Changing blades

[jekjr]

Yeah, I guess the type of grass can make a big difference in wearing down the edge of the blades. Mine is KY Fescue, which is probably not as hard on blades as the Bahia. Kinda makes me glad I don't have Bahia grass!!! If I were mowing commercially like you, I would make the "price-per-cut" more attractive if performed weekly instead of bi-weekly to offset the time and labor of stopping and changing out blades(time is money in your business...right). In other words if you charged them $150 to mow bi-weekly and $50 to mow weekly(just an example) wouldn't they be more inclined to have you mow weekly and save $50??? Couldn't you structure your pricing in a manner to make the "weekly "contract" more affordable per cut for the homeowner than the "bi-weekly contract"????

I get my blades sharpened and balanced for $10 a set of three by a guy right up the road from my house. It takes all of 10 minutes. Change a set of blades on my ZD326 and about the same for the ZG222. There is no way we could drop the price much and come out. It does take a little longer to cut grass that tall but competition is tight and more yards than not we have to stay low ball to keep them.

 

[Mid TN Lawn]

How long do you guys get on blades before you have to sharpen them? We keep three to four sets of blades and swap out a sharp set daily. Is this average for those of you that run commercial?

No exact rule but I check blades regular and sharpen about every 30-40 hours try to use rainy day for such.

 

[jekjr]

No exact rule but I check blades regular and sharpen about every 30-40 hours try to use rainy day for such.

In July August and Sept this year we were not able tog t more than 6 to 8 hours out of a set without sharpening them because of the Bahia Grass.

 

[LakeRat1]

I mow about 3 &1/2 ac. up until the first of June I was Mowing this with a JD LT 445 with a 60 in/ cut, the first of June I got a Toro 3000, with a 52 in cut, what I have found is the Blades stay shape longer on the ZTR, I am not sure if its because of the High speed Blade Tips, or because the deck of the ZTR is suspended from the Tractor, where as the deck of the JD 445 was rolling on the ground, I have about 55 hrs on the ZTR & have sharpen the blades twice, on the JD I had to sharpen the blades about ever 10 or 15 hr. one thing there is a lot of sand in places, this may help dull the blades, the Blades on the ZTR turn much faster than on the JD LT

 

[Carscw]

I mow about 3 &1/2 ac. up until the first of June I was Mowing this with a JD LT 445 with a 60 in/ cut, the first of June I got a Toro 3000, with a 52 in cut, what I have found is the Blades stay shape longer on the ZTR, I am not sure if its because of the High speed Blade Tips, or because the deck of the ZTR is suspended from the Tractor, where as the deck of the JD 445 was rolling on the ground, I have about 55 hrs on the ZTR & have sharpen the blades twice, on the JD I had to sharpen the blades about ever 10 or 15 hr. one thing there is a lot of sand in places, this may help dull the blades, the Blades on the ZTR turn much faster than on the JD LT

Easy don't use the JD blades get after market blades.
Heck they build their mowers cheap did you think they would make good blades

 

[Nicholas Schulz]

Don't sharp blades so often, sharp them when seasons changes, that means in year 3-4 time sharping is sufficient use them by swaping each other it will help to keep life of blade durable but if your blades are so old then sharp them regularly as per need.

 

[edd]

hey JEKJR you seem to be in the same boat i am in southeast alabama....i sharpen blades until there aint much left to sharpen and pick a set depending on which yard i am cutting....competition is stiff over here too ....if i will do it for 50 somebody else will do it for 40.....have to sqeeze every penny

 

[CardinalLawnCare]

We usually have around 6 to 7 sets of blades just to make sure since we have a lot of clients. There are also some with very huge lawns so we had to change blades more often for this. We sharpen them before the end of the day so we will have newly sharpened blades for the next day.

 

[jekjr]

Don't sharp blades so often, sharp them when seasons changes, that means in year 3-4 time sharping is sufficient use them by swaping each other it will help to keep life of blade durable but if your blades are so old then sharp them regularly as per need.

We wear the ends out on them. On a mower that runs all day most days daily is a must. 3 to 4 times a year I don't think so.

 

[lzn197]

I let the tips of the cut grass tell me. That usually equates to 15 to 25 cuts. If it's a dry season, the dust and dirt areas cause more edge wear.