How do you detect when mower blades need sharpening ?
- Thread starter MowerMark
- Start date
Ric
Lawn Pro
Oregon is who makes the Gator Blades and yes you can but the blades from them. You can also buy them in dozens of places online. Here's just three links. I assume your talking about the 21" I really don't know why anyone would say they don't make the blades.
Amazon.com : Oregon Gator Mulcher 3-N-1 Blade For 21-Inch Honda Lawn Mowers 90-651 : Patio, Lawn & Garden
Oregon 20-7/8" Gator Mulcher G3 Mower Blade 7/8" Center Hole (90-651) For Honda | 20 Thru 23 Inch | Honda | www.baileysonline.com
Oregon Gator Mulcher™ Mower Blade — 21in. Cut, Honda | Mower Accessories| Northern Tool + Equipment
Ric
Lawn Pro
I don't know what Honda you have but I'd be willing to bet you can get a Gator Blade for it. I would assume Honda uses the same blade adapter or mount on most all there mowers, seems like there all a three bolt pattern aren't they at least everyone I've used over the years have been the same.
Ric
Lawn Pro
I don't know what other information I could give you about those places other than I've done business with Amazon and Northern Tool and both are reasonable fast on there shipping. I order a lot of stuff through Amazon and you can frequently get free shipping so it makes it a little cheaper with out that cost. The blade at the bottom is off the Oregon site with there part number. Your Blade will probably be the G3
Honda Gator Blades
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I change blades as soon as I see nicks sitting on the blades. But its should be a little obvious when your mower's blade is already blunt. Do a test and start mowing in a certain area. Check some cut grass and analyse if they were mowed finely. When you see a thread-like thing sticking out of the grass (vascular tissue), that's the time you need to sharpen or replace the blade.
I don't know what kind of machine is the best thing to use for sharpening, you just ask the shop where you bought your mower from about blades.
MowerMark
Well-Known Member
Home Depot ? No way. I've used a $10 handheld sharpener. Just three strokes and the blade is sharper.
bertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
Just to clear things up a little.
gator only make bar blades, not swing back blades.
So if you are talking about a push mower, no there are no gators available.
Down here the local aftermarket suppliers do thicker blades for commercial honda push mowers .
Domestically swing back blades should be changed every season around 50 hours.
If you have rough lawns with gravel and / lots of sticks you don't bother the clear away first then you will need to change/ sharpen your blades a lot sooner.
Swing back blades are only 2 mm thick so you will not notice if they are blunt unless you ae mowing a really fine lawn.
A blunt blade will leave a cut in the grass that looks the same as a weed whacker.
If you sharpen swing back blades they should be balanced to within 6 gram and ideally within 2 gram so they need to be done on a wet stone or with a diamond hone.
For the price of new blades, it is not economic for me to do it as labour ends up twice the replacement cost & my insurance company will not cover me for sharpened blades unless done with a sharpening tool that costs hundreds of dollars.
If you want to do it at home then you will need a couple of sets unless you run a hone over them every time you mow.
Blade bolts should always get replaced. some types are safe to reuse, some are not, most are held on with nylock nuts which are single use only.
Bar blades should never be used with push mowers.
Bar blades are a different animal and do need to be sharpened regularly in order to make a clean cut at a reasonable speed.
My commercial customers usually sharpen every week as part of routine maintenance .
Domestically that would be about once a season most home owners do around 50 hours a season.
Generally very few , except commercial mowerers sharpen blades which is why mowers now run engines 2 to 3 times bigger than needed so the motor has enough grunt to smash grass apart with a 1/4" thick lump of round edged steel that once upon a time was a sharp blade.
gator only make bar blades, not swing back blades.
So if you are talking about a push mower, no there are no gators available.
Down here the local aftermarket suppliers do thicker blades for commercial honda push mowers .
Domestically swing back blades should be changed every season around 50 hours.
If you have rough lawns with gravel and / lots of sticks you don't bother the clear away first then you will need to change/ sharpen your blades a lot sooner.
Swing back blades are only 2 mm thick so you will not notice if they are blunt unless you ae mowing a really fine lawn.
A blunt blade will leave a cut in the grass that looks the same as a weed whacker.
If you sharpen swing back blades they should be balanced to within 6 gram and ideally within 2 gram so they need to be done on a wet stone or with a diamond hone.
For the price of new blades, it is not economic for me to do it as labour ends up twice the replacement cost & my insurance company will not cover me for sharpened blades unless done with a sharpening tool that costs hundreds of dollars.
If you want to do it at home then you will need a couple of sets unless you run a hone over them every time you mow.
Blade bolts should always get replaced. some types are safe to reuse, some are not, most are held on with nylock nuts which are single use only.
Bar blades should never be used with push mowers.
Bar blades are a different animal and do need to be sharpened regularly in order to make a clean cut at a reasonable speed.
My commercial customers usually sharpen every week as part of routine maintenance .
Domestically that would be about once a season most home owners do around 50 hours a season.
Generally very few , except commercial mowerers sharpen blades which is why mowers now run engines 2 to 3 times bigger than needed so the motor has enough grunt to smash grass apart with a 1/4" thick lump of round edged steel that once upon a time was a sharp blade.
