I have an old Bobcat Zero Turn that I love! I got it for free because the deck bearing were all completely shot. So I rebuilt it with cheapo parts from Amazon and EBay. Primarily because at the time I got it. We desperately needed a good commercial grade mower but definitely couldn’t afford one. So it was a true blessing. But as a diesel mechanic. We have a saying… “Big trucks, Big bucks!” After getting a quote from Bobcat around $1,500 for new spindles, pulleys, belts and blades. I was able to fix it and get it mowing for $300 using cheap parts. Which I did plan to replace with genuine bobcat parts as they failed. So… While the pulleys are cast iron and totally fine. The spindles and blades are another story. I had to buy a set of bobcat blades only half way through the season. And I had two blade spindles fail within a year. So I definitely tell people to buy the OEM parts if you can. Because they usually are better parts. And typically are the best products for your machine
Hi-lift blades on decks with multiple blades means the exit will have a huge flow of air. So much so that in dry conditions when the grass blades are weak, they can get blown over. This causes a worsening quality of cut toward the discharge side of the deck. In the spring I use high lift due to strong grass growth but in the dry part of the summer I switch to low lift blades.
After watching this video ( Neil Messick narrated), I hold a new respect for Messick products and sales. Throughout the commentary, Neil kept true to the videos statement intention without promoting to only buy from Messick. To me, it says this company is customer/quality focused, and not trying to sell. It was very accurate info and Neil came across as a professional who does all his own homework. I will definitely be contacting Mr. Messick and their business.
I have a Kubota BX2670. Had it for about 8 years. I have hit an embarrassing large amount of stuff with the original factory blades. The are holding up great. I mow about 5 acres of grass probably 6 times a year. When I do have to get new blades they will be the original ones.
I have a new land pride finish mower. Have tried both the medium lift (standard) and mulching OEM blades over the past year. Both cut grass phenomenally. If I had to nit pick the plain blades are slightly better on grass. I put the mulching blades on for fall/spring clean up…about to switch back over to the standard blades. For those wondering the landpride finish mower can out-cut a zero turn to my eye. Yeah it’s not as fast but the quality of cut with a ‘floating’ deck is amazing…and I get to spend more time tractoring.
Interesting, never really changed my blades much, just kept them sharp. But the design makes sense. Even though I’ve fixed and sharpened hundreds of blades before
This is great information. I thought or assumed that a high lift blade would be better in thick grass Thankyou so much for setting me straight before I made that mistake
I am a brush mitigation provider in socal and am looking to develop a self powered front mount atv flail mower similar to the rammy flail mower and value this content a lot.
I used to low commercially. In East Tennessee the high lift blades do a better job on the tall fescue. I also believe that the high lift blades do a better job of “striping” a lawn. Whatever you use, sharp blades cut better and keep lawns greener. That can lead to more sales down the road.
Neil, can you pass help? Having done commercial mowing for over 30 years, we've used alot of different blades for different mowers. We found that the Solid foil medium lifts did the best on the Lazers, as the notched foil always left a streak down (near) the center. (This was caused from the forward sweep of the center blades laying the grass down, some). We ran double blades quite often (simply stacking them) with phenomenal results and no guys, it didn't cause extra wear on the spindles or anything. This not only dispersed the grass in a consistency like that of grass seed, but also three it much farther. Anyway, I now have a B2601 with a mmm and it doesn't cut worth a hill of beans. I've checked the deck setting for proper forward rake and all that, and everything is right on. The machine has PLENTY of power and goes through even the thickest of grass with no trouble. The problem is, with its slow pto driven blade speed, it just doesn't disperse the clippings, and flops them out no more than 2 rows, really. It simply cannot process the material. So, I'd like to figure a way to run double blades on the mmm deck. However, I need to find blades of that length and arbor size, but not cambered (bevels lower than the spindle arbor) like the originals. I need just a straight blade like a regular mower blade for the bottom blade. The reason being, is adding another cambered blade would interfere with the bottom inside edge of the deck.
Thanks for yet another really helpful video for a newbie. I'm so glad you expanded the topic to cover more than just standard mower blades. No one else does this. So, if different blades are available for flail mowers, why wouldn't my dealer have discussed this with me and offered options? I understand there is a Y shaped blade that you unfortunately didn't cover. May I ask what circumstance I would want to use that? Also, how often should I expect to replace the flail mower blades, if they're consumables? Can they be sharpened a few times before replacing? Thanks again for your very instructive videos!
I think the big push to immediately switch to high lift blades for all mowers may actually be detrimental to performance when it comes to battery-powered mowers. Theoretically, higher lift takes more energy to accomplish and that energy must come from the battery. Unless there's a specific problem with bagging or discharging, the high lift blades are likely just shortening run time for the battery. :D
Unless, like Ego mowers, you have a dual blade system. The high lift blade sends cut grass into the upper blade making for a finer mulch. Their plastic cutting deck seems to repel cut grass too, so cleaning with anything more than a blower is hardly necessary.
Like most people I also assume that a hi-lift blade would be the best option I never thought about the extra airflow essentially keeping those grass clippings pinned up against the top of the mower deck
I have a 54 inch Cub Cadet that loads up with clippings bad I need to scrape it everytime I mow, that has high lift blades on it I may try some low-lift blades so it doesn't swirl the clippings as bad and discharge them quickly maybe that'll help
The Oregon G5 and G6 blades are good, do they cut better than an OEM blade, yes, and no. If your OEM blade is a multi-use blade and its worn out, sure a G5 or G6 blade will cut better, but if your OEM blade is still in good condition it'll cut the same as a G5 or G6...the "Gator" blades are designed for mulching and side discharge purposes with the G6 being the "heavy duty" blade and a G5 being closer to the same as your OEM blade but with higher lift and mulching capability if your lawnmower is setup for mulching. Don't think that by swapping to a Gator G5 or G6 it'll make your lawnmower suddenly mulch better because it won't....you need a mulch kit for your mower deck, and a mulch plug which usually comes with the mower or in the mulching kit. Also, not every mower deck is really made to utilize mulching kits and blades. If a deck is too shallow, mulching will not work, it'll just clock up your mower as there isn't enough air space above the blades for the clippings to go to fall back down and be recut and go back into the lawn. A deeper mower deck typically makes mulching a better option, and gives much better results. If you have OEM blades they'll do just fine, but don't be afraid to try a G5 blade on your mower if you want to do a lot of mulching...I've found the Gator blades do really good mulching leaves, but the OEM multi-purpose blades do really well mulching grass, and seems that they do just as well if not better than the Gator blades for mulching. The Gator blades do create a lot of lift, so be prepared for dustier conditions than normal. A G6 blade is the same setup as a G5 in terms of type. A G6 blade is heavier duty than the G5. The G6 blades use a heavier carbon content steel VS a G5 blade, they require more power to use them, and typically wear better/longer between sharpenings VS a G5 blade, and your OEM blade. Unless you are mowing commercially a G5 blade will suit you fine for your homeowner needs. If you are going out and buying a new blade, don't just buy a Gator blade just because, if your OEM blades are doing the job, stick with them, there's absolutely nothing wrong with sticking to the OEM blades. I went with Gator blades because of the leaf mulching I do, and found they work just as well for side discharging my grass clippings so I just leave them on year round now....however, the OEM blades work fine too, they're just high lift blades though, so they weren't mulching as well, which is why I decided to go with the G6 blades...and with 3 seasons of mulching grass and leaves on an acre, I've yet to need to sharpen them. My lawn tractor has the G6 blades, my 21" push mower I have a G5 blade on it.
So something you got very wrong with this is that low lift blades cut thick grass better. They don't. They require less hp but they will miss more grass because the mower deck's leading edge is lower than the blade, so it can't pick up the grass after pushing it over. High lift throws grass at a much higher velocity and will mulch less than a low lift blade. A rear discharge mower uses low lift blades because they don't want the grass to be thrown far from the blade. Also, most quality oem manufacturers use fisher barton for the blade manufacture. Their marbain steel blades have a higher carbon content and stay sharp longer. They also came out with the laser edge self sharpening blade.
The G6 blades are quite a bit heavier, but they hold up so much better than the lower end stuff. I have the G6 blades on my lawn tractor, 3 years of mowing an acre and have yet to need to sharpen them. I want to get a set of them for my Kubota BX2680's 60" mower.
Me personally, I like to use gator blades on our mowers but the bosses only want us to use mulching blades, unfortunately. I like the gator more mostly bc of clump dispersion (even with our mulching deck on our mowers), likely bc of the extra “cutting sections”. Either way, I think I’ll put gator blades on my mower tht I use, hopefully they won’t notice.
I want a flail mower but my dealer quoted me close to $8,000 for one for my BX2680. I'll save up and buy a BETSCO...$8k is ridiculous, and BETSCO seems to have pretty good reviews on their flail mowers.
I have the G6 blades on my lawn tractor, they side discharge just as well as the high lift blades...the key is, you gotta have an engine with enough power to run them...otherwise stick to the G5 blades, or other brand mulching blades because they're lighter weight, you'll have to sharpen them more often is really the only downfall of going with a G5 blade or other brand mulching blade as they use a softer steel. The G6 blades require more HP, but they do the same thing as the G5 blades.
Nothing wrong with them at all. I do run a set of Gator G6 blades on my lawn tractor because most of the time I mulch my clippings, they do great, and seem to do just as well with side discharge so I don't bother swapping them back and forth anymore...however, there's nothing wrong with the OEM blades at all. Many homeowner mowers now come with some sort of a multi-purpose blade and they tend to work pretty well, although are pretty light duty soft metal, so you'll need to replace or sharpen them more frequently...that is honestly the only downfall of many OEM blades...other than that stick with what works for your application, and if that happens to be OEM, that's fine.
Hi Neil, I have a Kubota G1800 with a 54" deck. I'd love to get high lift blades because I try to have 4" cut height and struggle with standing the grass up after the front tires push it down. After looking through the parts lists for the RCK54-G20 it appears Kubota has discontinued the high lift blades. Do you feel the Gator blades offer higher lift than the standard lift from Kubota?
I have the Bx25 with a 60 inch mmm I use the gator blades and in the fall I pick up leaves with a trac vac . They do a good job but would the high lift blades be better ,or is the mulching action of the serrated blade preferred for leaf pick up? I’m very happy with them for standard mowing.
If you have problems clogging the tubes on your trac vac. high lift would probably be better. If that's not an issue, mulching will give you fine clippings.
I do not like the Kubota ZD1211 blades! It has the aerodynamic deck and lame looking blade because of the horsepower sacrifice. My dad made adapters so ZD28 blades fit on it. What a difference! Better cut and robs little to no horsepower! 🙂
I think his adapters have a lip to accommodate the smaller ZD-28 blade hole. He had a local machine shop make them. The factory 1211 blades have a peice missing on the lift bend. I think this was Kubotas way of getting rid of horsepower robbing suction. 🧐
@@JCLawn51 A guy on TractorByNet forums posted the required dimensions to machine the ZD1211 side discharge deck bushings to use the Gator blades used on at least the ZD331 and 326. I had a machine shop alter the OEM bushings so that I could use the Gator blades that I had for my ZD331.
@@KubotaL4060 interesting. I wonder if the pro deck bushings actually fits the acs decks. I'll have to look at the shaft parts number. One of the reasons that makes me hesitant about buying a zd1211.
Why are lawnmower blades always straight? Clearly, when you look at what people used before power mowers everything was curved... sickles, scythes, push-mowers they all had curved blades because they simply cut better. Why, then, has no one implemented this for lawnmowers (LAWN, specifically, not hogs which use kinetic force to break rather than cut)? All I find are blades for a 'spider' brand mower which I've never seen nor heard of.
I can attest to the amazing parts people at Messicks. I've ordered many things and have had only positive experiences! Personalized service and very knowledgeable!
