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Troy Built rider mower, 42" purchased in 2017.
The blades are getting chopped up as shown in this picture.
I only drive this on my lawn. Any suggestions why this is happening?

Hard packed grass is wearing the ends of the air lifts off. happens quite frequently as well as debris cutting off the air lift at the upturn bend point. See a lot of blades from people that mow their lawns low that don't survive a single mowing season.

Sand/dirt also attributes to that if one swings out of the grass onto the sand/dirt to make turn arounds without disengaging the pto.

SeniorCitizen said:

Sand/dirt also attributes to that if one swings out of the grass onto the sand/dirt to make turn arounds without disengaging the pto.

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I wish I could say that I go into dirt, but I dont. Good thought though.

ILENGINE said:

Hard packed grass is wearing the ends of the air lifts off. happens quite frequently as well as debris cutting off the air lift at the upturn bend point. See a lot of blades from people that mow their lawns low that don't survive a single mowing season.

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That's possible. Do you think the extreme blades would work better? They have the "teeth" on the air lift side.

Here in Florida I go through several sets a season. I do mow commercially so I wear them quicker that a residential user would. Sand and if you have pensacola Bahia will wear the wings down real quick. A low lift blade will last longer but doesn’t lift grass as well. Most of us use Gator blades now as they last a lot longer. If your mulching it will cut the life of the blade also. Gator blades are considered a mulching type blade but we run them with the shoot open.

Do you think the extreme blades would work better? They have the "teeth" on the air lift side.

microsvc said:

Do you think the extreme blades would work better? They have the "teeth" on the air lift side.

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They should last a little longer because the blades tend to be thicker than the standard blade.

microsvc said:

Do you think the extreme blades would work better? They have the "teeth" on the air lift side.

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I think we are talking about the same blade. Gator blades have the “teeth” your taking about.

Extreme is the MTD OEM version of the Gator blade.

Didn’t know that...thanks for the info.

Being most of us don't have a Rockwell hardness tester a file can be used as a hardness tester. Blades that can be easily filed aren't worth much. Blades that file similar to a cold chisel are more better.:thumbsup:

That can be deceptive.
Most blades are made with Boron steel
This is a work hardening steel that gets tougher and a bit harder with use
So you can easily file them when new but they get harder to file the older they get.

As for using a Gator type blade, if your blades are wearing the flutes down rapidly, you should not even think of this type of blade.
This is because the small sections will break free and make the blade very unbalanced.