Mower blades, regular, mulching, or high lift?

[shelkol]

I have a BX2200, RCK60, and a GCK bagger. My issues are when using the bagger (1)the leaves don't get cut up fine and(2) when I mow, leaves blow out the front right of the mower deck and not getting sucked up by the bagger. I am still using the original Kubota blades but thinking if new blades could cure this then I'm all in. BTW, I mow when I have to, so I read this may not be good with mulching blades. So what's everyone's thoughts?

 

[je1279]

I'm a big fan of the Oregon Gator blades for mulching leaves in the fall (I do not use a bagger). I still get some blowout under the front of the deck, but with a few passes, the leaves are minced up into small pieces. I would look for the compatible Gator G5 blades for your mower deck.

 

[will721]

I'm a big fan of the Oregon Gator blades for mulching leaves in the fall (I do not use a bagger). I still get some blowout under the front of the deck, but with a few passes, the leaves are minced up into small pieces. I would look for the compatible Gator G5 blades for your mower deck.

Second vote for g5s. They are tanks. I have a set on my zero turn. Work well and very durable. I mow over small branches, rocks, and other things better suited to a brush hog alot, just grind out the dents and sharpen once a year. Be warned they are VERY heavy blades and will have a tendency to bog down your machine on start up and heavy thick grass. I just make sure I stop before engaging and slow down a bit to keep blade speed up.

 

[mikester]

The mulching blades worked well for mulching but didn't have enough lift to pick up dandelions and plantains when running my ZTR at full speed. I've gone back to high lift blades. The other benefit is it throws the cuttings further. Handy for cleanup when clearing and mulching fallen leaves.

 

[Tim Horton]

Once I assembled a compatible mid mower deck to an older tractor.. The deck came with a new set of Gator style non OEM blades.. I used them, OEM blades, and aftermarket blades with the results being no one type worked any better than another.. On my ground and mowing conditions I did not have a bagger, so I continued to use the much cheaper after market standard style blades..

I did things like use an older set of blades for the first couple spring cuttings.. Newer blades in mowing season and older blades again in fall to push back rougher edges of bush...

 

[GreensvilleJay]

high lift blades are usually needed for a bagger... that info 'should' be in teh bagger manual....

 

[shelkol]

high lift blades are usually needed for a bagger... that info 'should' be in teh bagger manual....

The GCK has a PTO powered suction fan so that may not be necessary. i bought the bagger used so no manual - maybe I'll look for one on line. thanks

 

[John T]

Anyone using the G6 blades? Or are they too much overkill as far as weight /size ... ?

 

[mikester]

Anyone using the G6 blades? Or are they too much overkill as far as weight /size ... ?

I've used them. Don't know what you mean by overkill they do the job they are designed for.

 

[shelkol]

I looked into G5 and G6 blades but couldn't find a cross reference from the Kubota numbers. There also doesn't seem to a guide to look it up by dimensions. SO I wound up doing nothing. I'm also not sure that it will do anything to reduce the blowby from the front right of the deck.

 

[SDT]

The GCK has a PTO powered suction fan so that may not be necessary. i bought the bagger used so no manual - maybe I'll look for one on line. thanks

I have the optional powered bagger for my B1750 with 60" MMM, though I have not used it in years.

I've used both regular and high lift blades and the high lift blades work better with/without bagger.

 

[chim]

I made a set of blades with extensions on the flipped-up "wings" for my old 5' side discharge deck and they do better on leaves than anything else I've tried. Here are a couple pics from a few weeks ago when the first batch of leaves came down. These blades chop the leaves to the point that not much of a wind row forms. As the mower progresses away from the areas of heavier leaf deposit there's eventually nothing left to mow/'blow.

 

[chim]

Here's a little better example of the blade performance. The post from Monday was using the little Ford 1210. Th weather turned sharply colder here, so I wussed out and put the Ford's 5' deck on the Kubota to take advantage of the cab. There was a brief learning curve because the Kubota always has the 7-1/2' deck for mowing. Sweet Pea questioned the setup right away - "Grandpadaddy, why that blue on the tractor?"

Anyway, this part of the yard is between the road and the creek. With the prevailing winds I get a lot of oak leaves from across the road with the heaviest deposits near the road. The first picture shows the wind row after a few passes.

The second shot show what's left of the leaves with only a few passes before the creek. This afternoon/evening I spent some quality time grinding up the rest of the leaves.

 

[John T]

I looked into G5 and G6 blades but couldn't find a cross reference from the Kubota numbers. .

for a 60" deck....
You want Oregon part# 396-612

It is the Gator G6 blade(s)
20-1/2" long
7/8" hole
3" wide

 

[John T]

I've used them. Don't know what you mean by overkill they do the job they are designed for.

By "overkill" I was referring to the weight of the blade.
(bogging the engine etc)

I now know it's not an issue....

I used my new G6 blades yesterday...... cut up the rest of the oak leaves and cut everything down to 2"

they worked fantastic.
no bogging the engine at all... in thick leaves

Noticeably more suction on the left side when slightly raising the deck.... also chops everything up nicely... I did not close off the side discharge... but it I did I'm sure it would do a proper job mulching everything....

deck is off for the winter..... we will revisit this in the spring.....
but I'm very happy with the Gator G6 ..... so far.

sidenote, all 3 blades were dead nuts balanced...... that was nice to see.

 

[mikester]

I was happy with the G6 blades, for me they lasted longer than the high lift. I did find that the G6 blades were more prone to leaving clumps because they couldn't throw the swarf as far as the high lift blades. I've gone back to the high lift ones as they are cheaper and better for fall leaf cleanup.