Blade Wear Seems Odd ???
- Thread starter OldDiyer
- Start date
fanboy0199
Forum Newbie
My craftsman had the same blades and they always cut horrible. Get some gator blades. Night and day difference. Is your tractor a 42” cut?
GentlemanFahmah
Active Member
They look fine to me. As pointed out, the blades are mulching blades only the outer tip makes first cut/contact with grass and the rest is designed to chip into finer bits.
With that said, I moved to using Oregon Longer Life 596-900 Gator Fusion G5 3-In-1 Mulching Blades on my Craftsman tractors (and all mowers) and they make a huge difference in both cutting and mulching. They are significantly heavier and spin up more slowly when engaged but once they spinning, the are fantastic. I highly support them with one caveat: many folks complain about vibration with the larger and heavier blade, but to me, it's not a big deal. I've been running them for 3-4 years and mandrels on both of the Craftsman tractors are fine and show no signs of problems from heavier blade, but, they do take longer to brake to a stop when disengaged - again due to the much larger mass.
With that said, I moved to using Oregon Longer Life 596-900 Gator Fusion G5 3-In-1 Mulching Blades on my Craftsman tractors (and all mowers) and they make a huge difference in both cutting and mulching. They are significantly heavier and spin up more slowly when engaged but once they spinning, the are fantastic. I highly support them with one caveat: many folks complain about vibration with the larger and heavier blade, but to me, it's not a big deal. I've been running them for 3-4 years and mandrels on both of the Craftsman tractors are fine and show no signs of problems from heavier blade, but, they do take longer to brake to a stop when disengaged - again due to the much larger mass.
Tommy Mckeown
Member
Simple geometry will prove that the blade tip's speed is roughly 3x that of the area where the paint is still showing. Yes it's hitting the grass that much faster and with that much more force to take the paint off.
Craftsman vented decks cut best at lower settings. As cut height increases cut quality decreases. As mentioned blade speed is set with throttle lever in the notch and is designed to cut at that rpm. You can control the ground speed. Slow'n the ground speed can increase cut quality. Make sure the rear deck height is a touch higher than the front. Some grasses just do not cut good. With blade tips together in the center they should be even or a blade thickness off. Your grass will tell ya when it's to much . AYP/Craftsman decks with a three bolt mandrel are week where they mate and can bend when the blade hits something. If the blades are not bent but still not even when they meet in the center ,check for bent deck. Ya usually can see the issue around the mandrel mounting bolts. AYP did make a reinforcement metal ring installed on the deck top before ya put the mandrel bolts in. I use gator blades on a AYP/Craftsman 50 inch deck and the cut is great.
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Gord Baker
Well-Known Member
Blades look normal to me. I never mulch or aerate. Perhaps try cutting a notch lower and increase RPM and ground speed.
In reply to others that posted after my last post, It is a 42in deck and yes it is a challange to get a good cut but has been OK.
I am cutting at 3in blade height because other wise I seem to get alot of burnt grass from the heat. I set this right at the blades as I know that the setting on the tractor does not jive to the right height, the deck is set to 1/8 to 1/4 differance front to rear (rear being high). Do you think that 3in is still to high ?? Another thing is that I don't seem to set the speed at the setting that they have on the throttle lever for cutting just always seems way to high. I do use that higher setting for the snow blower.
And also I do have a set of those heavier blades but those end up on the machine in the fall when we have alot of leaves. I tried them in the summer a few years back but didn't see a big differance in cutting.
I am cutting at 3in blade height because other wise I seem to get alot of burnt grass from the heat. I set this right at the blades as I know that the setting on the tractor does not jive to the right height, the deck is set to 1/8 to 1/4 differance front to rear (rear being high). Do you think that 3in is still to high ?? Another thing is that I don't seem to set the speed at the setting that they have on the throttle lever for cutting just always seems way to high. I do use that higher setting for the snow blower.
And also I do have a set of those heavier blades but those end up on the machine in the fall when we have alot of leaves. I tried them in the summer a few years back but didn't see a big differance in cutting.
Gord Baker
Well-Known Member
That is normal and the shiny area is where the cuttings along with dirt etc hit after the cut is made. Eventually it will actually wear through that area. Blades were correctly installed.