2 or 3 blades?

I've got a Craftsman 46" mower but it's made by Husqvarna.



So I found these mulching blades:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stens-340-0...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Ordinarily I'd contact to contact the seller but Ebay says "due to high volume of questions, they are not taking questions" or something. But they are cheaper than the ones I bought last spring and made by Stens so I figured I'd buy these.

The thing is, not only does this listing say my mower takes 3 blades so does another listing. My 46" mower takes 2 blades. The easiest thing to do is just measure the length of the blade and if it's 15" then I know it's the same blade.

The question is, are these some 46" decks that require three blades? That doesn't make sense. I'm confused.

I've got to be more careful mowing my yard. I pick up rocks, large sticks and other stuff my daughter throws out in the yard but the other day I ran off my driveway at the bottom of my driveway and bent the end of one of my new mulching blades I installed this spring along with a new spindle. So after the loud noise, the right hand blade started scalping my yard a bit.

So I pulled both blades off and laid them on top of each other and sure enough the right hand blade was bent downward about an inch. I managed to straighten it out in my bench vice and got it close enough to the other blade and went on a test mow. I can't tell that it's scalping the yard but I thought I'd order some new blades and keep them on hand.

I felt around the bottom of the spindles and can't tell that I've cracked another one. Hopefully.

Just curious about the # of blades required for mowers with 46" decks.

Older Husqvarna, poulan, craftsman, mtd mowers took 3 blades for 46", but the new mowers in about the last 5 years have went to a 46" 2 blade system. You need to make sure you are looking at the correct part number

My former 2008 craftsman (by Husqvarna) was a 2 BLADE 46 inch mower. Each blade measured 23 inches, & it was always a challenge to perfectly balance them.

Not to mention the spindles I replaced.

All down to tight arse purchasers.
To make them cheap enough for people to buy corners have to be cut.
A lot cheaper to put in 2 big blades than 3 small blades.
Two big blades will smash up spindle a lot easier, get bent a lot easier bugger more belts so the makers will make a lot more from you in parts.
No such thing as a free lunch.
If it gets cheaper each year then the quality goes down every year.
That s why I can easily get $ 1000 ( Aust ) for a 30 year old mower but no one wants to pay $ 500 for a 10 year old mower.
If people want cheap, cheap is what they will get ,
And as my grandfather & father used to say "He who buys cheap pays thrice"

ILENGINE said:

Older Husqvarna, poulan, craftsman, mtd mowers took 3 blades for 46", but the new mowers in about the last 5 years have went to a 46" 2 blade system. You need to make sure you are looking at the correct part number

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I just looked up Husqvarna 46" mulching blades and that was what popped up. I was also confused that the blades were 15" and mine were more like 23". So I'm probably not looking at the correct part. My mower was made around 2010.

My previous mower was a 2000 33" Snapper with single blade. I don't abuse my mowers but I'm sure everyone at some time or another has hit something (rock hidden in grass for example) unexpectedly and warped a blade. Despite the fact by 2000, the build quality of Snappers were horrible. But I never bent or boogered up the blade on that thing.

turbofiat124 said:

I just looked up Husqvarna 46" mulching blades and that was what popped up. I was also confused that the blades were 15" and mine were more like 23". So I'm probably not looking at the correct part. My mower was made around 2010.

My previous mower was a 2000 33" Snapper with single blade. I don't abuse my mowers but I'm sure everyone at some time or another has hit something (rock hidden in grass for example) unexpectedly and warped a blade. Despite the fact by 2000, the build quality of Snappers were horrible. But I never bent or boogered up the blade on that thing.

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They may have changed back longer than I can remember, Been working on them too long to keep track of time. You can look up the model number on the Husqvarna site and find the correct part number of your blades. Also if your look closely the part number of the blade is stamped into the blade itself. I am thinking you have part number 532405380 or 405380 for short.

When I sold off my craftsman 46" two blade mower. I gave EVERYTHING to the buyer. Sorry I can't help on any part #'s.

But as previously posted by ILENGINE the blades you currently have, should have part #'s stamped into them.

In the meantime I straightened the end of the bent blade in my bench vice and got it close to the other one. It cuts better but I can still tell it's not mowing perfectly level. I think I found what I need:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-6-Se...hash=item5443b62d54:m:mqHpWu0Jr34Dy4lBbS86dhw

I don't need 6 of them but at $10 a pop, they are not a bad price. I may just look for a set in the meantime.

I know what bent it, I ran off my driveway and heard a loud scrap. I need to be more carefully mowing my yard!

Blades are measured diagonally from cutting tip to cutting tip
So check the length of your blade and that is what you need.
The 3 blade decks some in two forms, 3 equal sized blades and two long + one short at the front

Having a spare set of blades is good because you have a sharp set sitting on the shelf to put on then you can sharpen the dull ones at night when you can not mow.
Running with even a slightly bent blade can do a lot of damage to the spindles and even crack the deck.

The Stens on line cattledog has a table of blades by length with the widths , thickness & center hole.
Once you find what looks like the correct blades, search the Stens part number, hit the More button and it will bring up a list of OEM part numbers for those blades.