Mowing Type of Blades on a Zero Turn?

[RG1]

To be honest, I never paint my decks underneath. I just check them and clean if needed. Like I said, touch up paint for storage if needed, but never during the season.

I use JD Polyeurea grease on all my equipment, ZTR, GT's and CUT's, including FEL.. It is the best stuff I have found so far. It stays soft and pliable even in winter, and doesn't sling off like a lot of greases do.

 

[Hexa Fox]

To be honest, I never paint my decks underneath. I just check them and clean if needed. Like I said, touch up paint for storage if needed, but never during the season.

I use JD Polyeurea grease on all my equipment, ZTR, GT's and CUT's, including FEL.. It is the best stuff I have found so far. It stays soft and pliable even in winter, and doesn't sling off like a lot of greases do.

Thanks RG1. Also do you know that my 24HP Kohler will work well with these G5 Blades? There has been a lot of talk that some blades especially heavier ones do not work well on non-commercial machines.

 

[RG1]

Thanks RG1. Also do you know that my 24HP Kohler will work well with these G5 Blades? There has been a lot of talk that some blades especially heavier ones do not work well on non-commercial machines.

The G6's are the ones that were bogging some machines down. That's the reason Oregon came out with the G5 blade- so that others who couldn't spin the G6's properly could benefit from all the same attributes, but do it with a thinner, lighter blade. I spin a set of G3's which (for my machine at least) have the same exact lift height and cutting edge length as the G5/6 blades, and do it with my 14 HP Kawi in my 24 year old JD 240 w/46" deck with no problem at all. You shouldn't have any issues with the G5's with that engine.

Here's a picture of the G3 under my deck-

 

[Hexa Fox]

The G6's are the ones that were bogging some machines down. That's the reason Oregon came out with the G5 blade- so that others who couldn't spin the G6's properly could benefit from all the same attributes, but do it with a thinner, lighter blade. I spin a set of G3's which (for my machine at least) have the same exact lift height and cutting edge length as the G5/6 blades, and do it with my 14 HP Kawi in my 24 year old JD 240 w/46" deck with no problem at all. You shouldn't have any issues with the G5's with that engine.

Here's a picture of the G3 under my deck-

So the lower they get (G5, G4, G3) the lesser they weigh?

 

[RG1]

Sorta. There is no G4.

The G3 is a 2.5" wide, .208" thick blade. The G5 is a .208" thick, 3" wide blade. the G6 is a .250" thick, 3" wide blade. Both the G5 and G6 have carbide infused into the bottom of the cutting edge. The G3 doesn't. Some G3's have the extended cutting edge, some don't (mine do). All G5 and G6 blades have the fusion treatment and the extended cutting edge.

 

[RG1]

delete. accidental double post

 

[Hexa Fox]

delete. accidental double post

Okay I just ordered some G5's for my Zero Turn. I got them for exactly $50.00 and they were the star pattern with six corners. I just found out that each of these blades are just slightly over one pound heavier than my old ones. Which means I will have roughly three and a half more pounds of blades under my deck. Since I just literally scraped out about twenty pounds of grass with a knife I don't think it will make a lot of difference.

Hey RG1 and anyone else that is interested, do you think that you could make money restoring lawn mower decks and sharpening blades? Because I am thinking about buying a Media Blaster or Needle Gun for my own deck and anything else I feel like using it on. I would imagine that it would be a pretty big hit. I would think that a lot of people would pay good money to have their decks cleaned up really good, repainted, and even other maintenance like blades sharpened. Especially since I know that decks are very expensive. For example if I wanted to buy my 54" deck all ready to go (pulleys, belts, springs, discharge) it would cost me just short of $1,000 somewhere. I would think that I could restore and even buy parts for someone else's deck much, much cheaper than that.

(or)

Do you think that would be a waste of time? Maybe I should just offer to sharpen and balance blades for like $5.00 a blade or something as long as they get them off the deck themselves.

 

[Hexa Fox]

These are the old blades which are in worse shape than I thought. One has about a 1/4" gash right in the cutting edge. So I think they are going to go in my metal collection. Here is the link to the ones that I ordered as well. 598 672 3 Pack Oregon G5 Gator Blades 54" Cub Cadet with Star Hole 742 0677 | eBay

 

[RG1]

I don't think there'll be as much demand for deck repainting or repairing as you might think. At least, not in my area. Most who are concerned enough to have it done, do it themselves, or just buy a new machine.

I have repaired a few now, but over the course of a long time at this, there haven't been many. There's more money and demand by far here in cleaning up an entire tractor/mower and doing a thorough spring maintenance than just for the deck work.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I don't think there'll be as much demand for deck repainting or repairing as you might think. At least, not in my area. Most who are concerned enough to have it done, do it themselves, or just buy a new machine.

I have repaired a few now, but over the course of a long time at this, there haven't been many. There's more money and demand by far here in cleaning up an entire tractor/mower and doing a thorough spring maintenance than just for the deck work.

I just thought there were people concerned about it but did not care because of the work they were going to have to do. It's whatever, I will keep my ears listening and I will ask a couple neighbors and see what they say about it.

Hey RG1 the blades I took off (as you stated) are in pretty bad shape. The worst one by far is pictured below. The gash in it is pretty bad in my opinion. However do you think that when I get the Oregon Grinder and balancer that I could still use it? Take a look when you get a chance and let me know what you think.