Gator Blades

[Mike_S]

Am seeking opinions on the quality and effectiveness of Gator brand mower blades. It appears that they would mulch better than the OEM blades on my JD 4400's 60" commercial MMM. The Gator blades are thinner, so I have concerns about their durability, hardness and ability to keep an edge when compared to the quality OEM JD blades. It doesn't hurt to plan ahead for next spring's first mowing.

MikeSp

 

[chim]

Tried some on a 60" deck a couple years ago and was underwhelmed. They weren't any better than the stock blades. Yes, they were thinner. Recently I was playing around and added small "wings" to a set of blades, and it made a big difference......................chim

 

[Slamfire]

They work pretty good on leaves, IF you block the outlet. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Bird]

I think if you do a search for "Gator" blades, you'll find quite a bit of previous discussion about them, and some people think they're great; had good luck with them. Others, like Chim and I, weren't so lucky. My closest neighbor bought a set for his MTD riding mower, I got a set for my Cub Cadet riding mower, and my brother-in-law got a set for his Craftsman (or maybe it was a Montgomery Ward) riding mower. A real waste of money, we all finally threw them away and went back to OEM blades. However, none of us tried the ones for the larger tractor mowers, so maybe you'll have better luck with them.

 

[chim]

Success with the Gator Blades may have a lot to do with the speed of the blades. I bought my set for a 60"RFM at the recommendation of the owner of a lawn maintenance outfit who simply loves the blades. He uses Hustler(?) ZTR's with decks that he chose for the fast blade speed. I don't know the actual blade speeds of his units and my RFM, but you can hear quite a difference in the pitch between them........................chim

 

[5030]

My problem with Gator blades is that the stock blades are easier to sharpen while the Gator blades aren't.

 

[jimmo]

I am currently using Gator Blades on my 4410 w/ 72 in MMM. The Heavy Duty Gators are the same thickness as the original JD blades that came with the mower <font color="red"> </font>
However, as above I am underwhelmed. The mower has so much power that the leaves and debries are gone so fast (out the chute) that there isn't any time to mulch anything. If there was a plug it might make a small differance but I also use Gators on my 345 with a mulch kit and in reality the original mulch blades did a better job.

 

[Green_in_MI]

I think travel speed is important when using the gator blades. The gator blades take more power to run them. I found that if I lower my ground speed the quality of cut begins to match regular blades. I only use the gator blades at the end of the year to mulch leaves. It does do a great job of shreding them. It will also do a good job of shreding grass, but again you may have to lower your ground speed.

 

[Durbob]

Those that have had good luck with them claim you have to take the mulch plug off and gator recommends the mulch plug being off.

 

[Dozernut]

I have the Gatorblades or a similar type blade. I do not notice any difference between the oem blades and the Gator type blade for regular mowing and would not buy them for such. Where they shine is at mulching leaves. As Slamfire said, you must block the discharge chute for them to be effective. They save me hours of labor.

 

[thcri]

Mike,

I have been having a lot of trouble on my New Holland 72" Mid Mower and finally decided to try the Gator Blades. You won't get me back to the New Holland Blades. The Gator blade I can tell takes more power to run but there is good reason for it. First it does have a lot more lift than my standard blades. In fact when mowing the last time this fall I set my mower down as low as I felt safe without scarfing and you should have seen the crap get lifted out of my lawn. There was dead grass all over the place. The second reason is the tips have the mulcheres which I found the grass coming out of the shout was half the size of the grass coming out with my regular blades. My mower runs much quieter also. My tractor is now on the short side of running a 72" mower with these blades and I had to slow down but the quality of cut is well worth it.

Now also remember, this is my experience, others have felt they are not worth it, when purchasing my blades from New Holland the Gators were about ten bucks each cheaper than their own standard or hi-lift blades. I will be buying another set in the spring so I can always have one set on and one being sharpened. As far as sharpening I have not had to do that yet but I am told by Gator that it is no different that a regular blade as you never sharpen the mulchers anyway.

Good Luck in your decision.

murph