Deck Blades: To Hone or not to Hone

[DAP]

Well, as I see it, us N'Easteners are still at a minimum about 7 weeks away from finish cutting any turf.

As a prep, I will do oil, filters and grease on my JD lawn tractor.

I KNOW my blades need some attention too. I generally take a dremel to them each spring. These will be their 4th season. The seem to balance ok after I sharpen them, but they will never be perfect after the usual amount of hard strikes.

How do I determine if they can still be cleaned up or when it is time to replace them. I haven't looked yet, but I know I'll wince when I see the price for a set of replacement blades for the 48C deck (3 blade set).

I'm probably moderately tough on these blades and am not obsessed with examining the cut edge on the grass blades. My main concern is that they are balanced enough to keep the deck from bad vibration.

When should they be replaced?

 

[beenthere]

I replace mine every year, but then I put on about 90 - 100 hours on the blades. I sharpen them once or twice in between replacing them. I don't find them to be overly expensive, and certainly worth my time and money, vs messing with sharpening them, let alone 'honing' them. Never would do that, as the hone edge would disappear in a big hurry.

Seems a set of 48" would run about $20 - 25.

 

[jayhawkRoy]

Actually, the blades I have purchased thru JD dealers are relatively inexpensive. I pay more for the Craftsman blades than for my JD 325 (48" deck) garden tractor, and the 325's blades last much, much longer. I have 2 sets of blades for the 325, and I think one set ran around $30 in 1997. I mow pretty tough fescue, and replace the blades every 6 weeks on the deck. My son grinds, sharpens, and balances them for me. Am using the same two sets from 1997 and see no cutting or balancing problems with them. I assume my son will tell me when I need to replace them, but I see no need to replace after 6 seasons' worth of grass cutting.

 

[Hambone]

I agree with the John Deere blades. They are very tough. I tried some aftermarket blades, they did not last as long.
I bought some John Deere blades last year for my 48C and my 62C, both sets were in the $30 range.
Nice to have a spare set, just swap and go.

 

[RalphVa]

Blades ought to be sharpened about every other use. That's my rule on my Gravely and my Lawnboy. They're both easy to remove them from.

Used to sharpen them every time I did the 4 or 5 acres of church property with the Scag. Was so easy on it: just crank up the deck, remove the 3 blades with their through-bolts, take home, sharpen, put back on next time to mow. Took about 2 minutes to remove and about 2 minutes to put back on.

Anyone use those carbide blades on those tractor mower decks that are SOOO much trouble to pull out and to remove the blades on?

Grass doesn't like dull blades. Ever try using one of your razors all year long? Then you'll know what the grass feels like and why the ends look ragged with dull blades.

Ralph

 

[frank_f15]

AS U CAN SEE from some of the pevious posts, there is quite a range of ideas on the subject. i will just add mine(neither right or wrong) i work my gt hard , cut a lot of grass and usually go 3 years on blades, sharpen and balance abut 3 or 4 times a season. am not fanatic about the cut, just want it cut and looking decent. have to much grass to worry about it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif