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Hi, this is my first lawn tractor, an LT155... which blades should I use, I'm looking at the OEM low lift, medium lift, high, or mulching? I don't have any special mulching attachments installed, just a side exit. I won't be using a bagger either, so I'd want something that can cut somewhat tall grass in the spring/fall and leave small enough clippings. Thanks!

Personally I run mulching baldes all the time and all my mowers are side discharge. You only want low lift if you are dealing with sandy lawns.

Michael57 said:

Hi, this is my first lawn tractor, an LT155... which blades should I use, I'm looking at the OEM low lift, medium lift, high, or mulching? I don't have any special mulching attachments installed, just a side exit. I won't be using a bagger either, so I'd want something that can cut somewhat tall grass in the spring/fall and leave small enough clippings. Thanks!

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Michael,

What blades did you end up going with? I purchased an LT155 a couple of months ago and it came with the OEM TriCycler kit which uses a grass deflector, adjustable baffle and wavy mulching blades. From everything that I have read, these blades do a really good job of mulching grass on "manicured" lawns and with the right settings can pulverize leaves in the fall, but for side discharge the blades without the baffle/deflector do not fare so well. I went out and purchased the John Deere part number AM141041 which is the High Lift (bagging) blade set. Bagging blades are best for side discharging since they are designed to provide the highest "velocity" of air movement out of the discharge in order to move grass up the bagging chute and into the catcher. While using these blades for side discharging ( under ideal conditions: 1/3 rule, dry, proper mowing speed) I notice that the grass doesn't "blow" out from the chute so much as just land near the edge. The design of the chute allows for clumping along the edge of your cutting path so in order to achieve the optimum cut without any clumping you will have to raise up the chute to let the clipping "fly" out and disperse better.

The LT155 does not have a very powerful engine so even in the best of conditions you will have to slow down in any dense growth. I am searching at this very moment for an alternative blade that will side discharge better and without bogging down so much in the thick stuff. What surprises me about the OEM high lift blades are that they have a very small cutting edge. For that reason I am thinking of trying the Oregon Gator G5 or G6. Sunbelt also makes a Predator blade that is similar in design. While I know these blades to have serrated sails which helps with shredding leaves, they are considered high lift and with their longer cutting edge and tall(er) sail, they should hopefully improve the cutting performance.

All this isn't to say that I am not happy with the machine in it's current configuration, it's just that I am coming from an Exmark that never left any visible clippings and never bogged down no matter what I threw at it. Yesterday I did go out and adjust the engine RPM up to what the manual called out, 1700 low idle and 3400 top no load. I was running around 3150-3200 no load at full throttle. After adjusting I am between 3300 and 3400 which is close enough to spec. While running at full throttle with the blades engaged, the engine is turning at 3000-3100 rpm. Considering that I increased the engine speed ~200 rpm with no load, I likely did the same with the blades engage and should see a slight improvement in discharge performance.

Not sure how your mower is built but on mine I cut about 1/3 of the plastic chute off and bent up a prong under it to hold it up a couple inches higher. Does a much better job of spreading the grass. Using regular blades with just a little upturn on the back.

tom3 said:

Not sure how your mower is built but on mine I cut about 1/3 of the plastic chute off and bent up a prong under it to hold it up a couple inches higher. Does a much better job of spreading the grass. Using regular blades with just a little upturn on the back.

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Huh,....custom blades...nice!