Howse mower blades

[Kenneth in Texas]

just looking at the blades, how sharp are they suppose to be? I never really looked when it was new but they are blunt with basically rounded edges. Cant be much wear on them since i dont really do a lot of mowing.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Kenneth if your wonting to cut grass would grind alittle edge on them,if its not cutting good,nothing super sharp but for shredding the blunt edge will allow for unclean cuts to weeds.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Something between a maul and axe.. Though I start fairly sharp early in the season.

 

[jinman]

Kenneth, stop by Tractor Supply and look at their new blades. Then, go home and sharpen yours so they look like the new ones. I can tell you all kinds of things, but the visual picture you'll get by looking at new blades is far better than any verbal description.

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

Thanks i will get by TS next week, so can i sharpen the blades to where they are razor SHARP or just put a good edge on them?

 

[Midniteoyl]

An edge.. they do not, and should not, be sharp enough to cut.. They are not knives.

http://www.familyhandyman.com/tools/how-to-sharpen-tools/view-all

 

[jinman]

Yep! A sharp edge is a waste of time. In short order they will be dull again. You want to taper the blade a bit and make the cutting edge 1/8" to 1/16" thick. Unless your are cutting nice smooth lawn grass, your blades will not hold a sharp edge. I sharpen mine yearly, but not to anything very sharp. It only takes a little rock or gravel 'cutting' to put them back to semi-sharp.

 

[Bird]

As others have said, the Bush Hog manual for the Squealer I used to have said to leave a 1/8" thick edge. I may have sharpened mine a little sharper than that. And incidentally, not long after I got the Howse 500 rotary cutter, I decided to take the blades off and sharpen them a little bit. Of course, I was prepared to try to loosen some really tight nuts on the bolts and found mine were barely more than finger tight. Needless to say, when I put them back on, I tightened them considerably more than they had been originally.