Hi lift blades.....

[577jersey]

I have 134 hours on my SD 54 and cant complain about anything..been cutting grass for 30 years now and this mower does just as good as all my other mowers that where twice the price.
The deck is a little light but who cares,great mower for my neck of the woods for sure!!

Id like to be the first guy who puts 1k hours on it

 

[L454S]

Have had the gator blades on since last summer, they are worth the money and time to install IMO. Much better than factory blades.

 

[577jersey]

I dont have a set of G5 blades for my SD,reason being,any mower I put them on in the past they seemed to lack lift and cut quality was not that great,but i did love them in the early spring and fall for mulching up sticks,leaves,and debris.

Maybe i will try a set this season for the SD since alot of you guys speak highly of them in this application.

Another thing I am going to try is X blade on the chute side,doing this by using two blades one on top of another creating an X shape,that will really help move things out of the deck and mulch up clumps more.

 

[mhavanti]

I was rebuilding a mower deck on a '96 YM. Ordered a pair of G5 Gators. They arrived and they have absolutely zero cutting edge. The edge is as round as my stomach. Apparently there is something y'all know about cutting that I am left in the dark about.

Just sharpen and go. By the way, as an aside, the original blades from '96 were only sharpened once in all those years and if one wasn't warped, wouldn't have replaced during spindle rebuild.

Have a great mowing season all.

Max

 

[primerbulb120]

The G5 and G6 blades do not come sharpened. You have to sharpen them prior to installation.

 

[BlazNT]

The G5 and G6 blades do not come sharpened. You have to sharpen them prior to installation.

This is so not true. They are sharpened to exactly how they should be. Blades are not supposed to be razor sharp. They are supposed to have a small blunt edge.

 

[primerbulb120]

This is so not true. They are sharpened to exactly how they should be. Blades are not supposed to be razor sharp. They are supposed to have a small blunt edge.

The edge on a brand new G6 blade is 1/32 inch thick, measured with a caliper. Maybe you call that sharp, but I don't.

Read this, specifically the parts relating to G6 blades: https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/do-you-sharpen-new-blades.379943/

 

[577jersey]

I dont like the way new blades cut,they cut much better after the paint comes off and or after a sharpening,,even though they wont hold an edge as long..on well manicured lawns,there is no better cut then a sharp,crisp,edged,blade IMO.

If you have a dirty lawn well then its good to have the blunt edge,just as long as the grass gets cut clean and not ripped..Ive seen lawns completely covered in a yellow tint from cutting with dull blades that rip and not cut.

 

[primerbulb120]

I dont like the way new blades cut,they cut much better after the paint comes off and or after a sharpening,,even though they wont hold an edge as long..on well manicured lawns,there is no better cut then a sharp,crisp,edged,blade IMO.

If you have a dirty lawn well then its good to have the blunt edge,just as long as the grass gets cut clean and not ripped..Ive seen lawns completely covered in a yellow tint from cutting with dull blades that rip and not cut.

:thumbsup:

The G6 blades have a thick coat of paint, but once that comes off they're still not sharp. A few minutes with the grinding wheel fixes that! :thumbsup:

 

[mhavanti]

I own a machine shop and a fair portion of the yearly income is from sharpening blades, from saws of all kinds, planers, metal cutting tools for lathes, band saw blades which I always suggest just buy the band saw blade in a 100 foot roll, cut and weld them together rather than sharpen the old blades.

Anyhow, I never had anyone come in and ask me to dull their blades. Sharper a blade, less torque and horsepower to slide the blades thru whatever you're cutting. You shall also use less fuel and the mower engine will run cooler during operations.

After I removed the paint from the blades, they still have a rounded "edge" of the blade. Its a about a 3/32" radius. Not acceptable.

Also, we were mower parts distributors for over 25 years. We would have returned the entire shipment to the manufacturer if we received blunt blades. Anyone tell you a blade is supposed to be blunt, rounded or have a shoulder on the "edge" of the blade and it will cut better. They'll purchase swamp land to build skyscrapers on it. lol Ok, bad joke.

Respectfully, cutting grass is no different than cutting lumber, metal or anything else. Sharp cuts, dull doesn't.