Mulching blades

john hall · #1 07-25-2016, 06:43 PM

OK, the grass is getting out of control! We have been blessed with abundant rainfall this year. The grass clippings are more than my Cadets can grind up. Are any of you guys running mulching blades on older Cadets and seeing a noticeable benefit compared to standard blades? If so, what are you using?
The decks I am having trouble with are the 60" Habans under my Supers, and the 44 under the 128 (I can't remember the model--all the blades are the same length and there are no cast iron parts on the deck).

I've tried slowing down a bit, no help. Running plenty of RPM's--those Habans are blowing the clippings 8' or more.

FWIW, I'm not interested in baggers, lawn sweepers, mowing every other day, spraying the yard with glyphosphate and then pouring green concrete, or saying the heck with it and letting it grow for hay.

ol'George · #2 07-25-2016, 06:59 PM

Gator blades make clippings smaller, as by design.
they also don't throw them as far out of the deck, as the "fingers" on the blade have less lift and ability to get them out of the deck, but do chop them into smaller pieces.
The real answer in thick heavy grass is to mow more often, and nobody wants to hear or do that.
Gator blades do get rid of leaves by making them disappear if they are dry and you go over the leaves keeping up with leaf fall.
Do not let them pile up and expect them to go away in one pass.
I have on several occasions swapped regular blades with gators back and forth as a test to see the actual effect and these are my results.
hope it helps.
oh one more thing.
As the "fingers" on gator blades wear, and become dull they are less effective on making shorter clippings.

Tom4981 · #3 07-25-2016, 08:40 PM

I raised my deck to cut at about 3 inch's.......an old timer once advised me that after cutting to raise the deck up higher and re-cut.....usually the grass already cut has dried enough and will blow better.

john hall · #4 07-26-2016, 06:46 PM

George, were you running them on an older Cadet? I sent them an email with all the possible part numbers for the blades to fit the mowers I am running, I'll see what they can offer. Is there any manufacture of mulching mower blades to fit old Cadets other than Gator?

On a side note, how much harder do these pull under normal mowing conditions? If the grass is damp/wet are they more prone to leaving clumps or creating more deck buildup?

john hall · #5 07-26-2016, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom4981

I raised my deck to cut at about 3 inch's.......an old timer once advised me that after cutting to raise the deck up higher and re-cut.....usually the grass already cut has dried enough and will blow better.

Probably going to have to do this to get rid of the heaviest residue. This year has just been worse than usual for this problem.

ol'George · #6 07-26-2016, 11:33 PM

The Blades are on a 50 C & 50 A decks
They pull the same or @ least I can't tell the difference @ all.
I got the blades on evil pray I think Windsor made one set,
Oregon Did too but not sure they still do.

CNeubauer · #7 07-26-2016, 11:52 PM

Have ran Gator blades on a Cub Cadet 3660 ztr and a Kubota ZD326 ztr, love how they cut up the clippings but had less suction than normal blades and required driving much slower to maintain a clean cut. I wouldn't mind trying them.on my Haban, I think they would work fine there where I'm not wanting to mow at 6+ mph like with the ztr's. The Gators are a high quality blade that will hold a sharp edge for a very long time.