Counter Rotating mower deck. Blades discontinued?

Hey all. I have an old beast of a craftsman that I just bought from a buddy. Mower model number 502 255752. I plan to use this at my camp in Rhode Island. I went to pull the blades off to sharpen them and I noticed the wear pattern that I remember from when I put a blade on upside down once on a push mower. Long story short, one of the blades is rotating backwards. This is a counter-rotating deck with a center rear dishcharge. (actually the same basic idea as my walker that I use at home) So I go to buy new blades. All the same as what I have. There is no blade for the left side of the deck. I enter my model into Sears website, ereplacement parts website, and just basic google search and the same result. Blade part #90878HT is not available. I cant be the first person with this problem. This beast is old and I like it. I wanted an older unit in good shape because they were just built better. Everything is steel. Since my camp is on an island and I have to somehow get this thing in my boat, I wanted something that will last for a while. Do y'all have any advice for me?

basketcase said:

Hey all. I have an old beast of a craftsman that I just bought from a buddy. Mower model number 502 255752. I plan to use this at my camp in Rhode Island. I went to pull the blades off to sharpen them and I noticed the wear pattern that I remember from when I put a blade on upside down once on a push mower. Long story short, one of the blades is rotating backwards. This is a counter-rotating deck with a center rear dishcharge. (actually the same basic idea as my walker that I use at home) So I go to buy new blades. All the same as what I have. There is no blade for the left side of the deck. I enter my model into Sears website, ereplacement parts website, and just basic google search and the same result. Blade part #90878HT is not available. I cant be the first person with this problem. This beast is old and I like it. I wanted an older unit in good shape because they were just built better. Everything is steel. Since my camp is on an island and I have to somehow get this thing in my boat, I wanted something that will last for a while. Do y'all have any advice for me?

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Having a welding shop hard face the cutting edge may be one possibility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardfacing

I think you will find Stens & Rotary do after market blades for them.
Measure the blades tip to tip diagonally then use the "Blade by length" tables to find our blade.
Otherwise take a nice clear photo of it and post that along with the length width thickness and size of the center hole.
When new a lot of machines have several blade options * High lift / mulch/ bag/ throw /heavy duty / sand etc etc etc.

just using the part number of one of the variations will not pull up the others.

I've tried ...
Here's a look-see .....http://www.vbelts4less.com/Sears-Roper-AYP-Blades_c_1254.html

http://www.agrisupply.com/mower-bla...6&sid=google&gclid=CIK_9bvxl9MCFYk8gQodD98CYQ

http://www.mowergraveyard.com/.....................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkr90AmIg_4 ..may try here ..look em up on line ...they also have NOS parts Avail.

Boobala said:

I've tried ...
Here's a look-see .....http://www.vbelts4less.com/Sears-Roper-AYP-Blades_c_1254.html

http://www.agrisupply.com/mower-bla...6&sid=google&gclid=CIK_9bvxl9MCFYk8gQodD98CYQ

http://www.mowergraveyard.com/.....................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkr90AmIg_4 ..may try here ..look em up on line ...they also have NOS parts Avail.

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That is a Murray deck so you are looking for a Murray blade.
As previously mentioned without the blade size we are just pissing into the wind.
We got a lot of mowers down here from all over the world, sold under local brands so finding blades for obsolete brands is never as easy as googling a part number.
I regularly have to find a different blade and adapt it to fit either by trimming a longer one to fit or modifing the mounting to fit the mower.
My after market catalogue lists 480 blades , BY LENGTH & MOUNTING not by brand
You might like to troll through this list http://www.stens.com/stens/pdf/quick-ref/Blade%20Size%20Chart.pdf

Thanks for the information guys. I found a listing for the blade (as a murray blade, same part number) and it listed the specifications. This is the description "Genuine Murray 90878E701MA Blade R-90878 90878 090878E701 C. H. DIA: 7/8" x 1-5/8" Diamond LENGTH: 21" THICKNESS: 1/8" WIDTH: 2-1/4". I don't know if this is enough to go by. Most important in this blade is the rotation direction. I'll do some measuring of what I have and keep looking. Thanks for the leads!

So contact the suppler and ask if it is a left or right hand cut.
If you found it on the Stens page, go to the catalogue and put the number in then hit "more Details"
Usually it will give you a full run down of the blade including the direction of the cut and if you are lucky a list of all the mowers it fits although they cull the list when the mowers get a little long in the tooth.
If worst comes to worst you can always cut the ends off the worn blades, get a hole drilled in the end and fit swing back blades imported from Canada or anywhere else in the world.
Swing backs were banned in the USA to prevent European & Australian push mowers being sold in the USA.

Stens has nothing to offer me. The only blades they offer that rotate the "wrong" way are walker blades and I already took a spare blade from my walker and tried to fit it. Problem is the offset. The walker blade sticks out the bottom of the deck about an inch.

I kinda like the idea of the swing back blades actually. I will be using this to mow a field that isn't grass but isn't quite brush either. I will also use it for grass. I have two questions about the swing black blades. Do we think they will work well for a deck that counter rotates? Do they cut grass well? How well do they throw grass? It seems like it would be super easy to make a set of swing back blades. The conversion kits are pretty pricey. I think I'd like to look into this option more.

basketcase said:

Stens has nothing to offer me. The only blades they offer that rotate the "wrong" way are walker blades and I already took a spare blade from my walker and tried to fit it. Problem is the offset. The walker blade sticks out the bottom of the deck about an inch.

I kinda like the idea of the swing back blades actually. I will be using this to mow a field that isn't grass but isn't quite brush either. I will also use it for grass. I have two questions about the swing black blades. Do we think they will work well for a deck that counter rotates? Do they cut grass well? How well do they throw grass? It seems like it would be super easy to make a set of swing back blades. The conversion kits are pretty pricey. I think I'd like to look into this option more.

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They cut better because they are finer.
Because they are finer the wear out faster but because they are tiny they cost less.
Down here most push mowers have swing backs and both of the locally made ride ons run swing backs,
Greenfields are mostly left hand cut and Cox are mostly right hand cut.
These should be available from Canada.

We can also get a blade holder for AYP mowers to fit swing backs to them
You do not need to fit the same type of blade to both spindles so you could use two different brands, however the individual sides must be balanced left right.
Greenields blades are available as identical sets left hand cut & right hand cut in both flat & high left.
I can send you some if worst comes to worst.
Stens down here carry them 900-093P ( right ) and 900-083P ( Left ) so your local Stens stockist should be able to order them in for you but they will have to come in from Aust so it will take 3 weeks
Bar blades are boron steel so work harden thus you will need a carbide drill and a die grinder to fit these as they have D shaped bolts, which are included in the blade sets .

That's great info. Thank you. I'm going to call them and see if they can order them in. Do you have a part number of the blade holders? My shaft basically is shaped like <O>. I'm not sure what they call it. I'm sure I can make something out of flat bar steel if I have to, but it would just be easier to buy them pre made if they are available. Thanks for the help. I really like the swingback blade idea.