Gator blade review

[08quadram]

I've decided to sharpen my Gator blades for the first time in two years. I have never sharpen them before. I have to say I'm very amazed at what they look like after 2 years of mowing over sticks and many other things I probably shouldn't.

I did notice an immediate Improvement in the cut quality of the standard 60 inch deck. Pick up of grass behind the front wheels was marginally improved with the exception of the passenger side. Overall I'm still unhappy with the deck. The blades on the other hand are awesome. Attached are a couple of photos as I took them off the mower deck. Keep in mind these have not been sharpened since the day they were put on new.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

 

[D2Cat]

About a minute with a 4" grinder with a flap disc, check the balance and put them back on! Looks like you been staying in the grass.

 

[boz1989]

I want to like my gator blades, but they send alot of debris out of the left front corner of the deck. They do a good job of destroying leaves, but also does a good job of plugging up the radiator. I only use gators a couple times in the fall, and the first cut in the spring, then go back to the original blades.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

 

[Daren Todd]

I want to like my gator blades, but they send alot of debris out of the left front corner of the deck. They do a good job of destroying leaves, but also does a good job of plugging up the radiator. I only use gators a couple times in the fall, and the first cut in the spring, then go back to the original blades.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

Same here. The stock high lift blades are getting reinstalled on my mower this weekend. Will save the gator blades for the leaves.

Biggest issue I've seen with the gator blades is they can't keep up with the mowing speed of my zero turn. Gotta cut the mowing speed down to about 4mph instead of the 8mph mowing speed.

 

[mikester]

Same here. The stock high lift blades are getting reinstalled on my mower this weekend. Will save the gator blades for the leaves.

Biggest issue I've seen with the gator blades is they can't keep up with the mowing speed of my zero turn. Gotta cut the mowing speed down to about 4mph instead of the 8mph mowing speed.

I kinda found the same thing. I could still go fast on the grass but stuff like dandelion and plantain stalks wouldn't cut as well because the blades didn't have enough lift. Tall grass tended to leave more clump trails with the gators where the high lift blades blew the clippings away further from the machine.

I have sandy soil - I found the gators lasted 2+ years vs 1 year on the OEM high lift blades before they got sand blasted paper thin.

I've gone back to running the OEM high lift blades again.

 

[gcmiller]

I put Gator blades on my Toro ZTR and I was amazed. They tear through the grass and do a real number on the leaves. Because of that I decided to put them on my Caroni RFM and all I can say is 'meh.' I was very disappointed. On the RFM I see no difference between the Gators and the old, worn out OEMs that were on it before the swap. My guess is the ZTR blades spin faster than the RFM blades, giving them more lift and allowing back side of the blade to do its thing. It proves to me the performance of the blades is dependent on the machine they are on.

 

[D2Cat]

I got Gator Blades on a Grasshopper zero turn. Put them on last Fall. They've been on there since. I'm the maintenance man, wife is the mower. She like them. They sure don't slow her down!! It's been dry here, but even when it wasn't I heard nothing but superlatives.

She's out mowing right now at 1:15PM. Weather man said 99F today, stay out of the sun, 107-111 comfort index. So I'm in here messing on the internet. Crazy!