Dealer & Mower Recomendations

[bertsmobile1]

Blowing the grass off of the mower and deck after every use is very good advice. Having a second set of blades isn't a horrible idea, but the op isn't a lawn care proffessional. Take the blades off after you have mowed your lawn 4 or 5 times and sharpen them before mowing again and you should be fine. Try to avoid running over gravel and tree limbs and the blades will last much longer. I have over 100 hours on the set on my mower and they are still in good condition.

Yes he can get by with only one set of blades but what happens is you don't quite have enough time to sharpen the blades so you do a quick cut not ( that takes 10 minutes longer ) and promise yourself you will do it next time when you are not in such a hurry, but that never happens, However having that presharpened blades sitting on the wall means you know it will only take 6 miutes to do so you do it.
Motorcycle chains are very similar story, have a clean one ready to change and you do it , pulling it off cleaning and greasing it before you go out into the spring sun, just never happens , till it is too late.

 

[jloktalGst]

Thanks again for all the advice. I will definitely get an extra set of blades, so that I can swap and go. The motorcycle chain analogy is perfect, cause been there done that!

 

[1striper1]

Having a second set of blades isn't a horrible idea, but the op isn't a lawn care proffessional.

Why in your opinion does one need to be a lawn care pro to have more than one set of blades? (can't wait to hear this answer)

 

[Shughes717]

Why in your opinion does one need to be a lawn care pro to have more than one set of blades? (can't wait to hear this answer)

Just pointing out that a home owner uses their mower a couple of hours a week. Not 30 or more. Lawn care proffesionals make a living with their machines. Every minute the mower isn't in operation it takes money out of their pocket. They don't have time to stop their mower, take off the blades, sharpen them, and put them back on. People who only mow their own lawns aren't doing so for a profit, so 20 minutes of down time every now and then is no big deal. I did not say it was a bad idea, just that it wasn't nesesarily a must have. There is, however, no reason for a home owner to have a third set of blades. Just a waste of money there.

 

[diamatron]

The ones I service supposedly have a ground speed of 16 mph weather one uses that speed is another question.
At the time they were made it was the fastest ground speed available AFAIK.
The Danes I service are good for 7 but they are several generations older.
Nice little video by the way, you did notice that the driver that was popping the monos & slides came out on top.
As for blade tip speed, that is regulated and was dropped 1200 ft/min a while back so you are right, most will have the same blade speed so cutting speed will have a lot more to do with efficient deck design than absolute land speed.

Do all the 5400 have this, or is a feature of some?

 

[Shughes717]

Do all the 5400 have this, or is a feature of some?

It is on all zt5400 hydros, some brands don't utilize the feature. Our snapper pro mowers don't, but you could do it. I just don't see the benefit. You can't mow that fast anyway. Diamatron, if you want to speed your s200xt up a little just remove the adjustment bolts from the bracket that are used to keep the hydros going the same speed when the levers are pushed all the way forward. You will gain 1 to 2 mph doing that.

 

[Brucebotti]

Yes he can get by with only one set of blades but what happens is you don't quite have enough time to sharpen the blades so you do a quick cut not ( that takes 10 minutes longer ) and promise yourself you will do it next time when you are not in such a hurry, but that never happens, However having that presharpened blades sitting on the wall means you know it will only take 6 miutes to do so you do it.
Motorcycle chains are very similar story, have a clean one ready to change and you do it , pulling it off cleaning and greasing it before you go out into the spring sun, just never happens , till it is too late.

I agree 100%. In the long run it doesn't cost any more to have the extra set as you are going to have to purchase them eventually. Plus, what if you are in the middle of mowing and you hit something that ruins one of the blades. Then you end up in crisis mode. I guess I am just old-school. I prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Just my two cents, and worth every penny...:laughing:
Bruce

 

[Shughes717]

I agree 100%. In the long run it doesn't cost any more to have the extra set as you are going to have to purchase them eventually. Plus, what if you are in the middle of mowing and you hit something that ruins one of the blades. Then you end up in crisis mode. I guess I am just old-school. I prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Just my two cents, and worth every penny...:laughing:
Bruce

I think my earlier post is being misunderstood. I did say having a second set of blades wasn't a bad idea, just not a necessity. Was I the only one who noticed that bertsmobile suggested a third set of blades for a home owner with 2.5 acres? That was the point I was trying to make. Why have three sets of blades? There would be a reason for it if the op were a lawn care proffessional.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Yeah,
I never did accounting which is how I turned a $ 2.00 company into a $ 5,000,000 company in 10 years.
So I can keep $ 16,000 of parts in stock without having to worry about my turnover to capital ratio.
If you can not afford to have a few sets of blades in stock you should be working for some one else.

A college mate used to run the maintenance department of a rolling mill.
They got taken over by a big multinational company and the smarty pants accountant had a heart attack when he found out there was $ 2,500,000 worth of "dead capital" in his warehouse.
So the accountant sold off all the "unnecessary inventory", at a substantial loss on the purchase price .
But naturally showed a bigger profit because of these sales being added to their normal production as they were running 110% of capacity most of the time, and he rewarded himself handsomely for getting such a good set of numbers.
Two years latter the $ 250,000 /pa leased mill threw a bearing and they had to wait 6 months for FAG to do a special order set of bearings at $ 15,000 ( as comparred to $ 3000 if bought when in production ) .
The mill being down meant they had to buy in their product to fill their orders which meant they were being sold at a loss so the company ran at a massive loss.
The accountant fired Ross because the down time had almost sent the company broke.
Ross took this up with the board who sided with the accountant because when he had that massive store they never got a profit to equity ratio any where near as good .

 

[Shughes717]

Yeah,
I never did accounting which is how I turned a $ 2.00 company into a $ 5,000,000 company in 10 years.
So I can keep $ 16,000 of parts in stock without having to worry about my turnover to capital ratio.
If you can not afford to have a few sets of blades in stock you should be working for some one else.

A college mate used to run the maintenance department of a rolling mill.
They got taken over by a big multinational company and the smarty pants accountant had a heart attack when he found out there was $ 2,500,000 worth of "dead capital" in his warehouse.
So the accountant sold off all the "unnecessary inventory", at a substantial loss on the purchase price .
But naturally showed a bigger profit because of these sales being added to their normal production as they were running 110% of capacity most of the time, and he rewarded himself handsomely for getting such a good set of numbers.
Two years latter the $ 250,000 /pa leased mill threw a bearing and they had to wait 6 months for FAG to do a special order set of bearings at $ 15,000 ( as comparred to $ 3000 if bought when in production ) .
The mill being down meant they had to buy in their product to fill their orders which meant they were being sold at a loss so the company ran at a massive loss.
The accountant fired Ross because the down time had almost sent the company broke.
Ross took this up with the board who sided with the accountant because when he had that massive store they never got a profit to equity ratio any where near as good .

Again, the op isn't a lawn care procfessional. Not running a business, just mowing a 2.5 acre lawn. No need to stock up on multiple parts. Purchasing a 3rd set of blades for a lawn that size makes no sense. Not running a business, just mowing personal lawn.