What blades for my zd221?

S

sjm1580

Member
Have the original blades on my zd221 and was wondering if their are any recommendations for different blades than OEM? These cut great but I guess I would like to have them mulch a little better.

Love to hear some opinions on different blades.

Thanks
 
Well, bit the bullet and bought gator blades from the local Kubota Dealer. Their opinion was they are a little better than OEM because of the blade construction and not necessarily because of performance. Mowed a bit and I could not tell the difference in the cut quality or mulching.

My 2 cents and my response to my own post....
 
sjm1580 said:
Well, bit the bullet and bought gator blades from the local Kubota Dealer. Their opinion was they are a little better than OEM because of the blade construction and not necessarily because of performance. Mowed a bit and I could not tell the difference in the cut quality or mulching. My 2 cents and my response to my own post....
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I have a ZG222 with a 48" deck. My dealer only stocks the style that came on it. They do have them in a Oregon aftermarket. It does not cut tall grass worth a flip.
 
I cut Bahia and St. Augustine grass with mine and it cuts just as good or better than the factory blade no matter how long and wet it is. Maybe depends on the type of grass?
 
sjm1580 said:
I cut Bahia and St. Augustine grass with mine and it cuts just as good or better than the factory blade no matter how long and wet it is. Maybe depends on the type of grass?
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What do you do to it to get it to cut Bahia grass?

I have a ZG222 48" and a ZD 326 with a 60" deck and neither cuts Bahia grass worth a flip. I know several others with them that say the same thing.

I just bought a Scag to cut Bahia when we only have to unload one mower.
 
My local Kubota dealer had OEM and Oregon blades. He recommended the Oregon blades and I have to agree they cut better.
 
sjm1580 said:
My local Kubota dealer had OEM and Oregon blades. He recommended the Oregon blades and I have to agree they cut better.
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I am a Kubota fan through and through but I despise how they cut Bahia Grass. Neither of mine will cut it. A local guy saw me running a Scag Turf Tiger a few weeks ago. He has a Kubota as well. He wanted to know about the Scag on Bahia Grass because he was sick of double and at times triple cutting grass. Running side by side there is not a close comparison. The Scag beats it hands down. In about anything else the Kubotas do a great job. If you get in deep Bahia the Scag will put it to shame.
 
I don't cut grass for a living and I really can't imagine a huge difference between different types of mowers. When I think about it in simple terms, you have a motor turning blades at a certain rpm with blades and it cuts what it comes into contact with. The only variables are the blades and mower deck (assuming the motor is powerful enough). Is the Scag deck that much different from the Kubota deck? I don't know the answer, but it must be if it indeed cuts Bahia that much better.

I have had three different Kubota mowers (mid mount mower on small tractor and finish mower on medium size tractor and now the zd221) and they all cut Bahia what I consider very well, but again I don't cut grass for a living so I really don't have experience with other machines to make a comparison.
 
sjm1580 said:
Do you think there is a significant difference in the mower decks?
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I do. Scag has what they call a Velocity deck. It is sloped in the front. It appears that it actually stands tall grass like Bahia back up. I bought a Tiger Cat 52" and in Bahia Grass it will out cut the ZD326 60" all day long. If we are cutting other grass that is not tall however the 326 will do a great job. Most times the Scag will cut it in one pass while the Kubotas have yo make two and in real heavy grass I have seen them have to make three to equal the cut.
 
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