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All,

I've spent some time running three different blades on my 54" Fastrak mower, and I wanted to share some comparisons. I believe the Raptor 54" model uses the same blades. I'd be interested in hearing feedback from others who have tried different blades as well. I cut a northern mix lawn at approximately 3.75". I side-discharge, and I'm in search of a perfect, carpet-like cut. Deck is perfectly leveled per the service manual.

Excluding dedicated mulching blades, there are three primary types of blades I've been experimenting with for this mower:

• 797696 - This is the blade that came on the mower. It's listed in Hustler's manual as a high-lift blade, though I would characterize it as medium-lift. It has a moderate air foil with no notch. It's a 2.5" blade.
• 602416 - This blade is not listed in the Hustler parts manual, but it was provided to me by my dealer when I was troubleshooting cut issues. I've seen it described in other Hustler documentation as a "catcher blade", designed for use with grass catcher systems. It is a very high-lift blade, with a high air foil and a notch. It is 3" wide.
• Gator G5 596808 - This is the Gator G5 replacement blade for this mower. It is a 3" wide blade with the typical Hustler G5/G6 design. The air foil is not quite as high as the catcher blade. It has the treated blade edge surface to keep it sharper longer. I believe it's a thinner blade than the G6 (the G6 was not available for this mower when I purchased the G5, I now see that Oregon has a G6 part number), consistent with the thickness of the other two blades I've run (about 0.204").

Starting with the last one first - the Gator G5. I've never been happy running this blade. I've tried under most cutting conditions and found that it doesn't do anything well. It will always leave stringers, and always leave discharge clumps or a discharge trail. I know many are enamored by the Gator G5/G6 blades, but I had not found a situation where I thought it left a good cut. It's a wider and heavier blade, and I believe this saps some power from the FR691V which affects the cut as well (more on this in a minute). For the four years I've had the Raptor/Fastrak mowers, I've run this blade for no more than a couple of weeks. Each time I do, I'm reminded why I stop running it.

This leaves the 797696 (which I will refer to as stock blade) and the 602416 (which I shall call high-lift).

I love the cut of the high-lift blade. It picks up every single blade of grass and never leaves a straggler, under any mowing conditions. It seems to discharge the furthest, though the discharge comes out of the chute like a stream at the front of the chute rather than a spray. Even though it discharges the furthest, it does not necessarily discharge far. Under dry conditions, it rarely clumps or leaves a trail, though it will leave a fair amount of clippings on the row over, usually requiring a double cut. Under wet conditions, it works a little worse than the stock blades with respect to clumping and trails of grass. These blades sound like a jet when operating and really consume fuel - I normally get 3 mows out of a tank of fuel for my 1.5 acres; with these, I'm using what feels like a tank in a single mow. I think the single biggest downfall with these blades it that they do drag more, they are heavier, and they are wider (3") than stock blades. I think this saps a significant amount of power from the FR691V, which reduces some of the benefits of the better cut potential of these blades. I believe these would be the best blades if the engine had a bit more power, or the blades themselves were narrower (2.5") like the stock blades.

I keep coming back to the stock blade as my go-to blade. It will leave a number of stragglers after a single pass, visible when looking at the profile of the lawn from ground level. That said, I almost always double-cut in order to get the look I am seeking (plus, with a weekly mow, my growth is usually so intense that a double cut is typically needed). These blades discharge with more of a fan-line pattern. Discharge can tend to be very close to the side of the deck, especially when the grass is damp, and it will leave more of a distinct trail than the high-lift blade. They can clump on occasion when the grass is damp. I usually come back to these blades when I get frustrated with the fuel consumption after a few weeks. You definitely don't get the same sense of vacuum with the stock blades as you do with the high-lifts. The grass tends to lay over after being cut (unless the cutting conditions are perfectly dry and temps are cool which gives the grass some "spring"), and rarely will they pick up a stick or stone and discharge it.

All that said, I don't think the stock blade is a "perfect" blade by any means, and that's why I continue to switch back and forth between them and the high-lifts. The stock blades do probably give the best balance of cut performance, fuel economy, and discharge within the limitations of the mower (deck design, engine size, etc.). I am planning to try a commercial mower with a big powerplant at some point this season to see how a true pro mower would work for cut quality, likely an Exmark or Scag. I will report back with observations at that time.

I'm interested in hearing others' experience with alternative blades as well.

Some pictures of the high-lift and Gator G5s for reference. No pics of the stock blades because they are on the mower now.

In the Spring, when there is more moisture in the grass, I run high lift blades by XHT. As things get dryer in the summer I switch over to Oregon Gator blades. My SD came with medium lift blades. Never used them. Took them off when I bought the machine and tried the Gator blades, but if the grass has a high moisture content, the Gators pulverized the grass under the deck and the grass build up was substantial. High lifts cut once and blow the grass out 10-15 feet.

Have you tried using the lower lift blades (standard or gator) on the left hand side and middle, and a single high lift blade on the right hand side? It stands to reason that the right hand side blade (where discharge is on the right hand side) does the most work. This might reduce the amount of grass being thrown to the right hand side, reduce fuel consumption and hopefully improve cut quality. The ring around the centre hole in the high lift blade also doesn’t look right.

stevestd said:

Have you tried using the lower lift blades (standard or gator) on the left hand side and middle, and a single high lift blade on the right hand side? It stands to reason that the right hand side blade (where discharge is on the right hand side) does the most work. This might reduce the amount of grass being thrown to the right hand side, reduce fuel consumption and hopefully improve cut quality. The ring around the centre hole in the high lift blade also doesn’t look right.

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I have not tried a combo, I may give that a shot.

The ring around the center hole is just from the build up of grass on the spindle before I removed the blade. That’s where the blade sits on the spindle.

BoylermanCT said:

In the Spring, when there is more moisture in the grass, I run high lift blades by XHT. As things get dryer in the summer I switch over to Oregon Gator blades. My SD came with medium lift blades. Never used them. Took them off when I bought the machine and tried the Gator blades, but if the grass has a high moisture content, the Gators pulverized the grass under the deck and the grass build up was substantial. High lifts cut once and blow the grass out 10-15 feet.

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Do you have a picture of the XHT high lifts against the stock blades that came on your machine? Do you know the part number on your stock blades?

I’m curious because the stock blades from my Fastrak (which were the same as the Raptor I had) are listed as a high lift, though they look to be more medium lift. I’m wondering if the XHTs (or other aftermarket brands) have a higher lift than the stock blades supplied on the machine. I know they are not higher than the catcher blades I’ve been using, but if I can find a lighter (narrower) version of that blade, it might be worth trying.

Thanks.

This weekend I will give a shot to running the stock blades (797696) at left and center, and the high lift blade (602416) on the right/discharge side. This may help balance the performance of both styles of blades. I will report back with my observations.

Thanks for your very interesting work. Will be waiting for the outcome.

Here is a comparison of the stock blades from my RSD, the XHT high lift blades and Oregon G5 blades. The XHT blades are marbain steel which is supposed to be extra tough. I know Scag puts them on all their mowers.

Would you have the part number on the stock and XHT blades? I know the stock ones were stamped with the Hustler/Excel part number. Thanks.

mooch91 said:

This weekend I will give a shot to running the stock blades (797696) at left and center, and the high lift blade (602416) on the right/discharge side. This may help balance the performance of both styles of blades. I will report back with my observations.

Click to expand...

I ran this experiment last night, and nothing negative to report. I was able to single cut the lawn this time (usually I need a double cut to disperse all of the clippings), but this may or may not have been a result of the blade combination.

There were two conditions worth noting as they may have made more of a difference than the blades themselves:

• Cut conditions were near perfect. Only 4 days since my last cut, lawn was completely dry, and atmosphere was dry as well. Temps have been cool at night (50-60) and not too bad during the day (70-80) this past week. Obviously, the mower always does better in these types of conditions.
• I also installed the Hustler striping kit (flap at the back of the deck) before cutting, so the intensity of the stripes produced was greater.

Clippings dispersed very well, no clumping at all, deck was clean when I was done. Still a couple of stragglers on each pass if you get down close to the lawn level to look (I'm on a slight hill, so the stragglers can sometimes be easier to see). Most significantly, like I mentioned earlier, only a single cut was required to get good dispersal.

I'll run this combination for a while and see how it works out. Pictures later, though it's hard to show cut quality comparisons in a picture.

mooch91 said:

I ran this experiment last night, and nothing negative to report. I was able to single cut the lawn this time (usually I need a double cut to disperse all of the clippings), but this may or may not have been a result of the blade combination.

There were two conditions worth noting as they may have made more of a difference than the blades themselves:

• Cut conditions were near perfect. Only 4 days since my last cut, lawn was completely dry, and atmosphere was dry as well. Temps have been cool at night (50-60) and not too bad during the day (70-80) this past week. Obviously, the mower always does better in these types of conditions.
• I also installed the Hustler striping kit (flap at the back of the deck) before cutting, so the intensity of the stripes produced was greater.

Clippings dispersed very well, no clumping at all, deck was clean when I was done. Still a couple of stragglers on each pass if you get down close to the lawn level to look (I'm on a slight hill, so the stragglers can sometimes be easier to see). Most significantly, like I mentioned earlier, only a single cut was required to get good dispersal.

I'll run this combination for a while and see how it works out. Pictures later, though it's hard to show cut quality comparisons in a picture.

Click to expand...

I'm still running this combo, cut with it a few times so far. I did get a distant look at the lawn in the morning following a cut and saw a fair amount of stragglers. It doesn't look worse than cutting with the stock blades, but it also doesn't look any better. Not sure why this mower is having so many issues with stragglers.

I have been able to cut everything in a single pass, but that may be more a function of the time of year (warmer weather, slower growth) than the blade combo.

I may end up going back to the full high-lift set again to see if I can improve the straggler situation.

I have a suggestion that may or may not be acceptable to you and more importantly your neighbors and city hall. Burn that yard off. Cheaper than wear and tear on the mower! lol

I've not run into stragglers other than a certain time of year and not nearly as much as the fella with the Super Z across the street. I mow moving faster than him and that alone should cause more stragglers. He cuts with a 12 mph mower at about 4 mph. I told him I'd loan him my 1996 MTD Yardman because it will move about 5.5 and you can't make it leave a straggler if he is worried about stragglers that badly.

He didn't care for my joke. lol

When you figure this out, I'm looking forward to the resolution you come across.

Good luck!

Max

My Super Z works best for me if I cut lower.
I mow at around 2 1/2".
If I mow at 3" or more and I need to slow way down to get a nice cut.
If I cut less than 2 3/4" I can mow at full speed (14 MPH) and still get a nice cut.

I would simply mow at 14 mph, raise and lower the deck until you get the desired results and hide from the wife if she don't like it. She'll go to sleep eventually.

mhavanti said:

I would simply mow at 14 mph, raise and lower the deck until you get the desired results and hide from the wife if she don't like it. She'll go to sleep eventually.

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I have the deck set on the Super Z where I like it, and I do mow at full speed wherever I can when I'm on it.
I generally mow with the tractor with 84" rear finish mower.
Wife usually runs the zero turn and mows like she's racing a go cart, full speed. That's what I bought if for, to cut my mowing time.
Your neighbor might mow at 4 MPH with his Super Z, but I can tell you that's not how it works here.
I got the Super Z because our FasTrak wasn't fast enough. (not knocking the FasTrak, it was a nice mower, just not big enough, powerful enough or fast enough to suite me for our 8 acres lawn)

Well crap, if you weren't so far away, I'd come up, rent me a duplicate mower and we could have some mower racing. My lil old RSD60 won't run with you, however, one of the days I'll put a set of 5400s on it and possibly a turbo charger which I just made a bid on up here in Branson. I should be able to get at least 150 hp out of the mower if I can keep the rods, pistons, valves, valve springs and seats in the Kawasaki.

This gonna be fun!