sets together. Spindle only cares that a blade is balanced, not that it matches another in weight, thickness, sharpness, etc.

 

[Midniteoyl]

That's just crazy!

 

[ponytug]

That is an amazing wear pattern. Wild. It is as if the head flops over as it is being cut and wears the blade. I have never seen anything like it.

Thanks for sharing!

My dry / gritty soil wears the front of the blade.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Alan W.]

I have that same problem with mine. Just not as accelerated as yours.
I have taken to running a weld where the blade is bent to create lift. This allows me to get at least a year out of my blades.

 

[oosik]

I was wondering. We have a "weed" in these parts. It's called Horse Tail plant. Indians used it to clean their cooking equipment. Horse tail has a very high concentration of silica in the stalk. It looks very much like miniature bamboo.

Wondering - does Bahia grass have silica in the leaf like Horse Tail. This could cause accelerated wear.