Are mulching blades about the same?

Rivets said:
In my opinion doubling up blades is a DYI guys stupid idea. What can go wrong? Can’t properly tighten blades, may come loose. Destroying the spindles. Not made for two blades. Safety, may destroy the deck or blades go flying. Don’t even give that idea another thought, you’re asking for trouble. Who ever posted that or is thinking about do it, should have a frontal lobotomy ASAP, and should loose his manhood.
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And that’s all it is, your opinion! If you’ve never personally tried double blades, you really don’t know what you’re talking about, do you? I was skeptical, too, but now I’ve been running the Ballard X-Blade system for two years with no problems whatsoever, and a much better cut at higher speeds than single blades. I don’t mulch, though.
 
Rivets said:
Most mulching setups don’t discharge the clippings, as the good ones have closed decks when mulching, so the clippings are cut multiple times before dropping straight down. Toro and Honda have the best setups, with blades that lift and decks that provide room for the clippings to be chopped into small pieces. To properly mulch you must keep your blade sharp and deck clean.
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I have the Toro kit (on my Toro ;);)) and it provides a very level, clean cut.
 
SJMaye said:
I have had my Ariens Max Zoom 60 for about 6 years. I installed the OEM mulching kit on it about 5 years ago and have loved it. It is time to buy new blades. The OEM mulching blades have done a pretty good job, but thought I would ask the experts if there is something better. My father in law swears by the Gator Blades, but I have read that high lift blades are not good to use if you have a mulching kit.

Can someone comment on their experiences?
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Are mulching blades designed to be used with a grass catcher that's mounted on the back for the mower?
 
You have found the the Ballard system works for you. That is great, but you missed the point of this thread and why I posted what I did. The OP asking for an opinion on whether to change the style of blades on his Ariens units, to which I posted that if you like the cut with what you have don’t change. Then the thread turned to why mulch and if it really does any good. At this point the thread took a left turn and someone said their research indicated that you can convert to a two blade system. Having worked on units for 50+years my opinion still stands, unless you have unit designed for two blades, do you want to stick $$$ and time into an experiment? I never recommend doing that unless you can cover the cost of the experiment if something goes wrong.
 
I agree, mulching is not for grass. I have a mulching kit with mulching blades but it is only used after the last mow of the summer. I only mulch the leaves that end up on the yard. It does a very good job of making those leaves disappear.
 
SJMaye said:
I have had my Ariens Max Zoom 60 for about 6 years. I installed the OEM mulching kit on it about 5 years ago and have loved it. It is time to buy new blades. The OEM mulching blades have done a pretty good job, but thought I would ask the experts if there is something better. My father in law swears by the Gator Blades, but I have read that high lift blades are not good to use if you have a mulching kit.

Can someone comment on their experiences?
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Look at Rotary Copperhead Mulching Blades. (similar to Gators, but the little fins go out rather than in) I've also got the wavy blades... they suck. If you gave me a set I'd still not use them. If you really want to a good mulch, get the these blades and Ballard X-Blade Dual Mulching Blade Adapters. No matter what blade you get, sharpen them and keep them sharp. Yea, it matters. And I'm NOT a fan of mulching kits. They only fairly work if you aren't cutting much. But yea, some people swear buy them, others swear at them. Now I will say the bagging kits manufactures sell come with ultra high lift blade for the bag side. I tend to think that one blade cuts a little nicer than the other two standard/ mid lift. LOL
 
I have an old 48" Scag walk behind with side discharge that I use to mow my yard. I put Gator mulching blades on it to help with leaves this time of year. I don't have a mulching kit on it, just the blades. I still put the bag on, and it gets full, but it is obviously chopping up stuff more and leaving it on the ground, which reduces the number of times I have to empty the bag compared to mowing up leaves with high lift blades on. I'm happy with the arrangement for my own yard, but I've got a bunch of big leaf maples, so there's an obvious mess of mulched leaves left behind. I don't know if many customers would be happy with the mulched stuff that's left on the ground if they were paying me to mow their yard.
I have noticed that the Gator's are much heavier, and when I engage the PTO there's a much more noticeable strain to get the blades spinning. I don't know what issues that will give me down the road in terms of parts wearing out faster. Hopefully it's just the belt. I've also noticed a lot more fine particles of stuff getting packed up under my deck with mulching blades on, so I've got to spray underneath every time I mow. I didn't have to do that with the high lift.
If you ever watch any Project Farm videos, he's done a comparison of mulching blades. You can find it HERE
 
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