Ya think he needs new blades

[Hammermechanicman]

When I needed a new set of blades I order 2 sets, one for the customer & one for stock
As there used to be a 100% mark up on blades it meant I got a set for stock at n actual out of pocket costs.
Thus the blades I have in stock are the ones I need and the common ones like Murray MTD JD & AYP 42" I carry 10 sets , built up over time.
When a supplier does a run out of old slow moving blades I also buy some of them .
This practice has gotten me a quite a few customers because they go to the dealer & get told NLA then come to me & I have them in stock
So for instance I have a lot of old pattern MTD blades I bought at $ 5 & sell at $ 30 to $ 50 as the customers can only get them from online merchants in the USA .
Even then I get caught now & then as over the past 3 years of drought they have been eating blades .
Same story with belts so I always have customers belts in stock otherwise I loose the sale and for pats only customers, the customer as well .
I put a dot on the sleeve or some times the customers name so I know I am fitting a belt I must replace if I am doing a new customers mower.
Blades are one of those add on items used to get free delivery on small orders .
I try to have everything I need on hand so I can turn over the mowers quickly then replace the parts used in a monthly order.
Doing it this way makes it difficult for the auditors as a single repair may have parts ordered from 4 different suppliers anything up to 2 months after the job was done .
Modern accounting practice is to keep minimum inventory & order in only when needed so it confuses the baby faced tax men no end.
OTOH I do not pay tax on my inventory only on the turn over .

I have done things like that. Small things with close to 100% markup i will order 2 when i need one. Head gaskets, fuel pump, voltage regulator, starter relay and things like that. Puts smalls in stock without cash outlay. Of course i had a dumb ass attack and ordered 2 more shop packs of J19LM plugs instead of RC12YC plugs. Now i have close to 100 J19LM plugs. And the shop pack of BPMR7A plugs are still on backorder.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Wish I could get shop packs of plugs
Only 10 packs for NGK's & 4 packs for Champions which makes them quite dear
OTOH I very rarely change plugs , just check & regap.
The idea of changing a plug in a mower at 100 or 200 hours when the exact same plug will run for 5000 + hours in an air cooled motorcycle engine with fixed timing is just stupid .
We usually get some good pre-season deals
Stens give big discounts if you spend big & allow staged repayments so $ 3000 buys a whole seasons worth of blades at a 15% discount .
I used try to order plugs at the same time but Stens do not stock Champion any more just NGK .

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I change hundreds of good plugs. When customers get annual maint they get new plug(s). This from the guy with a 23 year old shihl fs80 trimmer that has had over a hundred tanks of fuel through it that has had 5 new trimmer heads and 1 new spark plug.

 

[7394]

My Vintage Flathead Briggs 22" pusher still has the OE spark plug & mows great. Wife starts it on 1 pull.. That's her mower, I just keep it up.

But I did finally replace the OE blade.. Other was not worn out, but was slightly bent.. (operator error, rocks don't need mowed)..

 

[hlw49]

Those look pretty good compared to some I have seen had one come in with half a blade on it.

 

[7394]

I'm surprised the sails didn't break off that blade.. Both are cracked badly.

 

[hlw49]

View attachment 59772

JD Z245. This is one season on these blades. Guy lives on a farm. I just finished scraping still wet grass from last season out od the deck. It was packed so bad the grass was down to the blades. Had to use a pry bar to get most of it out.

I made me a scraper to clean under the decks when I service mowers. It the scraper the carpet layers use to get the pad up. I just ground it where it is narrower so I can get in the front part of the deck where the lip is. Works pretty good but there are some where your really have to work to get the packed in grass off the deck.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I use a scraper called the grass buster. Works good except when the grass is packed 4" deep then i use a 2 ft prybar to pry out the big chunks first.

Grassbuster Lawn Mower Deck Cleaning and Scraping Tool | S750700

GrassBuster lawn mower deck scraper specifically designed to clean debris from lawn mower decks. Commercial grade , 2" wide stainless-steel blade, flexible curved tip conforms to underside and will not scratch. 5" polypropylene handle with rubber overgrip. Deck Scraper. Clean decks improve mower...

www.mowmore.com

 

[StarTech]

Oh I was just been thinking using a drop or two of Nitro. I about got all the holes in my yard filled in now. I just charge for filling my yard holes.

 

[oldlawnguy]

View attachment 59772

JD Z245. This is one season on these blades. Guy lives on a farm. I just finished scraping still wet grass from last season out od the deck. It was packed so bad the grass was down to the blades. Had to use a pry bar to get most of it out.

Looks like he's got the deck set pretty low to the ground and cutting very overgrown grass and/or he's going over big patches of bone dry aggregate. Signs of sand, pebbles and dirt by the wear marks on lift area. Jeez the wear on the blade edge isn't from just grass IMHO.