Bahia grass wears out mower blades

[workinonit]

I too cut Bahaia. About 7 acres of it mixed with Centipede. Now I must admit, as the centipede takes over my blades have been lasting longer but when the pasture was all bahaia my blades wore exactly like that and almost that fast. I cut mine with a 20' Frontier FM that carries 9 blades total. I buy OEM blades as well for all of my mowers. There is no comparison. And I've tried them all.

 

[the old grind]

OP's blades in pic have been sharpened a few times. I suspect wear on the lifts is cumulative & not accrued as quickly as on the original edge or one or two re-sharpens. IMO to say 'fast' wear is subjective. We read that bahia doesn't grow tall like fescues do, and cutting height can have much to do with grit encountered/lifted regardless of soil type. There's always centipede, St Augustine, and Zoisia as options. None would survive our Midwestern Winters or my two ac of sandy lawn would be one of them.

 

[EddieWalker]

OP's blades in pic have been sharpened a few times. I suspect wear on the lifts is cumulative & not accrued as quickly as on the original edge or one or two re-sharpens. IMO to say 'fast' wear is subjective. We read that bahia doesn't grow tall like fescues do, and cutting height can have much to do with grit encountered/lifted regardless of soil type. There's always centipede, St Augustine, and Zoisia as options. None would survive our Midwestern Winters or my two ac of sandy lawn would be one of them.

I did not sharpen the blades. I never sharpen blades. I use them until they no long cut well, and then I replace them.

Bahia is a native grass in my area. From what I understand, it's common all through the South, but it is different in from one area to another. It's very difficult to get rid of. You never have to water it and it remains green from Spring until it freezes. It has high protein levels for grazing, but it doesn't hold it's protein well when baled. It is not a quality grass for hay, but people use it for goats and cattle. Not horses.

The stem is woody. The stem is where all the problems occur. The stem can easily be a foot tall a week after it's mowed. If we have good rain, it can be taller.

 

[the old grind]

Interesting that the blades have so much wear but maintained leading edge bevels. (sorry to misinterpret) Ones I've see worn to that much curve were blunt and lift wings were gone, cut better when reversed. Reason I got the job was that the mower would leave uncut stripes. Owner understood that blades were also 1 1/4" shorter end to end than the spec'd replacements. He mows the green part off his lawn regularly and I'm sure he's tossing a lot of sand out the chute.

 

[TractorGuy]

Try to find some low or no lift blades to fit.

Flat Universal Blades (No Lift) | Lawn Mower Parts | MFG Supply

Flat Universal Lawn Mower Blades

www.mfgsupply.com

 

[3Ts]

I've seen the same thing with my blades when I lived in Florida. The yard was grass over sand and would eat up mower blades quickly. I was able to extend the life of the blades several times over by laying down a ridge of hardface welding rod just behind the cutting edge on the bottom of the blade and also on the leading edge of the wing where all the abrasion is. I would do this to brand new blades and rebalance them before I put them on the mower.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Eddie, do you fertilize your grass? fertilized bahia will be more tender than grass which is not fertilized, I have the same problem here in Florida and have gone to using a blade that has a cutting edge on both sides, when one side gets dull you flip them over and the other side will be sharp and while you cut with that side you are sharpening the top side, I was skeptical at first but they work really good in bahia grass, I believe they are called Copperhead blades. Try fertilizing a small strip and see if it doesn't cut better due to being more tender.

 

[stuckmotor]

Bahia is probably the toughest grass I ever cut with my Woods Cadet 5' rotary mower. I had sharp blades and even when I cut only half the mower's width per pass, it still was all my AC WD could handle in 2nd gear. I didn't cut enough to notice how it wore the blades.

 

[Jchonline]

@EddieWalker we spray our place. Yes cows will eat it, but horses will not. We are just up the road from you. Yes that Bahia is nasty to mow…if it even cuts it. In the turns it loves to lay over so you ahve to go over it again….such a pain.

 

[jaxs]

I thought you had grazing animals including goats so I don't understand why you mow it more than a couple times a year tops.
Fifty miles North of you,my nephew graze's cows and sale's 3-4 hundred rolls of Bahia every year.