Mower Throwing Up Lots Of Grass Clippings After Gator Blades Installed

[jsurpless]

Hi everyone

I've got a Sears Craftsman 19HP, 42" Mower (917.20381) that I've been pretty pleased with... I typically cut as high as I can in the summer (3.5 to 4") and plant to lower as fall proceeds...

I decided to install some better mulching blades (I had a set that Sears put on after we bought it) on it about a month ago and had a local tractor shop do it for me... they recommended installing Gator Blades so I went with that... all of my clothes, even in my hair...

Once I got the tractor back and took it out for a cut, it seemed to me that lots of grass clippings seemed to be shooting out of the front right of the mowing deck... I know that some clippings coming out are inevitable but I'm getting covered in them...

I had the shop take another look at the mower to see what might be wrong but they couldn't find anything... I was told that the gator blades really pulverize the grass (and I can see that since the clippings are SO small) but it just seems to me that something must be wrong...

This sort of operation with clippings coming out in a cloud can't be typical...

I've uploaded a picture of my foot after I was done cutting to illustrate what I'm seeing... I tried uploading a couple of videos but they're too big...

Any thoughts?

 

[Ric]

Hi everyone

I've got a Sears Craftsman 19HP, 42" Mower (917.20381) that I've been pretty pleased with... I typically cut as high as I can in the summer (3.5 to 4") and plant to lower as fall proceeds...

I decided to install some better mulching blades (I had a set that Sears put on after we bought it) on it about a month ago and had a local tractor shop do it for me... they recommended installing Gator Blades so I went with that... all of my clothes, even in my hair...

Once I got the tractor back and took it out for a cut, it seemed to me that lots of grass clippings seemed to be shooting out of the front right of the mowing deck... I know that some clippings coming out are inevitable but I'm getting covered in them...

I had the shop take another look at the mower to see what might be wrong but they couldn't find anything... I was told that the gator blades really pulverize the grass (and I can see that since the clippings are SO small) but it just seems to me that something must be wrong...

This sort of operation with clippings coming out in a cloud can't be typical...

I've uploaded a picture of my foot after I was done cutting to illustrate what I'm seeing... I tried uploading a couple of videos but they're too big...

Any thoughts?

View attachment 27359

What Gator Blades did they install? G3 or G5 and how deep is your deck?

 

[jsurpless]

What Gator Blades did they install? G3 or G5 and how deep is your deck?

I'm not sure which version they installed - I'll have to ask them... I do know that they told me that they were the best blades, ITHO...

For the depth of the deck - is it just a question of measuring from the bottom edge of the deck to the top? Seems like it but wanted to confirm...

 

[Ric]

I'm not sure which version they installed - I'll have to ask them... I do know that they told me that they were the best blades, ITHO...

For the depth of the deck - is it just a question of measuring from the bottom edge of the deck to the top? Seems like it but wanted to confirm...

I asked about the depth of the deck because Gator blades work based on air flow and blade tip speed. They work best on a mower with a deck of 5 inches in depth and a BTS of between 18000 and 19000 FPM. Look at your blades, if there G3 the cutting surface will be 3 inches unless they installed clones.

 

[jsurpless]

I asked about the depth of the deck because Gator blades work based on air flow and blade tip speed. They work best on a mower with a deck of 5 inches in depth and a BTS of between 18000 and 19000 FPM. Look at your blades, if there G3 the cutting surface will be 3 inches unless they installed clones.

the cutting surface would be the length of the cutting edge, right?

What is BTS?

 

[Ric]

the cutting surface would be the length of the cutting edge, right?

What is BTS?

Yes the length of the cutting edge only. BTS= Blade tip speed. Gator Blades are basically High lift blades. [SIZE=-1]The teeth of the blade is angle toward the center of the blade to redirect the airflow and push the grass clippings back over the cutting edge of the mower blade. At or between 18000 to 19,000 BTS or FPM the same grass clipping moves across the cutting edge of the blades an average of 4 times which gives you smaller clippings. The other thing would be there going to be somewhat thicker than regular blades. A little better than 1/8th of an inch thick.[/SIZE]

 

[bertsmobile1]

I stopped selling Gators for just this reason.
They work well with some decks and are a disaster with others, it all depends upon the airflow under the deck and the modern trend to make "universal" decks makes this worse.
Universal = does everything equally poorly .
Most of times you can experiment with cutting heights and grass heights and find a combination that works, however to my mind that is the tail wagging the dog .
Before all the Gator lovers jump down my throat, there is nothing wrong with them and some owners find they suit them to a T , however they just do not work particularly well with some mower / deck combos.
The biggest problem I get is with the YTH series Husqvarnas fitted with fabricated decks ( and rebranded look alikes ).
Oddly enough they work great on the same mower with a pressed deck but the local Husky dealers were pushing Gators ( value adding ) to new mower customers and they cause so much build up under the fabricated decks that the clutch/brake pedalcan not fully disengage.

 

[jsurpless]

Yes the length of the cutting edge only. BTS= Blade tip speed. Gator Blades are basically High lift blades. [SIZE=-1]The teeth of the blade is angle toward the center of the blade to redirect the airflow and push the grass clippings back over the cutting edge of the mower blade. At or between 18000 to 19,000 BTS or FPM the same grass clipping moves across the cutting edge of the blades an average of 4 times which gives you smaller clippings. The other thing would be there going to be somewhat thicker than regular blades. A little better than 1/8th of an inch thick.[/SIZE]

Here are some pics I took of the blades and the deck... can you tell what the depth of the mowing deck?

I marked up what I believe to be the cutting edge? Is that it? If so, it looks longer than 3" or 5"?

How do I determine the BTS? I tried looking in the manual but didn't seem to detail this?

thanks!

 

[Ric]

Here are some pics I took of the blades and the deck... can you tell what the depth of the mowing deck?

I marked up what I believe to be the cutting edge? Is that it? If so, it looks longer than 3" or 5"?

How do I determine the BTS? I tried looking in the manual but didn't seem to detail this?

thanks!

Can I ask did you get a receipt with this purchase of those blades? It should tell what they are for sure. I've run The G3, G5 and G6 Blades on my mowers and those are not the G3 which you should be running. Those are either G5 or G6 blades and you better hope there not G6 because they are the heavy duty commercial blade and you don't have enough spindle or deck to run those.

I personally don't believe you have enough the run the G5 blades. You can't tell by looking any real difference between the 5 and 6 but there is a difference between the 3 & 5 in width, thickness and lift. My guess would be the problem your having with the grass being discharged from under the front of the deck and other places is because the grass isn't being cut properly before discharge for lack of vacuum. They recommend that G5 and G6 blades run on a 5 to 5.5 inch deck and G3 can be run on the 4 inch deck which by the looks is what you have.

 

[jsurpless]

Can I ask did you get a receipt with this purchase of those blades? It should tell what they are for sure. I've run The G3, G5 and G6 Blades on my mowers and those are not the G3 which you should be running. Those are either G5 or G6 blades and you better hope there not G6 because they are the heavy duty commercial blade and you don't have enough spindle or deck to run those.

I personally don't believe you have enough the run the G5 blades. You can't tell by looking any real difference between the 5 and 6 but there is a difference between the 3 & 5 in width, thickness and lift. My guess would be the problem your having with the grass being discharged from under the front of the deck and other places is because the grass isn't being cut properly before discharge for lack of vacuum. They recommend that G5 and G6 blades run on a 5 to 5.5 inch deck and G3 can be run on the 4 inch deck which by the looks is what you have.

I did get a receipt but I don't see anything on it besides "gator blades"...

How do you measure the depth of the deck? Is it this (see attached pic) yellow line?

Are these the blades I want? Sears.com

Thanks!