Since buying my used '97 721D a few years ago, I have experimented with the various styles of blades. It came with a set of mid-lift blades and I wasn't too impressed. I tried low/contour and hi-lift blades and again... OK, but nothing to rave about. This season I picked up a set of the fingered "gator" blades made by Oregon. Man! these suckers are like twice as thick of the ones I had previously. The cut quality is very, very nice. I can cut full throttle, wide-open in even thick or wet grass and it snips them like a scalpel. My only gripe is that the middle & discharge side blades were hitting each other. They were the proper model/length, but every once in a while they'd hit and it was scary and noisy! I ended up removing the right/discharge end blade and took about a millimeter off each end. Once I had it oh-so-slightly shortened (and balanced) I re-installed and the occasional knocking disappeared.
I have a 72" deck. Anyone else have similar troubles on their decks with this style blade? I just found it odd that the recommended blades would do that?!? It could cause a potential deck damage and/or someone getting very seriously hurt should one or more blades fracture or shatter while engaged!
