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When to replace mower blade

#1

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Well, I have ordered a new blade for my YBravo, but there seems to be a big delay with my order.

Meanwhile, I am still using a blade that I bought in the begining of the season. I wanted to know if the fact that it is loosing it's wings and starting to curve in on the areas where I sharpen it is going to affect anything? I havn't seen a huge difference. It can still stripe very good and it mulches good (I don't think the wings have to do anything with mulching tho).


#2

M

MRCo.

When the sails, what you call wings I think, wear away then the blade is done. Or if it's bent or badly unbalanced. If you have no vibration and it's doing the job then carry on.


#3

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Thank you for the input!


#4

P

possum

Check to see how thin the metal is near the wing. Some get so thin there they become sharp. Long before they begin to bow in on the cutting edge sometimes. You do not want a wing to break off for no reason other than being stingy and fly through a new car windshield, patio door, fuel tank on a 25 thousand dollar motorbike, persons body.


#5

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

possum said:
Check to see how thin the metal is near the wing. Some get so thin there they become sharp. Long before they begin to bow in on the cutting edge sometimes. You do not want a wing to break off for no reason other than being stingy and fly through a new car windshield, patio door, fuel tank on a 25 thousand dollar motorbike, persons body.
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I will check that out. Thanks for mentionning that.


#6

M

motoman

I operate in a very narrow range of experience-only one Craftsman rider. It has original blades .200" thick which I have hand ground since 2004. What is it that can thin out a blade ? sand, rocks? I have seen thinner blades for sale at Wal Mart. The 48 deck blades have wings even hulk could not bend.


#7

Av8r

Av8r

motoman said:
I operate in a very narrow range of experience-only one Craftsman rider. It has original blades .200" thick which I have hand ground since 2004. What is it that can thin out a blade ? sand, rocks? I have seen thinner blades for sale at Wal Mart. The 48 deck blades have wings even hulk could not bend.
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Sand is one of the biggest killers of blades, but grass wears them down over time too. Try to avoid Sandy areas, not easy though...


#8

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

I find it incredible how a thick piece of metal can thin out and dissapear. Here is a picture to do a comparison:
Lâmes de tondeuse (comparaison).jpg


#9

exotion

exotion

Lawnboy18 said:
I find it incredible how a thick piece of metal can thin out and dissapear. Here is a picture to do a comparison:
<img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachments/lawn-care-landscaping/22619-when-replace-mower-blade-la-mes-de-tondeuse-comparaison-jpg"/>
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Why is your wing missing a chunk? Also why is that an oem wave or just bad sharpening?


#10

Av8r

Av8r

exotion said:
Why is your wing missing a chunk? Also why is that an oem wave or just bad sharpening?
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I'm guessing that is how it wore down and they Sharpened to that contour. I keep em straight and take out nicks as well, then pitch em after I have taken off too much metal


#11

exotion

exotion

Never understood people who took a chunk out of the wing for balance. If my blade is off balance I take a couple more passes on the heavy side with the sharpener. The wing is the part of the blade that creates lift and circulation and you shouldn't mess with that


#12

M

motoman

You know I have the advantage of only mowing my yard which has no surprises. The picture looks like the blade hit a thousand mole hills to be ground down on the end!! The little imbalance I see when sharpening is fixed by grinding off the end of the offending side of the blade-usually no more than .020"-.060."


#13

Carscw

Carscw

exotion said:
Never understood people who took a chunk out of the wing for balance. If my blade is off balance I take a couple more passes on the heavy side with the sharpener. The wing is the part of the blade that creates lift and circulation and you shouldn't mess with that
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I don't think he took a chunk out of the wing.

I run my blades till the wings wear like that.

Now the curve. Never mind I will be nice.


#14



DJlawnboy

Carscw said:
I don't think he took a chunk out of the wing. I run my blades till the wings wear like that. Now the curve. Never mind I will be nice.
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Curves are sexy ;)


#15

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Ouch, as I can see sharpening is not my skill.

I did nothing to the blade. The cruve is just because I sharpened it so much (for a while I was sharpening every day). Is there a better way to sharpen without having that curve?

Now about the wings. Each wing has a hole in it for a certain reason. When the wings started to wear off, the hole was dissapearing, so I just grinded the hole slightly to not have an extremely sharp edge on the wings.

I do go over a few ant hills and such. I guess that doesnt help.


#16

Carscw

Carscw

Lawnboy18 said:
Ouch, as I can see sharpening is not my skill. I did nothing to the blade. The cruve is just because I sharpened it so much (for a while I was sharpening every day). Is there a better way to sharpen without having that curve? Now about the wings. Each wing has a hole in it for a certain reason. When the wings started to wear off, the hole was dissapearing, so I just grinded the hole slightly to not have an extremely sharp edge on the wings. I do go over a few ant hills and such. I guess that doesnt help.
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I still am not sure how you got the curve.
How do you sharping blades? What do you use?


#17

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

I just use a normal grinder with the wheel it came with. I just do many passes until the blade is sharp and I make sure that I have the right pitch (45).


#18

Nwatson99

Nwatson99

DJlawnboy said:
Curves are sexy ;)
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LB18 first off ignore this user, he does not have a clue what he says and only follows around a mod kissing his butt.

Okay wow you like to sharpen which is good, however I think you went a little hog wild there with the grinder. LOL
Now you are using the wrong type of wheel to sharpen your blade you need a flapper type wheel with 40 or 60 grit, then be careful to try and maintain your pitch on your blade while sharpening of 30 degrees.
Grass, dirt, sand, leaves, sticks, it is all hard on blades and metal is just metal so don't feel too bad or worry about how it is wearing or deteriorating, it would take 2.5 or 3 of your blades to make one of mine and my blades are not as wide as they were when I started mowing this season because I constantly check them and hit them with the flapper wheel every week maintaining their edge, but when you mow 12 plus acres per week your are into a some grass.
But to answer the main question; I personally would not have allowed my blades to wear that much before replacement, but each is their own.


#19



DJlawnboy

Nwatson99 said:
LB18 first off ignore this user, he does not have a clue what he says and only follows around a mod kissing his butt. Okay wow you like to sharpen which is good, however I think you went a little hog wild there with the grinder. LOL Now you are using the wrong type of wheel to sharpen your blade you need a flapper type wheel with 40 or 60 grit, then be careful to try and maintain your pitch on your blade while sharpening of 30 degrees. Grass, dirt, sand, leaves, sticks, it is all hard on blades and metal is just metal so don't feel too bad or worry about how it is wearing or deteriorating, it would take 2.5 or 3 of your blades to make one of mine and my blades are not as wide as they were when I started mowing this season because I constantly check them and hit them with the flapper wheel every week maintaining their edge, but when you mow 12 plus acres per week your are into a some grass. But to answer the main question; I personally would not have allowed my blades to wear that much before replacement, but each is their own.
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I was making a joke. Now go do something productive. Oh wait...you live off the taxpayer because a "bad back". Enjoying that overpriced mower the we bought you?


#20

Nwatson99

Nwatson99

DJlawnboy said:
I was making a joke. Now go do something productive. Oh wait...you live off the taxpayer because a "bad back". Enjoying that overpriced mower the we bought you?
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My mower is just fine and really nice, don't you wish you had something?


#21



DJlawnboy

Nwatson99 said:
My mower is just fine and really nice, don't you wish you had something?
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I do. Just because I have looking to buy doesn't mean I have don't multiple mowers already. You didn't deny you live off taxpayer money for a fake injury. The IRS would like a word with you I'm sure.


#22

Nwatson99

Nwatson99

DJlawnboy said:
I do. Just because I have looking to buy doesn't mean I have don't multiple mowers already. You didn't deny you live off taxpayer money for a fake injury. The IRS would like a word with you I'm sure.
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Call it as you want.
I would like to give you two things.
1. My pain for 48 hrs
2. It would be a honor to dot your i's and cross you t's for you little keyboard commando.
Oh don't you have some butt kissing to be doing kid?


#23

Carscw

Carscw

Step away from the keyboard and count to 10


#24

M

motoman

If a blade is curved as new and is forced accross a flat table ginder relsults can be strange. Usually ,if offhand grinding is done it is with with a hard wheel. I though flapper wheels are for finishing and removing only small amounts of material. But if it works...good.


#25

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Thankyou for the input Nwatson!

I completely forgot about the flap wheel. Someone mentionned that to me once. I think it would be time to get one before I mess up my new blade. I guess the whole point is to not remove too much material from the blade.


#26

B

Blaine B.

I haven't replaced my blade in over 7 years on my Toro. I just sharpen it. It isn't bent or unbalanced.


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