Low-gade Metal in Blades -- all blades, any brand?

[Alex Ethridge]

Please excuse my old-man, forty-year-old experience but I am appalled at the low-grade steel in mower blades I am finding in home centers, Walmart and other places. Being a do-it-youselfer, fixer of almost everything around the house, I got called on back in the 1980's by almost everyone I knew to fix whatever needed fixing and long story short, I ended up running a part-time lawn-care-machines-of-many-kinds repair and maintenance shop for several years and I sharpened and replaced thousands of mower blades over those years. Those blades were made of high-enough-quality steel that attempting to sharpen one with a file was a joke one might play on the new guy in the shop.

Today, that isn't a joke any more. The steel is soft and bent blades is a common thing. What is going on with cheap, soft steel in blades? I've looked several places and regardless of brand, they seem to all be that way. My term for them is "cheap crap".

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Look for Marbain blades. They are OEM on lots of commercial mowers. They are not soft.

 

[MParr]

Blades come in different thickness. 0.167, 0.204 and 0.250. The 0.167 blades are usually found on residential units. The 0.204 thick blades are common on Toro and Exmark upper end residential and estate mowers. The 0.250 thick blades are common on commercial units.
The 0.167 blades are pretty cheap and don’t last very long. They are very easy to sharpen with a file.
The 0.204 and 0.250 blades are a bit harder to sharpen with a file. Some of them are nearly impossible to sharpen with a file.
Oregon. Stens, and Rotary make good quality aftermarket blades.

 

[Alex Ethridge]

Blades come in different thickness. 0.167, 0.204 and 0.250. The 0.167 blades are usually found on residential units. The 0.204 thick blades are common on Toro and Exmark upper end residential and estate mowers. The 0.250 thick blades are common on commercial units.
The 0.167 blades are pretty cheap and don’t last very long. They are very easy to sharpen with a file.
The 0.204 and 0.250 blades are a bit harder to sharpen with a file. Some of them are nearly impossible to sharpen with a file.
Oregon. Stens, and Rotary make good quality aftermarket blades.

The thickness of the metal is not the problem. The thickness of the blades I have gotten is about the same as the blades I got back in the 80's. I still have a few of those old used 1980's blades lying around and the blades I bought recently are about the same thickness. I haven't put a micrometer on them but comparing them side by side, the thickness is the same. It is the lack of hardness, the poor quality of the metal, of the steel that is the problem.

Back in the 80's when I was buying blades a dozen or more at a time, I bought the cheapest I could find and the metal even in those cheap, brand-x blades was equal to the metal in the name brands. Only the price was different and sometimes a slight variation in shape.

 

[Alex Ethridge]

Blades come in different thickness. 0.167, 0.204 and 0.250. The 0.167 blades are usually found on residential units. The 0.204 thick blades are common on Toro and Exmark upper end residential and estate mowers. The 0.250 thick blades are common on commercial units.
The 0.167 blades are pretty cheap and don’t last very long. They are very easy to sharpen with a file.
The 0.204 and 0.250 blades are a bit harder to sharpen with a file. Some of them are nearly impossible to sharpen with a file.
Oregon. Stens, and Rotary make good quality aftermarket blades.

Look for Marbain blades. They are OEM on lots of commercial mowers. They are not soft.View attachment 58739

Thanks for reminding me about Rockwell hardness. I am aware of it but until now have applied that knowledge only to bolts, locks and chain. Maybe that'll help me get better blades.

 

[MParr]

@Alex Ethridge
Are you looking for blades on a particular mower?

 

[Alex Ethridge]

@Alex Ethridge
Are you looking for blades on a particular mower?

Thanks for asking.
Not now. I've got two soft-metal blades for my Husqvarna 30-inch zero-turn, one new one I put on today and a spare and two spares for my Bolens 21-inch walk-behind. I hope it will be a long while before I need another.

But when I do, I'll be looking for much better steel.

 

[MParr]

I don’t know if you are going to have much luck with the Husqvarna. Oregon makes one that will fit. Stens doesn’t carry one. So you are basically stuck buying a genuine Husqvarna blade, a Rotary brand aftermarket blade or a Oregon aftermarket blade. Here’s the Rotary blade.

50456

50456

www.rotarycorp.com

https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/mulching-blade,-gator®-g5™,-29-5-8%22/p/595-807
Oregon G-5 part # 595-807

 

[Alex Ethridge]

I don’t know if you are going to have much luck with the Husqvarna. Oregon makes one that will fit. Stens doesn’t carry one. So you are basically stuck buying a genuine Husqvarna blade, a Rotary brand aftermarket blade or a Oregon aftermarket blade. Here’s the Rotary blade.

50456

50456

www.rotarycorp.com

https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/mulching-blade,-gator®-g5™,-29-5-8%22/p/595-807
Oregon G-5 part # 595-807

Thanks for that information. I've put it in my Reference folder.

 

[GentlemanFahmah]

Boy I've had nothing but good luck with and am very impressed with the Oregon G5 blades. They are MUCH heavier, bigger, thicker, and hold up well.