JD Gator blades...very disappointed with cutting performance

[Giles]

I am well aware of those unfortinate people, especially Tuscaloosa Alabama which is about 125 miles from me. My immediate area was spared but we had distruction all around. Just last night, 70MPH straight winds and at least 3 inches of rain and the power was off 15 hours. Limbs and twigs all over property, but no major damage:smile:
However--I certanilly feel blessed that we have been spared--so far:thumbsup:

 

[txzrider]

I have been reading this thread since I believe the blades that came in the mulching kit for my country clipper are gator blades. However one comment I will make is, I have never seen a mulching kit for any of the mowers I have purchased not include the baffle! Both my snappers came with a baffle to replace the chute, the country clipper as well. In the case of the country clipper, it has a end cap and a baffle. Below is a picture of my new gator type blade installed.

and here is a picture of the deck, the deck is baffled, however I did not take a picture of the deck with the chute removed and the endcap and baffle in place. The new baffle fills in the circle so to speak on the left side where the chute was and then has an endcap that ties it all together.

the biggest reason I bought this mower was the ability to slide the deck out from under it and make easy blade changes. So far it has exceeded my expectations.

 

[Bison]

My 4210 with 60-inch 7-Iron MMM has always done poorly at chopping grass clippings up, even with very sharp blades. Posted my issue on TBN, and some members there advised me to buy JD Gator blades, or a comparable Oregon blade, telling me clippings would be much finer. Well, after the first 30 mowing hours this year, mostly with wet or damp grass, using a set of sharp OEM JD blades, I removed the OEM set, powerwashed off about 20 pounds of grass build up on the deck, and installed the Gator blades.

Result is...almost no improvement in cutting up dry grass, maybe 10-15% reduction in clipping size....and NO IMPROVEMENT in cutting high and/or wet grass at all. I had hoped to reduce all the raking I have to do of grass clippings, because it takes several hours per week alone to rake everything up. No matter how often I chop up the clippings, they will not break down and leave unsightly windrows all over my lawn.

No matter how high I cut the grass, or if I just do half a deck width at a time, and even running the engine at PTO speed (2600 rpm) while mowing....NO IMPROVEMENT.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Graze it:wink:

 

[BKBrown]

Originally Posted by JDgreen
My 4210 with 60-inch 7-Iron MMM has always done poorly at chopping grass clippings up, even with very sharp blades. Posted my issue on TBN, and some members there advised me to buy JD Gator blades, or a comparable Oregon blade, telling me clippings would be much finer. Well, after the first 30 mowing hours this year, mostly with wet or damp grass, using a set of sharp OEM JD blades, I removed the OEM set, powerwashed off about 20 pounds of grass build up on the deck, and installed the Gator blades.

Result is...almost no improvement in cutting up dry grass, maybe 10-15% reduction in clipping size....and NO IMPROVEMENT in cutting high and/or wet grass at all. I had hoped to reduce all the raking I have to do of grass clippings, because it takes several hours per week alone to rake everything up. No matter how often I chop up the clippings, they will not break down and leave unsightly windrows all over my lawn.

No matter how high I cut the grass, or if I just do half a deck width at a time, and even running the engine at PTO speed (2600 rpm) while mowing....NO IMPROVEMENT.

Any ideas? Thanks."

Meg-Mo Systems - Lawn Mower Blades, Replacement Mower Blades, Sharpen Lawn Mower Blades, Mulch Grass -- Just in case you haven't checked them out yet JD !

 

[BKBrown]

Oregon also makes what they call an "Exmark Mulching Blade" that has an upper and lower cutting edge on each blade. They work well, but (I found out the hard way ) they will bend if you hit anything and I have not found out a way to get them bent back straight again. They do come in different sizes so Exmark is not the only machine they will fit.

 

[Parkmower]

<img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6186"/> they will bend if you hit anything and I have not found out a way to get them bent back straight again. They do come in different sizes so Exmark is not the only machine they will fit.

Lol yeah any blade will bend if you hit something hard enough. And once it's bent more than 1/4" it's done.

 

[BKBrown]

Lol yeah any blade will bend if you hit something hard enough. And once it's bent more than 1/4" it's done.

I know that any blade will bend - The Meg-Mo knives fold back like Bush Hog blades and when I think there might be something that may be in the area I plan to mow I use them, but I was mowing a neighbor's lawn where there are usually no problems and hit a SMALL rock with the Exmark Mulching Blade - it bent enough to score the bottom of my new deck with the corner of the lift section.

Any other blades I have used would probably have nicked and dulled the blade, but not bent it severely like that.