Users of Oregon "Gator" type blades... any contact/impact problems???

Jinzo Ningen · Aug 28, 2013

Since buying my used '97 721D a few years ago, I have experimented with the various styles of blades. It came with a set of mid-lift blades and I wasn't too impressed. I tried low/contour and hi-lift blades and again... OK, but nothing to rave about. This season I picked up a set of the fingered "gator" blades made by Oregon. Man! these suckers are like twice as thick of the ones I had previously. The cut quality is very, very nice. I can cut full throttle, wide-open in even thick or wet grass and it snips them like a scalpel. My only gripe is that the middle & discharge side blades were hitting each other. They were the proper model/length, but every once in a while they'd hit and it was scary and noisy! I ended up removing the right/discharge end blade and took about a millimeter off each end. Once I had it oh-so-slightly shortened (and balanced) I re-installed and the occasional knocking disappeared.

I have a 72" deck. Anyone else have similar troubles on their decks with this style blade? I just found it odd that the recommended blades would do that?!? It could cause a potential deck damage and/or someone getting very seriously hurt should one or more blades fracture or shatter while engaged!

djdicetn · Aug 29, 2013

Jinzo Ningen said:
Since buying my used '97 721D a few years ago, I have experimented with the various styles of blades. It came with a set of mid-lift blades and I wasn't too impressed. I tried low/contour and hi-lift blades and again... OK, but nothing to rave about. This season I picked up a set of the fingered "gator" blades made by Oregon. Man! these suckers are like twice as thick of the ones I had previously. The cut quality is very, very nice. I can cut full throttle, wide-open in even thick or wet grass and it snips them like a scalpel. My only gripe is that the middle & discharge side blades were hitting each other. They were the proper model/length, but every once in a while they'd hit and it was scary and noisy! I ended up removing the right/discharge end blade and took about a millimeter off each end. Once I had it oh-so-slightly shortened (and balanced) I re-installed and the occasional knocking disappeared.

I have a 72" deck. Anyone else have similar troubles on their decks with this style blade? I just found it odd that the recommended blades would do that?!? It could cause a potential deck damage and/or someone getting very seriously hurt should one or more blades fracture or shatter while engaged!

WOW...most high-quality decks inherently have a 1-2" "blade cut overlap" for a professional looking cut, but the blades/spindles are "offset" in front of/behind each other in the deck placement to avoid the blades ever "touching one another". Did you actually "measure the entire length" of the Gator blades and compare that to the "entire length" of the OEM blades????? My guess is that there was an ever-so-slightly longer length on the Gator blades or otherwise your OEM blades would have done the same thing(regardless of whether their design was hi-lift, 3-in-1, etc.).

Jinzo Ningen · Aug 29, 2013

Honestly, I didn't even think to measure, but I have a brand-new spare set of the Gators in the garage. I don't have new OEM blades, but i do have the last set of hi-lifts, so I will try and remember to check out the overall length and compare.

Users of Oregon "Gator" type blades... any contact/impact problems???

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Jinzo Ningen

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djdicetn

Lawn Addict

Jinzo Ningen

Well-Known Member

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