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I have a 1 year and 2 week old troy bilt mustang xp 50 zero turn, it has 20 hours of mow time on it, this evening it will have its 10TH set of blades!!!! AGHHHHH someone please help me!!! I live in bauxite arkansas, ton of sand in the soil, and every other mow of my 2 acres i have to put new blades, it like sand blasts the 1 inch of the end of each blade off. troy bilt is no help, there is only 1 blade available for this mower and its the factory mtd junk blades. I need a 17.3 inch long 6 star blade thats made out of a better material or something, anyone have any idea? Oregon makes nothing, literally cant find anything for my needs, ive put 800$ worth of blades on this mower in 1 year, i cant do it anymore, im desperate!!

Bummer on the blades! I've seen pics of blades getting worn down by sand but never heard of it this fast! Time to move someplace else. I have had the same blades on my mower for 6 years. I sharpen them twice a season and that's it. I use Oregon G5 blades and love them. If you can't find new blades, can you swap out the spindles? See if another manufacturers spindles will fit the same mounting holes on the deck. Then you can get Oregon blades for those spindles instead. Good luck!

problem is oregon makes no 17 inch blades, for any center hole type... so im screwed there, never had this problem until i purchased this mower, blades have always lasted me years at a time, but i was always able to get good aftermarket blades... none of my neighbors have this problem, just me and my troy bilt... i wonder if i can buy an 18 inch blade with the 6 star and somehow cut it to what i need lol

Model number of the mower?

Do you have a mulch kit installed? Are those Hi-Vac blades? How close to the ground are you cutting?
If yes, yes, yes then...remove mulch kit, use low lift blades and raise your cut height.
What mower did you use before this one that you say you didn't have problem with?

patrickjud said:

problem is oregon makes no 17 inch blades, for any center hole type... so im screwed there, never had this problem until i purchased this mower, blades have always lasted me years at a time, but i was always able to get good aftermarket blades... none of my neighbors have this problem, just me and my troy bilt... i wonder if i can buy an 18 inch blade with the 6 star and somehow cut it to what i need lol

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They make several 17"+ blades.. .

598-064 17-5/16 5/8 Y, 6 pt. star 5/16 2-1/2 3 0.149 5/16 1 G5™

98-064-1 17-5/16 5/8 Y, 6 pt. star 5/16 2-1/2 2.5 0.187 1/4 1-3/16

https://www.oregonproducts.com/pdfs/OregonBladesByLength.pdf

dont have the model on me, can get it when i get home.

no mulch kit, yes high lift blade (they dont make low lift... hints my problem here) and i mow generally with this mower on 4, i used to mow with my cub on 2

The first one is actually 17 7/8 of an inch, the second one however is 17 5/16's but i wonder, the one i have is 17.27, the oregon is 17.31... will that .04 inches make the blades touch? it would actually only be .02 from center of spindle out, but .04 overall length.

Midniteoyl said:

They make several 17"+ blades.. .

598-064 17-5/16 5/8 Y, 6 pt. star 5/16 2-1/2 3 0.149 5/16 1 G5™

98-064-1 17-5/16 5/8 Y, 6 pt. star 5/16 2-1/2 2.5 0.187 1/4 1-3/16

https://www.oregonproducts.com/pdfs/OregonBladesByLength.pdf

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http://m.lowes.com/pd/Troy-Bilt-3-Pack-50-in-Multipurpose-Riding-Lawn-Mower-Blades/4367843
Everything I have found called for 17 7/8" measured diagonally. Tons of blades for it.

No, the 17 and 7/8 blades fit the previous to 2015 models, they are too long for mine, mine measure 17.3 inches diagonally, I have tried 5 sets that were 17 7/8... can't even bolt them up because the star doesn't align and they touch the sides

Again why we need the model number.

In time I'm sure they will make a better blade.I know there are some universal blades available. Get your model number and try going to a small engine shop not a dealer.Use to live in your area but thats been over 15 years ago don't remember what's there .

17arcacq011 model number

These blades are 10 days old, mowed my 2 acres twice, no gravel, no ditches, just really flat land, back edge of blades start getting super thin after first mow then start to chip off pieces on second mow, like clock work

That's not very good service out of blades.

Troy builts use a standard MTD 6 point star spindles so blades are not hard to come by.
Cubs, MTD's, Yardmans, all use the same spindles on some models.
It comes in 2 sizes a small and a large.
To overcome this aftermarket suppliers use a Y shapped hole which fits both size stars and a lot of odd sized round holes as well.
Take your old blade to a small non franchised mower repair shop who deals with aftermarket parts suppliers.
They will have catalogues which list aftermarket blades by length.
My RGS catalogue lists 42 blades that are 17" long and another 8 that are less than 5/16" too long an amount which is easily trimmed off.

Another work around I use for blades with funny centre holes that are NLA is to cut the centre out of a set if old blades.
Put these over the spindles as a blade holder then fit a new blade to that with a longer bolt.
Some times I have to make up spacers to accomodate the difference between the blade hole size and the bolt diameter.
For these I can usually take a slice off old pulley bushes or grinding wheel arbour spacers.

I end up fitting a lot of old cub blades as these are really tough and are still available in flat, low & high lift.

Is it me or does that blade look upside down?

I ordered a set that was posted earlier, they are the right length but a tad wide, so we will see, blades aren't on upside down, they say bottom on the bottom of the blades, I know about the yeti and 6 star thing, but finding 17.3 inch blade in either has been impossible, luckily someone posted earlier some that are very very close, so I will try them, they will be here Tuesday, I will update once I get them and try them middle of the week, they are made of much thicker and a stronger steel, so hopefully they last longer

BlazNT said:

Is it me or does that blade look upside down?

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That pic is taken from the chute opening, not from under the deck

patrickjud said:

That pic is taken from the chute opening, not from under the deck

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That makes a lot more sense.

patrickjud said:

I ordered a set that was posted earlier, they are the right length but a tad wide, so we will see, blades aren't on upside down, they say bottom on the bottom of the blades, I know about the yeti and 6 star thing, but finding 17.3 inch blade in either has been impossible, luckily someone posted earlier some that are very very close, so I will try them, they will be here Tuesday, I will update once I get them and try them middle of the week, they are made of much thicker and a stronger steel, so hopefully they last longer

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Wider shouldn't be a issue

Let us know how they work out.

Agri Supply has a great tool for looking up blades by length and center hole.

http://www.agrisupply.com/lawn-mower-blades/c/5600008/

Find an Oregon G6 blade of the right length and adapt your mower to fit it. I bought a G6 blade that was made for a John Deere zero turn, made some modifications and put it on my Honda walk behind. The cut quality is amazing and I get 15+ hours of usage out of each blade in extreme conditions. They would last even longer if I didn't mow sandy yards.

I don't know what time of day you are mowing, but it might help if you mow in the morning before the dew dries off the grass. The sand and dust won't get sucked up as easily, meaning less wear on your blades.

Your picture looks like the chunk is broken off, not the action of sand blast ( maybe I missed something). No one has mentioned cutting down a longer blade that is a good one. I remember measuring my Craftsman 48 blade thickness @ .200" Is it the thickness that is at issue?

Gator G6 blades are .250" thick.

Just be aware that the same sand that is cutting your blades to pieces, is also in the process of cutting off the bottom third of your mower deck in line with the ends of the blades.

Blades are on upside down. those little wings are not made to cut. If your blades were wearing out to soon the entire blade would show a lot more wear on the cutting edge. MTD blades are top notch as a rule. Something else is wrong. 8oo bucks for ten sets of blades is a bit steep as well. I just looked again at the picture. Its not the backwards its the blades are hitting together at the wings. Look at your edge. Almost no wear. The wing on the other hand seems to be just broken and beaten to death. Something else is wrong. Bent spindles. Blades to long. Something other than just sand.

possum said:

Blades are on upside down. those little wings are not made to cut. If your blades were wearing out to soon the entire blade would show a lot more wear on the cutting edge. MTD blades are top notch as a rule. Something else is wrong. 8oo bucks for ten sets of blades is a bit steep as well. I just looked again at the picture. Its not the backwards its the blades are hitting together at the wings. Look at your edge. Almost no wear. The wing on the other hand seems to be just broken and beaten to death. Something else is wrong. Bent spindles. Blades to long. Something other than just sand.

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I agree that this does not look like sand damage. I have been looking all over the net for this kind of damage on another set of blades and can not find anything like it. The tips look like the have been ripped of not warn down.

patrickjud said:

These blades are 10 days old, mowed my 2 acres twice, no gravel, no ditches, just really flat land, back edge of blades start getting super thin after first mow then start to chip off pieces on second mow, like clock work

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Pull the other one.
10 days old, with the cutting edged scalloped in 1/2 " and flute erroded and cracking off along the bend line plus the flute tip flung off and bent backwards, not likely
And if that shot was taken from underneath the mower then the blades is upside down.
So this does not add up.

I have customers with council ( town hall to some ) contracts to mow road verges in rural areas.
They run over bricks , old car parts, bottles , gravel, dumped concrete, steel cans, old matresses, dead animals, saplings , sand and heaven only knows what else and they don't get wear like that in 200 hours.
And you are trying to tell us that is 4 hours cutting.

I don't know what you are playing at, but I got better things to do with my time.

Also I am yet to find a blade marked top or bottom.
I fit original blades, Stens blades, Oregon blades, Gripskies blades , ASM blades & Rotary blades. The only marking I have ever come across on any of them is "Grass Side " or "Grass This Side". Some of the ASM blades have something written on them in Spanish and again it in on the grass side. I think the Gator blades have their Oregon part number on the top side.

SO good by & good luck.

Bert, The Craftsman 48 blade has "grass side" imprinted. You gotta scrape off the dried spinach to see it.

What height do you set your deck to? Maybe you can set it a notch or two higher to reduce the contacts with sand and other debris.

WoW Patrick :shocked: Does someone else get on your mower when you are gone and trim down the rock garden? I've never seen a blade damaged in that way with so little use. Well there was that one time I ran over the anchor from my Jon boat.
Listen, it can't hurt to rule out other possible problems. Your machine has a 3 year warrantee and I understand the blades do not fall under that but if it were mine I would take it too the dealer and have the machine checked for possible engine overspeed. I dunno, just tell them you think it is surging or something. If it came from a box store you will have to call them first and they likely have a local mower shop do their work. If you get that through, have them open full throttle and do a RPM check. If they find no problem, then take your $800 worth of wasted blades with you and show that. Is there a metallic sound coming from the deck when you mow?