# Gator Blade Owners



## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

Gator Blade Owners......I know a few of you have purchased gator blades this spring and, there are a few of us waiting to hear your opinions regarding quality of cut, hardness, lift , price and any other comments you may have.

Would you recommend them to others?


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

They work great on my Cub dont know how they work on the GT5000 Andy said he bought some dont know if he has tried them out yet. But i would recommend them as a very good blade for the money.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

hey i cut my back lawn the other day it was 6-8" high.. (I cut it high) the gators did leave a little bit of a stip in some spots... but the clippings werre not nearly as bad as my regular blades... instead of sweeping the lawn... i cut it 2 days later (at a lower height) and there is pretty much no sign of grass clippings... i say.. thumbs up to the gators so far...


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I have a set a Gator Blades that I recently purchased but I have not installed them yet. SJ's post and comments above about the clippings has motivated me to install them to try them out. I end up letting my grass go too far and the clippings are a real problem. I end up running over them several times to get them down to a managable size.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

i was impressed.. under normal curcumstances i would definetly needed to sweep the lawn.. i cut it for the 2nd time 4 days ago and really there is barely any sign of grass clipping left.. i would have had to sweep it after each cuttin with my regular blades... cause there was a lot of grass

i was a little worried when i saw the stips of missed grass that it left the 1st time around... it looked like i cut the lawn drunk.. actually my better half asked me just that... 


I think it was just cutting a little utoo fast and too much grass...


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## Spike (Sep 26, 2003)

I've had the same satisfying results. I no longer worry about having to sweep or run over the lawn a second time.

Prior to putting them on I was having problems leveling the deck because the cut wasn't even. When I installed the Gators, the cut was very even. Not sure why that happened. This was a new LT2000 so the blades were also new.

Anyway, well worth the purchase!!!


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## Fusion1970 (Feb 23, 2004)

This year, I am trying to faithfully abide by the "1/3 rule". I am cutting my grass every 4 or 5 days. There has been a couple times where I had to wait because the ground was so wet, so it was rather tall when I was finally able to cut it. It has been tall enough that I could see some clippings left behind, but slowing down a bit makes a big difference. My neighbors yard always has strips of brown grass everywhere when hes done, but theres none in my yard. 

I thought my little Toro PP walk behind cut good, but I realize how well I like the gator blades when I see grass left behind from the Toro. The gator blades are awesome, and when they wear out, I plan to replace them with more Gator blades. 

I seem to have the best results with the mulch plug in place. Would I reccommend them? Yes!

Greg


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## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

Glad to see they work well on the Cub and Simplicity Decks and
I know sixchows likes how they worked on his Sears 50” deck but
I don’t think they work very well on the GT5000 48” deck. In fact
IMO the blades that came with the mulching kit work a little better
than the Gators (but they don’t work too well either)

I’ve gone fast, slow, medium, frontward, backward, and re-cut at
90 Deg. to my 1st cut direction. Mulching with the 48” deck sucks, 
it leaves too much grass behind in clumps and windrows, so I end
up going over everything twice. Cutting with an elevated discharge
shield, with the mulching blades that come with the Sears mulching
kit, seems to be the least objectionable outcome.

I cut between 1 and 1-1/2 inches off the lawn and I’m zero for 2004
in my mulching attempts. I have even waited until 3pm to start cutting
to get the lawn as dry as possible (just makes neater clumps)

If anybody has successfully mulched with the Sears 48” deck (with or 
without Gators) please send help, I’m all ears.


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## guest2 (Dec 27, 2003)

aegt5000
Everything you describe about your adventure with the 48" deck is what I was going through with the 50" before the gators. And besides all that, the OEM blades on the 50" deck were really cheap. I was constantly replacing bent blades. These are much stronger and hold their edge much better. With the deflector removed there is hardly ever a trace of clippings even when a little long or wet. Maybe the shape of the deck? The 50' deck is almost flat.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by sixchows _
> *
> With the deflector removed there is hardly ever a trace of clippings even when a little long or wet. *


6 chows
do you remove your deflector shield? i was always told that was a bad thing as rocks and juck could go flying anywhere.. sort of makes sense...


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

My old Snapper has lost its deflector shield long before i ever got it and with the gator on it it does great side discharging. My cub i haven't done anything but Mulch But if my grass gets so high i have to side discharge i will not put down the deflector shield . I see how my neighbor yard look when he cuts grass. If you had a small baler you could bale hay with the rows of grass it leaves


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

aegt5000

That is the same thing I experienced with the mulching blades...I finally put the original blades back on....the problem with the original blades is to much lift....I was trimming near one of my wifes mulched flower beds and sucked all the mulch out of it...but other than that, they do a fine job...the mulching kit was a waste of money..


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## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

The blades that come with Sears mulching kit are about as thick
as the Gators. Both the Sears mulching blades and the Gators do
a better job (with open side discharge) than the hi-lift blades that 
came with the deck.

I cut all last season with the high lifts and open discharge. If I limited
the cut to max 1-1/2 in the clippings left behind were acceptable. This
spring I started with the mulching kit and was not happy so I ordered
the Gators. Swapped to Gators with the mulching plug in and was not
happy. Switched back to Sears mulching blades, better but still not good.

Idea’s anyone….. ....anyone…… ....ANYONE !!!!!


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## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

Agree...Do you have the 48" deck ??


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by aegt5000 _
> *Agree...Do you have the 48" deck ?? *


Yes mine is the 48"!! I'm surprised your not satisfied with the original high lift blades.....I primarily switched to the mulching blades to ease the suction...but after cutting it when it was dry and the deck was puking up piles of grass every 50'....that was enough for me....maybe the deck is designed to be strictly side discharge.


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## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

Agree...

It’s not that I wasn’t satisfied with the hi-lifts, I used them all
last season. But after hearing all the great talk about mulching
I had visions of a “Broom Swept” lawn dancing in my head 
when I installed the mulching kit. My mulching experience
sounds pretty much like yours, so I went back to side discharge
and left the mulching blades on. (they are much quieter though)


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## guest2 (Dec 27, 2003)

sj
Yea, I know it might not be the safest way but the deflector shield just rolls out a line of clippings or due to the overall width of the deck just digs a trench along any high spots. Anyway most older mowers like my bolens don't have any shields, I just try to be a little more careful and keep people and pets out of the way.


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## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

Dam the people and pets...Full speed ahead !!!

Give me Liberty or give me Deck !!!!

Don't shoot until you see the whites of their Wheels !!!


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## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by simple_john _
> *hey i cut my back lawn the other day it was 6-8" high.. (I cut it high) *


I guess  

Sounds like me realy. With all the rain, and break downs, been tough to keep it mowed. I DO like to keep it under a foot high though, that way I can see the stumps I have not removed yet.


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by aegt5000 _
> *Agree...
> 
> It’s not that I wasn’t satisfied with the hi-lifts, I used them all
> ...


Yeah...I had the same visions....what a bunch of malarky that was!!!Broom swept my ass....if broom swept means leaving a pile every 50', then I couldn't find the dust pan to pick the piles up.


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## DeereBob (Sep 16, 2003)

As I have posted before, the gators rubbed on my JD mulch plug so I changed back to the JD mulch blades which work pretty well even when the grass is long and wet. The gators, however, provide more lift so they work better with my Power Flow Bagger than stock JD blades. So my results are mixed with gators because of the incompatibility with my mulch plug.


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## terrapin24h (Jun 4, 2004)

> _Originally posted by aegt5000 _
> *Glad to see they work well on the Cub and Simplicity Decks and
> I know sixchows likes how they worked on his Sears 50” deck but
> I don’t think they work very well on the GT5000 48” deck. In fact
> ...


Hi all, long time reader first time poster 

I have a sears 42" deck(on an LT2000) and have found it's ability to mulch good but also very senstive to leveling. Perhaps when you have the gators on, you need to muck around with the level a bit(maybe it needs to be not level due to the shape of the deck)? Before i leveled mine, it did not mulch all that good, nor did it cut evenly. It was about 1/3 of a bubble off when I check the underside of the deck with a level. Now it's much better. Maybe you should try that? ALso, how often do you clean your deck? I have heard that can sometimes affect things too. good luck !


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

Welcome Chris:friends: Thanks for the info glad to see you post. As far as cleaning the bottom of my deck i do it three time a year its not that bad when i do just want to make sure noting rusting.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Let me offer my welcome as well Chris! :friends: :cheers: Great to have you aboard.


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## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

Welcome Chris and thanks for you post.

Side to side the deck is level with the front 1/4 to 3/8 lower than the back.
The setup produces a very nice cut but it just doesn’t mulch well.

I give the deck a quick cleaning after every use and a thorough cleaning at
mid season. With the mulching plug in the deck totally loads up in about
100 feet.


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

Welcome Chris.....yep everything is level...it's simple...the 48" deck does not lend itself well to mulching.


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## luckycharms (Dec 4, 2003)

I used a set on my Scotts GT and have noticed a much improved cut with less clippings and bulk discharge problems that were attributed to the poor cut and clumping of the original blades. I think it was well worth the $ and I look forward to having them on my rig for quite some time.

-LC


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

Good to see you back on Lucky where you been hiding:hide:


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## balmoralboy (May 22, 2004)

*Don't Shoot!*



> _Originally posted by aegt5000 _
> *Dam the people and pets...Full speed ahead !!!
> 
> Give me Liberty or give me Deck !!!!
> ...


Mine did shoot on Tuesday when I was mowing the front, about 50 feet away from the front door. As far as I can tell it shot a stone down, which ricocheted off a rock and was still rising when it took out my front entry glass door. 

It would have been a triple in any league I ever played in!

It's a wonder more people aren't killed!


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

*Re: Don't Shoot!*



> _Originally posted by balmoralboy _
> *Mine did shoot on Tuesday when I was mowing the front, about 50 feet away from the front door. As far as I can tell it shot a stone down, which ricocheted off a rock and was still rising when it took out my front entry glass door.
> 
> It would have been a triple in any league I ever played in!
> ...


Sorry to hear about the door i know that didn't make you happy. But yep you have to watch what you run over and hope things like that don't happen. But i have to laugh at the triple in any league I ever played in that got a chuckle out of me.:lmao:


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

I got blamed once for cracking the glass on one of the windows, upon closer inspection it revealed the crack was on the inside....they gave me a new window and chalked it up to stress fracture


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## bigl22 (Sep 16, 2003)

I have been using gator blades on my JDL120 with th 48c deck for one year now-- they work MUCH better than either of the 2 sets of similar JD blades I also have -- the JD blades dulled quickly- bent easily and allowed the deck to clog up even on dry grass-- I need to resharpen th e gators now after one year[ 103 hours use] but I will never use the stock blades again except in some emergency-- I side discharge only except in fall when I use the mulch plug to cut leaves and pine needles-- in that they work great and the swirl of pine needles scours out the deck -- my gators cost me more than the JD blades , but I wish I had bought them before I bought second set of JD blades--


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

i heard someone say they shot out their dogs eye once with the chute off... 
others say they blew out windows...


my dog is locked inside while i cut.. but no need to chance blowing a window out... so i leave the chute on..


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## PGibbons (Nov 7, 2003)

I've used Gators for two seasons now and as far as mulching they work great. However they are only so so while bagging. I found that if bagging I only get about half of the clippings while the other half stay on the lawn. Of couse the clippings I do get in the bagger are much finer than hi-lift blade clippings.


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## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

Anyone try Gators on a push mower? Do they make them for them? I am going to need a new blade for my 22" walk behind soon, and figure I may give it a shot.


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## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

> _Originally posted by PGibbons _
> *I've used Gators for two seasons now and as far as mulching they work great. However they are only so so while bagging. I found that if bagging I only get about half of the clippings while the other half stay on the lawn. Of couse the clippings I do get in the bagger are much finer than hi-lift blade clippings. *


Welcome back my Cajun friend. 
We need to get a LA party going next year. 

Andy


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Ingersoll444 _
> *Anyone try Gators on a push mower? Do they make them for them? I am going to need a new blade for my 22" walk behind soon, and figure I may give it a shot. *


They sure do Paul i have one on my 22" Murray. I have used it like a brush hog it has cut down just about 1" sapling with no problem And it gives a good cut i have the gator on all of my mowers.


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## tjw in kans (Oct 10, 2003)

argee, just tried the second cut with new gator blades, gt5k with 48 inch deck, no rain for one week, grass to be cut less than 2 inches, clean deck, they left 2 stripes about 1/8 inch between the center blade and the 2 outside blades of uncut grass using side discharge. i would like to find something in between the stock high lift blades that wont suck out the mulch and wont throw gravel while mowing along the gravel drives and road frontage. the gator blades dont do this, but i am not imprerssed by the stripes of uncut grass in the yard. people that tout these blades must have had a real p.o.s. stock blade. bottom line, they will be great to cut the pasture grass, they are heavy and were not much money, if i hit a rock or stump, i am not out much. thinking back over the last 35 years of mowing, the sears stock blades are probably the best i ever had just too much suction for most uses. last fall the stock blades sucked up and cut many leaves and i didnt see the need for a mulch kit. will try the gators for leaves, but i dont think they will come close to the stock blades.


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## terrapin24h (Jun 4, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Chief _
> *Let me offer my welcome as well Chris! :friends: :cheers: Great to have you aboard. *


thanks all for the welcomes, its much appreciated, sorry my suggestions didn't help.... I have just recently gotton my new ctraftsman's deck "dialed in" and it's cutting super even and mulching pretty well too. I gotta watch my speed though or i clump it.


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