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Slap a flat blade on it and adjust your cut height! I swapped my Gravely blades that have that bend in them for a heavier flat mulch blade, and the cut quality it’s 3x better
@@thekesterdad6964 Thanks for watching. That's what I did. I put an Oregon blade for a Dixie Chopper on it. They're 1/16 inch shorter than the oem blades, but you can't tell and difference.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV yeah I realized what you were doing after the video kept playing after I commented lol I went with a set a Ballard gold hybrid blades. I was a little bummed I had to balance and sharped them right out of the box, but man is the lift amazing and the cut quality good.
@@thekesterdad6964 I sharpen all my "new" blades. I like the Oregon blades for the same reasons. The lift is incredible and the cut quality is phenomenal.
@@m1lkman1974 thank you and thanks for watching! Nate worked hours and hours learning how to use new editing programs. For his first time, I think he did a great job.
@@jamesrichey4925 Thanks for watching. Unfortunately, you can't do either on a side wall. The only options are putting a tube in the tire, replacing the tire or just living with a tire with an air leak. If the tread is still in good shape, tube it.
Just found your video and I have been running that config of blade's on my mower's and now that I know this I will be removing that damn set of blade's and the grass staying on the deck has been the same as yours... Great video thanks man.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV I have been busting my head for months trying to figure out why I am all ways have a strip of grass down the middle of the cut and I am going to take off the gator blades and see if that will do the job I love my xblades but if the gator blades are doing this they will be gone for ever.
Thanks for what you're doing. My brother just bought an Airens 52 in, not positive about the name but it looks exactly like yours. I'm going to forward him this. Well done and well handled, and i hope they do the right thing for you Makes me hope new Gravelys won't also diminish in quality. I think they'll contact you. They certainly should.
@treylem3 WOW! What an awesome comment. Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and visit my channel. I run 2 Gravely machines, a Pro Turn 352 and a Pro Turn 452. Both are stout machines...VERY WELL BUILT. Ariens has not reached out to me in any way to make arrangements on rectifying this situation. If it were not for the fact that Gravely machines were as good a product as they are, I would've already sworn off Ariens. I've had to spend my own money to make repairs. I have many videos on this machine. Take a stroll through my playlists and check them out.
Man, I watched your whole video and loved it. Glad because my 2011 Ariens Zoom 2350 with the Kohler engine is about to die, but she's still kickin, so I'm trying to decide what to get next. Looking at the Gravely but somebody said the new Gravely cuts higher now than the old ones. Scags cut lower now. Thanks for the info on the new design on the Ariens blades. won't look at them again. The one thing I wanted to tell you even though it's been a year since you made this video is something I noticed. You said your helper uses that Ariens and you used the Gravely but you couldn't figure out what you hit to cut your gas tank and it dawned on me. Your scuff mark next to the gas cap is the same color and the same height as the Gorilla lift you mounted on your trailer, so your helper probably hit it loading up. Stay dirty my friend. God bless.
@zippy1078 Thanks for watching and for your kind words. Your comment makes creating content worth while. Gravely machines, I have two of them, a pro turn 352 and a 452 will cut as low as 1.25 inches. Why anyone would cut that low is beyond me. No lawn should be cut lower than 2.75 inches. The gorilla lifts are actually 2 inches above the gas fill neck, so that's not a possibility. Not only that, the trim edge of the deck sticks out 4 inches beyond the fill neck. What that means is that the edge deck would hit the side rail of the trailer, prohibiting the fill neck from coming into contact with the housing of the gorilla lifts.
Very good video. I was trying to decide between the Toro Timecutter, Bad Boy Elite and the this Ariens. I'm really glad I saw this. I ended up getting the 54" Bad Boy.
@scottb5178 Congrats! I pray you did your homework on Bad Boy. Their parts are proprietary, which means they can charge whatever they want. A friend of mine who owns one told me that the deck spindles for his cost 3 times more than the ones for my machines.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV I didn't know that. I've been watching and reading everything I could find on the different brands, never saw that. Thx for the info. It arrives tomorrow.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV Tried to find a dealer within a decent drive, only one didn't have what I was looking for. Ended up at Tractor Supply. Just arrived now. :)
@johnforsyth8414 Thank you for watching. The OEM Gravely blades are good, but, like everything else these days, they're EXPENSIVE. I use Rotary Copperhead blades. They cut just as good, last just as long but are HALF THE PRICE as OEM blades. You won't regret buying a Gravely, or Copperhead blades. They're the only blades I use.
@mr.lambfries3236 Thank you for watching and for those kind words. I've had so many ugly comments telling me how "unsafe" it was. I've been using this method for over 20 years, and I have til yet to have any issues. Glad my content gave you an idea you can use to make your life easier.
Also have the same issue with the gear getting weak over time. In my opinion it seems to wear out too fast for it being a “heavy duty” unit. It started out like yours and only got worse over time. Now it doesn’t even stay completely closed at all. Got a replacement for free under warranty, so that’s a plus… but I’m guessing it will wear out within a couple months again.
@Miguel001 thanks for watching. It may not be wearing out. I dud some investigation and found that the bolts that go into the back of the motor were LOOSE as heck. Once I tightened them, I had no more issues. I took them out one at a time, put thread locker on the bolts and that solved the problem of it not holding. I hope this helps.
Well hell , I went to buy one of those boat anchors you’re sitting on and the salesman at the dealership steered me away from that to a Gravely ZTX 42” cut. Guess I bought a boat anchor as well. The one you’re setting on and the Geavely only have two differences, the name and the color. This model I bought is the 2024, guess I made the wrong choice. What say you? Thanks
Thanks for watching. There are more than 2 differences in these two machines, all be it subtle. The Gravelys front forks are thicker, the frame is thicker, and I'm not sure, so don't hold me to it, but I think it has slightly more hp. What I want to know is, what did the salesman say to you to steer you away from Ariens? My email is in the description box. Please email me and tell me where you're located and what the salesman told you about the Ariens. I would love to feature your comments, ANONYMOUSLY, of course, in my next Ariens update video.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTVhey man, tried to send email but came back. Went to pick a rear hitch for the Gravely I bought yesterday and asked the salesman why he steered me away from Airens. He said he couldn’t say, however there was someone behind the counter whom I assumed worked in the service department and he said , I can tell you. I said fine but since you guys are a little uneasy about the subject just let me give you one word and if I’m right just shake your head. I said Quality, the guy I assumed was the service manager shook his head the salesman just kept looking at his computer screen and just smiled. That pretty much is what happened so my take and it’s my take only is the components used in the build of the Gravely are somewhat different and better than the Airens build. Hope that helped. Maybe I didn’t buy a boat anchor!!!
@Wooduck hey, that's awesome. If the sales rep at the dealer I bought this machine from had done that with me, I'd probably own a different machine. I confirmed that the email in the description is correct. Just wanted to let you know.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV evidently I lucked out with the salesman, doesn’t always happen that way. I have only two complaints I can see on the mower which was brought to my attention by your vids. The back of the seat is still the same ole wooden crap as you noted, not so good quality and the fuel spout is in a wrong angle as well. It needs to be more vertical and not so much horizontal especially if you’re filling the tank which a gas can. The adjustments on the handles should be metal and not plastic locking teeth either. I would imagine they will wear out faster also.
@rogerstepp3240 sorry but no. The damage was discovered after the first hours use. I had JUST picked up the machine from the dealer and took it to a small job with an open back yard. When we went to fill the tank up for the very first time, we realized it was pouring gas underneath the fender. It wasn't until I got it back to our shop that I found out the tank neck was broken. In my honest opinion, I think it got broke in the shipping process and the dealer didn't catch it.
@edwardrmayojr872 thanks. It's on us right now. It's been raining on and off for 2 days. It's 10:36pm and it's been raining steady for 3 hours. They're calling for 5-7 inches here. Glad you're safe.
@lynnlenox6454 Thanks for watching. The residential line of Ariens and Gravely mowers are almost identical. Gravely's are a little more heavy duty and have better tires and more horse power.
What are youe favirite brand of z turn mowers ti use? I prefer scag or mt huge sumplicutt legacy garden tractor. John deere 700 series garden tractors also cut good. My next big z turn mower will be a big toro model 61" cut to go slong with my scag tifer cat II that i own.
@harolddenton6031 I won't run anything but Gravely. We don't have a scag dealer within 200 miles of me. Kubota, exmark and Gravely are the 3 big names in my area.
Imagine if you had three times the area to mow! That's what I face every couple of weeks that I do all by myself with a 62" JD zero turn. But I don't do nearly as well a job as you and Nate. I don't know how you can be so steady holding that trimmer up like that when edging. I wobble all over the place! I really like the backing tracks you use in your videos. 👍
@@auralsonicwaves7170 That's only one property. We do this clients commercial property also, and it's almost as big. We cut 30-50 acres a week. Some large, some small. Flip edging takes practice, and GOOD trimmer line. As you saw in the video, I absolutely HATE the reinforced Oregon line. It's very brittle. All my background music comes from freestockmusic.com.
@@mikeshaw9785 Thanks for watching. Are you referring to the wire brush thing you mount to a string trimmer? NO WAY IN HELL. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hlOmJOzk7Mk.htmlsi=tAbhG1bzhBWR70tB
@swatking-uo4kw Thanks for watching. Are you talking about the deck drive belt? If so, check your pulleys. There may be some form of debris such as a stick or a piece of pine cone stuck inside the pulley. That can cause either vibration when the blades are engaged or could throw a belt.
285/70r17 are only 32.6" tall whereas 285/75T16 tires are 34" tall. I am putting size 285/75R27 nitto recon grapplers on my new black rhino matte bronze colored wheels. I am also putting new bfgoodrich all terrain T/A ko2 size 285/75R17 tires on the stock rims that came on my 2024 colorado ZR2 truck. Will runnthem on my truck through the winter months in northeastern tennessee by the tru cities.
@harolddenton6031 Thanks for watching. I considered the BFG's. Too pricey when there are tires just as good for far less money. We don't get much winter weather around this area, so that wasn't within my thought process.
I remember the Craftsman! Reminds me of my 2005! ZTR50 CUB I still miss that mower sold it March to add the 48 Toro Titan. So I see Cumberland county needs some rain 🌧️☔ Brian we back to normal here raining regularly so it's a keep up catch up game
If you buy a low-priced / low quality piece of junk, that's what you get. You bought a Yugo but want a Rolls Royce. I paid a little more than you did on the front end and haven't experienced any of the problems you have. "Buy once cry once." My dad taught me a long time ago that I could buy cheap crap and work on it non stop to keep it going or I could buy good quality and do nothing but routine maintenance.
@Buldgr thanks for watching. I see that you haven't watched ANY of the videos I've done on this mower. It's not cheap by any stretch. Ariens used to be a very reputable company, but any more. When I bought this machine, I was in a bind and trusted my dealer to steer me in the right direction. This is what they suggested. After trading with them for 22 years, I thought they had my back. They didn't. They saw I was in a bind and just wanted to make a sale. If you watched this video in its entirety, I had what I considered a yugo. Little did I know at the time that I already had a Cadillac, but I didn't think it made good business since to spend nearly $2,000 on repairs on a nearly 18 year old machine. Enter the Ariens....
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV You are 100% correct this is the 1st video I've seen. I'm sorry that you have a dealer that would treat you like that after such a long "relationship". I hate that you are having trouble with the machine but wish you the best of luck! It looks like God blessed you with lots of know how and the ability to fix things, so I'm grateful for that! God bless you!
I was going to tell you I bought a 20?? Craftsman zero turn cheap needed some work but wanted to find out if I liked it before I spent 1000's on a new zero turn after a wrist and hand injury with surgeries and so on. I knew it needed some things so I worked on it the biggest being a partial blown head gasket. I put no flat tires on the front a new battery and tinkered and got it going mowed with it liked it replaced the head gasket and praise the lord the thing just keeps going. I does bother the wrist some but not as bad as the lawn tractor. Will I be spending 1000's on a new mower I don't know but this old craftsman zts 6000 42inch with the briggs I like for now. I think all in including buying the mower I'm at around $500 and have been running it all summer so far.
Looking at the Forcast your going to get a lot of rain this weak with Debby, I'll be praying 🙏 anyways. We have been getting it pretty good ,to the point you can't keep up with mowing.
Seems like the quality control and pride in craftsmanship has gone down the tubes. Even the companies that were dependable have fallen off. Hope the work you done on it will at least last to the end of the mowing season.
@douglasgraham1916 I agree. QC used to be job one. Now it's max profit with just good enough a product to keep the customer coming back, whether it be for parts or trades. My dad always taught me you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
@NewHopeCutzandLawnCare unfortunately, I can't. We have to have it to get through those small gates. My hope is the factory forks were defective. Are y'all going to get much from Debby?
@LinKuip Thanks for watching. I'm sorry this isn't what you needed. Sometimes, repairs are in such difficult places to get to it's impossible to film anything but the before and after. If you have a machine like this, there should be a sticker with a belt routing diagram on it.
Scuff mark?? hell budee.. THAT was a hard smack up against all that plastic...that there is ground zero damage to that area including the gas tank..that yellow looking scuffed area looks alot like the yellow square tube rail on your trailer..maybe someone went too far over and the left side tire went under the rail and and there you go.. BUT I wasn't there when that happened.. just a bit of observation and from your video.. not sure what to add about how peculiar that split wear on the blade is happening.. never seen anything close to that type of wear...could be the top of the blade rubbing on something underneath that got bent down or something has come unfastened a good bit.. underneath the deck the possibilities can become a bit of detective work but good luck man and I hope you get all your problems fixed ..
@bbjazzmanjazzman7721 Thank you for watching. I guess I'm going to have to do a follow-up video on these subjects. The yellow mark is in no way linked to the gorilla lifts. The deck hits the sides of the trailer long before the fill neck gets anywhere close to the lift housings. The blade wear is due to the fact the blades are made of unhardened steel. I took them to a metallurgist and had them tested. His findings? Only trace amounts of carbon in the steel the blades are made from. The gas neck damage was discovered only hous after taking possession of the mower from the dealer and had only been used on one property....for testing purposes. I honestly have no clue what happened or even where it happened. All I can say for certain is that when we went to fill the tank for the very first time, gas spewed down onto the trailer deck from behind the fender. How it got like that is still, to this day, a mystery.
I have two Gravely Mach One both 2021 models and those are built on the 260 pro turn chassis and yes the discharge chute is massive so I had to modify a chute blocker for both of mine so it’s doable and works great and I also run scag mulch blades with no issues
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV yes the discharge is ridiculous out of a Mach one…so much that in tall thick Johnson grass the engine really doesn’t feel any strain because it discharges so fast
@hairycods2273 My 452 has the x-factor 2 deck. The discharge capacity leaves much to be desired. My 352 has the x-factor 3 deck. It kicks grass out 15 ft and 4 ft. high. It scatters the clippings very efficiently.
well brian i've bounced around a number of the videos you have made on ariens zero turn, and have decided i will not buy now or ever buy in the future an ariens or gravely machine. Seeing the quality issues in this and earlier videos and seeing how the ariens company has responded to you along with numerous others on youtube ariens is on the way to going under and out of business if they do not turn around and change their quality. you can send that machine up here i will cut it up into nice small pieces for you yu can send back to atiens and tell them to reassemble it, or i can weld it into a statue for you lol. i've had the original bobcat from back when it was under the original manufacture and ussed the Kawasaki engine from in the 80's I attached a sulky to it and i do miss that machine it was scary fast and cut like none other and finaly gave up the ghost after 20 years of heavy residential and comercial use this ariens you have will never come close to that or the sear DYT rider i have and keep resurrecting. brian TY for the videos these have give a number of people a serious heads up on ariens quality or the lack there of
@DMPB-fi2ir thanks for watching, but let me make one thing abundantly clear. Although Ariens does sell Gravely machines, Gravely is a completely separate division and are a FAR BETTER built machine over any Ariens. Ariens did not invent Gravely. It was a completely separate company started by Benjamin Franklin Gravely. The company changed hands many different times and Ariensco bought the rights to sell Gravely products in 1994. Don't be afraid of Gravely machines. I've run them since 2008 and I've never regretted my decision. They are built to go the distance.
@arthurrodesiler3109 thanks for watching. I used to have a Craftsman z6400 that was a tank. I attained it through a barter deal. It was a 2005 and I would give nearly ANYTHING to get it back, but the gentleman I sold it to won't sell it. 🤣
yup sadly this is how a lot of machines are headed thinned lighter material so the material cost less , finished equipment is cheaper to pack and ship due to lighter weight. and in long run not a rugged as older machines, i have a 2001 sears riding mower that i am bubbling gum fixing as i can because i am on fixed retiredment income and no way i can affor $2000 to upwards of $5000 to mow the 3/4 acre of lawn and right now its a hay fieldm i looked at one of your orange turns as you call it and just shook my head nice looking but i would take that old 15 year old craftsman first even if i had to do work on it, i feel sorry that you are having to deal with dealships like you mention customer care and personal service sad to say has gone out the window for most places. personally i would take the machine you have gut it dig out my welder and make a new frame ground up and nount the deck and running gear on it with a proper gas tank if i had that machine and pray the drive unit holds up. the front spindles damn they are trashed and even on a residential level this should have held up better
manufactured in usa with globally sources parat aka parts and pieces bought from china and assembled here not made here its a simple way of getting around the labeling . majority of all their parts are NOT made in USA only assembled here. those blades are garbage. friend here has this same machine he is having drive issue and cannot get it to drive and turn proper , dealer has had it 5 weeks and still waiting for manufacture to ship parts .... back ordered from guess where. the only minor issue with the replacement blades is the offset there is a drop from spindel to the lowest point of the blades the replacements go straight across , so worse case same deck height you will notice aa slightly longer grass
i'm not saying ariens is right or wrong here but that machine looks run hard and put away wet. i had a 2015 gravely zt34 residential model that never gave me grief, and i used that sucker every week from april to october. yes gravely makes residential mowers that are almost exactly like their ariens models. i just bought the ariens onyx 52". we will see how it holds up.
@motaz1975 Thanks for watching. You're right. It does look that way, but IT SHOULDN'T be in that condition with only 140 hours on it. The Craftsman z6400 that this machine replaced a year and a half ago was in FAAAR better condition, and it was a 2005 year model with over 800 hours on it.
@motaz1975 NO, they didn't. If you are using anything under 44" for more than 1 hour a week, or if you transport it on a trailer for "pro" use, regardless of hours used, they warranty it for 30 hours only. Problem was, I was not told that fact until AFTER the sale was finalized. I used it for 5 hours and realized it was not going to hold up to meet my needs. I took it back to the dealer and they would not allow me to trade it. That's the reason I no longer trade with that dealer.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV wow! that is awful! i'm fortunate enough to have been dealing with a great dealer for a long time. he even took my almost 10 year old gravely in on trade for my new 52" icon onyx.
@motaz1975 I had been trading with this dealer for 22 years at the time. They had ALWAYS treated me well. I never expected them to do that after having a trading relationship for that long.
I'm surprised that a dealer the size of Lanky's doesn't also sell Stihl's new zero turn mowers, especially since they already have other Stihl equipment. That would give you the Ferris ride and cut from a dealer close to home. But that Gravely's a sweet machine. Red mowers are the best looking ones for sure. Love the gospel message in your videos.
@stratos6061 thanks for watching. I've seen reviews of the Stihl mowers. They are Simplicity mowers in Stihl colors. I've never operated one, but from what I've heard, they're not that great. Don't quote me on that, but that's what I was told.
@@BigSouthOutdoorsTV Yes, they're made by Briggs & Stratton, which also owns Ferris and Simplicity. All three (Ferris, Simplicity, and Stihl) look very similar. The Stihls seem to be nearly exact replicas of the corresponding Ferris models, so they should be every bit the mower that the Ferris mowers are, with similar performance and reliability.
I have a gravley zero turn 2014 still running good as of now but i don't like the spintals you can't Grease them they go bad i don't know what to do because of the get better spintils or what
@davidholmes7215 Yes, if the center hole is the same, and the length is the same, they will work. What you'll have to do is set your deck at the height you normally cut and measure the actual height of your blades. After doing so, raise your deck height adjustment to compensate for the difference between the oem blades and the flat blades.
I have an Ariens ikon onyx 52” and I am having same issue with my blades. Just bought a new set and cut the lawn twice and they look like that already. My question is when you switched to the Oregon blades, did it change the cutting height since they are flat?
@chrisnold1440 thanks for watching. As a matter of fact, it did. The factory blades have a 3/4" drop. I just measured the blades at each height i,e. 2.5, 2.75, 3.0, etc, until I got my desired cut height on the blades. Once I figured out the difference in height between the deck adjustment and the actual blade height, knowing where to put the pin in the deck adjustment was easy. I hope this helps...
They have one on Amazon that’s identical to the American sharper one that’s so much cheaper. Guy here on RU-vid did a video on it and it does just as good of job. a.co/d/hKrOP5N
