lawn mower blade problem

[PineRidge]

I have used a push mower, brush hog, 3-point finish mower, and a JD-ZTM and never broken a blade and we have some pretty wild landscape on part of our property. Naturally we have to sharpen and sometimes weld up a ding or two, but replace because of breakage never.

Once the wife hit a steel pin and bent the driveshaft on the motor of a old push mower and that didn't even destroy the blade, unfortunately it did the motor.

If I were you I would start looking to see if someone makes a better set of blades for your rig.

 

[toppop52]

Have to wonder if mowing right after a rainfall or after the yard being sprinkled would cut down on the amount of sand being lifted?

I do that when I can, but if I don't use high lift blades I end up with uneven grass because of the dampness and the type of grass, so they still pull a ton of sand up and it's not the coarse sand that gets lifted always, some of it is like powder but it grinds the blades.

 

[toppop52]

I have used a push mower, brush hog, 3-point finish mower, and a JD-ZTM and never broken a blade and we have some pretty wild landscape on part of our property. Naturally we have to sharpen and sometimes weld up a ding or two, but replace because of breakage never.

If I were you I would start looking to see if someone makes a better set of blades for your rig.

Mine don't break like something struck them., they wear and then break lengthwise near the edges.

 

[art]

We don't have any problems with sand here in central NY but we do get to see plenty of blades come in that are worn out.

What we have seen is some blades are of a softer steel, replaceing the dull cutting edge on the grinder tells a lot and some blades often the factory originals are made of better steel and wear far longer.

Sand is the reason that many companies have gone to the fabricated decks and with most testing of the decks done in the warmer climates so they can mow year around most companies are finding out how to better deal with it.

 

[JDgreen227]

I may be a minority when it comes to blade sharpening but I never let a grinder of any type near my blades, because I think no matter how careful one is, a grinder is going to heat up the metal to some degree and cause the blade will lose it's temper. I have nothing but praise for the Oregon brand Gator Mulching blades, they appear (at least in my situation) to be superior in hardness to even the much more expensive JD blades.

 

[jinman]

I may be a minority when it comes to blade sharpening but I never let a grinder of any type near my blades, because I think no matter how careful one is, a grinder is going to heat up the metal to some degree and cause the blade will lose it's temper. I have nothing but praise for the Oregon brand Gator Mulching blades, they appear (at least in my situation) to be superior in hardness to even the much more expensive JD blades.

Bill, how are your blades sharpened at the manufacturer? Don't you think they use a grinder? It's surely an automated machine, but I just can't see going to the trouble to use a file for sharpening my mower blades. As a kid, we used to file our hoes, axes, and even shovels with flat bastrd. files, but when I discovered angle grinders, my life got much simpler.:thumbsup: Also, it seems no matter how hard the metal is or how sharp they are, one mowing will start to dull the cutting edges in my experience. As Art pointed out, my Kubota mower has much thicker blades than my John Deere riding lawn mower. They are almost twice as thick and they don't wear like the JD blades.

 

[art]

I may be a minority when it comes to blade sharpening but I never let a grinder of any type near my blades, because I think no matter how careful one is, a grinder is going to heat up the metal to some degree and cause the blade will lose it's temper. I have nothing but praise for the Oregon brand Gator Mulching blades, they appear (at least in my situation) to be superior in hardness to even the much more expensive JD blades.

That is good that you have had good experience with them and it is shocking as we don't do anything with the deere other then trade-ins and repairs but with the lines we normally sell the sharpening experience and wear with those blades has been greater then the oem blades. It doesn't mean that we don't like the blades for lawn clean-up without bagging but they do have a shorter life cycle by about a third on one manufacturer and about half the life of another.

 

[radioman]

I have a old slow turning grinding wheel from my wife work and it works great for sharpening the mower blades without getting it hot. it also has a water drip container at top that I use and that really helps. The cheap grinders that you can buy at local store spins way too fast for my liking and I only use it for certain metal projects but never on the mower blades. You guys aree right - the blades are not what they used to be though- they seem like its a very soft metal now on moweer blades and I cant help but wonder if the manufacters are doing it on purpose due to many bent blades that cannot be restraighten with stiffer metal? The softer ones might take the abuse more and just nick instead of bending? which would you guys rather endure?

 

[The kid]

If you cut your grass short like many people like it will pick up quite a bit of sand, thus eat your blades. Commerical grass cutters don't cut as low thus the same problem is minimzed. You might consider letting your grass get a bit higher. It's actually healthier for the grass, by developing deeper root system and your mower will put those nice patterns in the grass after a cutting. JMHO.

 

[RandyT]

Just remember that all that dust that gets kicked up and discharged act like a sand blaster to the air lifts on the blades. There is a lot of sand that gets added to yards when new houses are constructed.

I work on a lot of the box store mowers, and have seen blades not even last one mowing season, due to the thin blades to start with.

 

[JDgreen227]

If you cut your grass short like many people like it will pick up quite a bit of sand, thus eat your blades. Commerical grass cutters don't cut as low thus the same problem is minimzed. You might consider letting your grass get a bit higher. It's actually healthier for the grass, by developing deeper root system and your mower will put those nice patterns in the grass after a cutting. JMHO.

Agree about letting the grass grow higher and not cutting it off short. My neighbor has a very small lawn and he has a company come in to treat it during the growing season to keep it lush and free of weeds, and then he practically scalps it off when mowing. When dry weather arrives he puts out sprinklers to make it grow and then he scalps it off again...makes no sense to me.

 

[LMan1967]

I may be a minority when it comes to blade sharpening but I never let a grinder of any type near my blades, because I think no matter how careful one is, a grinder is going to heat up the metal to some degree and cause the blade will lose it's temper. I have nothing but praise for the Oregon brand Gator Mulching blades, they appear (at least in my situation) to be superior in hardness to even the much more expensive JD blades.

These are the blades I got this time, after the stock blades crapped out on me. Same thing happened.

I took a cpl of pics of the blades this weekend. As soon as I figure out how to transfer them I'll post.

 

[JDgreen227]

These are the blades I got this time, after the stock blades crapped out on me. Same thing happened.

I took a cpl of pics of the blades this weekend. As soon as I figure out how to transfer them I'll post.

JEEZE !!! That sand you are mowing on must be super. super abrasive !!! The attachment shows a pair of my OEM 7-Iron blades, they had gone thru 7 or 8 mowing seasons of at least 60 hours each at the point you see them. This is how they looked when I replaced them early last year. The Gators have required only one minor edge touch up with a file early this year Oand they have gone at least 130-140 hours of mowing.

Oh CRUD....I feel kinda dumb because I forgot to ask if you guys with the fast blade wear are using mower decks that are mulcher or recycling type...and if it's the case that would explain a good part of the fast wear as the grit stays in the deck a longer time compared to mine which spits most of the clippings out uncut....changing over to the Gator blades reduced windrowing and the time I used to spend raking clippings by at least 90%.

 

[aczlan]

The OEM 7-Iron deck blades on my Deere lasted 8 mowing seasons (about 75 mowing hours per season) with only minor touch ups to the cutting edges every year and when I replaced them with Gator blades two years ago they (OEM) were still reasonably decent and could have been resharpened and used. Much of the 5 acres of yard here are rough weeds and my ATV trails that I cut are full of grapevines, etc. but after 2 years the Gator blades still look almost new and there is no erosion anyplace. LMan1967 says he only goes 25-30 hours a season...I am amazed any blade can be that worn down so quickly but I don't have any sand.

+1 on the Gator blades. They are MUCH heavier and in my experience last much longer.
For fun, go to OREGON brand Lawn Mower Blades and look up the blade thickness for different blades.
Thicker blades will weigh more which helps the mower not bog down as much in thick stuff.

Aaron Z

 

[LD1]

+1 on the Gator blades. They are MUCH heavier and in my experience last much longer.
For fun, go to OREGON brand Lawn Mower Blades and look up the blade thickness for different blades.
Thicker blades will weigh more which helps the mower not bog down as much in thick stuff.

Aaron Z

If you get gators, get the magnums. Those are the heavier ones that are thicker and a bit wider also. Last time I bought a set, I also got the G6?? coating. Supposed to have like carbide imbeded in the steel where the cutting edge is. Time will tell if they are better, but they werent much more $$

 

[LMan1967]

JEEZE !!! That sand you are mowing on must be super. super abrasive !!! The attachment shows a pair of my OEM 7-Iron blades, they had gone thru 7 or 8 mowing seasons of at least 60 hours each at the point you see them. This is how they looked when I replaced them early last year. The Gators have required only one minor edge touch up with a file early this year Oand they have gone at least 130-140 hours of mowing.

I wish my blades looked that good

I'll post the pics tonight.

I dunno about mulching, its a standard Hustler Fastrak 54" mower. Nothing fancy. Only cut about 30 hours this season and they are toast.

 

[LMan1967]

pics of my blade ends

 

[Creamer]

Mower blades have become a big liability. Think about it - how much would it cost to buy the steel, form it, heat treat it, and grind it if you wee doing them by the thousands. The actual cost of the blade is negligible compared to the cost of the insurance. Lawn mowers used to have blades that were fully hardened at the tips but these are brittle if you hit a rock or something. Consequently blade manufacturers have taken to hardening just the cutting edge so you can only get 2-3 light sharpenings and stay in the hardened zone. The trick is to re-harden these edges as you grind them back. It is really quite simple if you have an Oxy-acetylene torch. Just heat the edge of the blade up until it is a dull cherry red color and dunk it in water. The rest of the blade will not get hardened as long as you heat only the edge and do it quickly. If you heat it too slowly you get the rest of the blade hot and then you can create a brittleness situation.

Steel basically does not harden unless it gets hot enough to be in the red range. There is no reason not to use a grinder on a blade as long as you keep it moving. You should not let the blade get red and keep cooling it while you are sharpening by dunking it in water a time or two. you can tell if the blade is hard if the grinder is putting out little sparks. If it is putting out big sparks the blade is soft.

 

[JDgreen227]

pics of my blade ends

Those look really bad...must play h*** with the blade balance when that occurs.

 

[Gary Fowler]

JEEZE !!! That sand you are mowing on must be super. super abrasive !!! The attachment shows a pair of my OEM 7-Iron blades, they had gone thru 7 or 8 mowing seasons of at least 60 hours each at the point you see them. This is how they looked when I replaced them early last year. The Gators have required only one minor edge touch up with a file early this year Oand they have gone at least 130-140 hours of mowing.

Oh CRUD....I feel kinda dumb because I forgot to ask if you guys with the fast blade wear are using mower decks that are mulcher or recycling type...and if it's the case that would explain a good part of the fast wear as the grit stays in the deck a longer time compared to mine which spits most of the clippings out uncut....changing over to the Gator blades reduced windrowing and the time I used to spend raking clippings by at least 90%.

Why on earth would you replace a blade that looks like new? A quick touch up on the edge and it would be ready for mowing. Heck they arent even dull enough to require sharpening yet. At over $20 per blade for my mower (x3) I use it till it wears out the lift tabs.