Contacted John Deere directly and they told me to contact a local dealer which I did before that. They really did not answer my question with facts. Just an opinion.
So which is better for cutting? Hi or lo lift? I do know that hi lift is best for bagging. But which is better for basic cutting without bagging. I have a D130 with a 42 inch deck.
X2 High lift blades work better for bagging heavy grass but require more power and are very noisy. Under normal conditions the OEM blades will work just fine.
I just swapped out the high lift blades for standard OEM blades on my X350. When I picked up my machine this spring the dealer installed the high lift blades and bagger as I requested so I could do some spring leaf pickup. While the high lift blades did cut fine they are made to be used with the bagger. I'm glad I changed to the standard blades. The cut is slightly better and the machines is quieter and most likely uses less gas.
I run Gator G-5 high lift mulching blades with an open discharge on my machines most of the time. They have enough lift in most conditions to get a good cut and clippings are small to the point of being almost imperceptible. I don't mind running a 2nd cut at speed over any areas with windrows after the first cut. I double cut most of my front lawns as a matter of course anyway. It just looks better. I've found it to be quicker than bagging.
I'm actually torn right now on whether to put my high lifts on because the heavy spring growth with ample rain is pushing the limits of the G5s, resulting in a poor cut in the really long/lush stuff on some of my accounts. One thing to note is that the end air foil on the G5s wears fairly quickly. I don't think I've ever retired a G5 blade due to the edge being worn out. It's always the air foil.
Edit - BTW, I wouldn't recommend the G5s (and certainly not the thicker G6s) for a machine that's marginally or under powered. It takes a bit to spin them. They got the extra lift out of them by making them wider. They're big/heavy blades.
