lawn mower blades
- Thread starter katkat05
- Start date
tankdriver
Active Member
Depends on how many things you hit.....:laughing:
On mine I check them, but only sharpen them when they need it. I have 2 sets, a high lift set for bagging, and a set of Gator Blades for the other 4 acres. The Gators have a blunt edge to last, and the High Lift are actually hollow ground to a very sharpe edge.
So the high lift get sharpened more than the Gators. Both sets are replaced at the start of the mowing season. I might get them on close outs at the end of the year and save them though.
On mine I check them, but only sharpen them when they need it. I have 2 sets, a high lift set for bagging, and a set of Gator Blades for the other 4 acres. The Gators have a blunt edge to last, and the High Lift are actually hollow ground to a very sharpe edge.
So the high lift get sharpened more than the Gators. Both sets are replaced at the start of the mowing season. I might get them on close outs at the end of the year and save them though.
Just as tankdriver said, it depends on how many things you hit...:biggrin::wink:. I'll usually check my blades evrey 2 weeks, and end up sharpening and balancing them about every 6 weeks or so. But I'm mowing an area with no rocks, molehills, beer caps, or kids toys.:wink: Your mileage may vary, of course.
I have 17 acres. It is a campground so yeah there are rocks, sticks. The two guys that help me mow says that the blades should be sharpened every few weeks. I am not needing a manicured lawn, its a campground! I don't want them sharpening them so often that I will have to replace the blades every year. Am I being unrealistic? Do they really need sharpened so often when I am not looking for a manicured lawn, only shorter grass? Can dull blades make the belts wear out faster? If so, how?
Dull blades can actually kill the grass, or rather, they tear the grass instead of cutting it, and that jagged torn edge of the grass blades is like an open wound and is suseptible to all types of fungi and grass diseases. Unless you want to have to sod or overseed every year, keeping the blades sharp will help prevent your grass covered campground that's a nice place to camp from becoming a mudhole no one wants to camp in. They don't have to be razor sharp, just reasonably sharp. Sharpening even 3 or 4 times a season will not neccessarily mean you have to replace them every year, it just depends on how badly they get banged up and how much metal you have to remove to get them sharp again. Do a search on the forum for blade sharpening. You'll find posts from people that leave an as bought edge on their blades through the spectrum to ones that get them razor sharp, it a personal choice, but leaving a slight blunt edge is probably best for longevity of the blade. Just be sure they're balanced well also. An out of balance blade causes vibration that will eventually wear out bearings on spindle shafts.
Yo Katkat, I sharpen my own blades. The major dulling factor here is mole mounds. I usually drive around before mowing and flatten them with blades stationary. Sometimes the moles flip me off.
My 48" (3 blades) is still running original blades since 2004, 250 hours,1- 1/2 acres. I sharpen them off the deck, with an 8" pedestal grinder. Perhaps the short life of your blades is due to deep knicks (which I probably would not eliminate each sharpening), the large mowing area, or to sales forces. motoman