Re: Do you bother to sharpen your lawn mower blade? Why?
James H.
> He doesn't advise against removing the blade. He says 'HE" doesn't
> remove it.
Good point.
> Again, he is showing an alternative to sharpening without removing the
> blade. He doesn't say NOT to remove it. Do you have one of those grinders?
Yes. I have a Dewalt grinder just like that, only my stone is new (his was
old and maybe old is better).
I also have dremel tools and files but for now, I think we have our answer
on the sharpening:
a) Some people never sharpen; others do about yearly.
b) It won't make much different; but it might make some difference.
c) Almost everyone removes the blade to sharpen & balance; some don't.
d) Easiest balancing method I've seen is that which the Craftsman manuals
says to do which is to hang the blad on a nail horizontally.
e) A new blade (for my mower) is $14.50 + 10% tax + shipping to CA; while
the nearest Briggs & Stratton shop won't charge less than $45 to sharpen (I
didn't ask about tax) and I have to bring the lawnmower and/or blade to
them.
willshak
I remove the one nut holding the blade, which takes about 5 minutes, and
sharpen it with a bench grinder. I have more control on how much to
remove and I am able to balance it.
My 18 x 46 tractor's mower deck has three blades. I remove the whole
deck before winter because I have a snow blower attachment that goes on
the tractor.
I have all winter to remove and sharpen the three blades.
You might be able to get a replacement blade at HD or Lowes. Check
their one-line mower supplies.
--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @
Jules Richardson
> a) Some people never sharpen; others do about yearly.
I try to do it yearly, but if I forget I don't lose any sleep over it...
> b) It won't make much different; but it might make some difference.
I just replaced the blades on the lawn tractor - huge difference in cut
quality between new and old; I think the old ones often beat the grass
more than cut it, and it'd lay flat for a day or two and then spring back
up and look nasty.
> c) Almost everyone removes the blade to sharpen & balance; some don't.
Yeah, I've never done that on the lawn tractor - takes me about ten mins
to pull the whole deck, and I can get in there with a grinder to sharpen
the blades in-place (I've been known to sit the whole tractor up on its
butt instead, but my back hates me for it). I realise we're talking about
smaller mowers here though, but if there's space to get a grinder in I
can't see a reason to take the blade off.
> e) A new blade (for my mower)
> is $14.50 + 10% tax + shipping to CA; while the nearest Briggs &
> Stratton shop won't charge less than $45 to sharpen (I didn't ask about
> tax) and I have to bring the lawnmower and/or blade to them.
I paid $6 per blade at a local farm supply place; cheapest I'd seen
online were $15 (without shipping cost) for the same thing. Having said
that I really should have bought mulching blades, and I think those were
$9 each.
cheers
Jules
James H.
> I really should have bought mulching blades, and I think those were
> $9 each.
The prices you quote seem like Kansas prices ... not California prices
(which are triple anything quoted so far) ...
But, may I ask ... What is the difference between a MULCHING blade and a
regular blade?
Are they interchangeable?
hr(bob) hofmann@att.net
Mulching blades usually have a higher lift / blade tilt to them
aemeijers
And the generic mulching blades from the big-boxes here don't have
nearly the 'wing' on the back as the factory mulching blade. Don't seem
to work as well. I finally had the factory blade sharpened and put it
back on, but in less than one season, the grass looks like it is getting
dull again. Guess the old coot in the shack (saw sharpeners always seem
to be characters) ground past the hard part of the steel. One of these
days I need to hunt down a factory blade on line or at a real
small-engine shop.
--
aem sends...
Oren
<hall....@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>But, may I ask ... What is the difference between a MULCHING blade and a
>regular blade?
A mulching blade won't require you to bag the clippings and send then
to the landfill.
Also, saves on the cost of bags.
Rod Speed
> Jules Richardson wrote
>> I really should have bought mulching blades, and I think those were $9 each.
> The prices you quote seem like Kansas prices ...
> not California prices (which are triple anything quoted so far) ...
> But, may I ask ... What is the difference between a MULCHING blade and a regular blade?
A mulching blade produces grass that doesnt need to be collected,
it can be left on the cut grass to mulch into the cut grass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_mower
> Are they interchangeable?
Yes.
don &/or Lucille
the grass from discharching so it went round and round being re-cut?
"Oren" <Or...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:67da3695jn5jg37ev...@4ax.com...
Rod Speed
> Is the blade different?
Yes.
> I had thought it was just that the body prevented the grass from discharching so it went round and round being re-cut?
If it was that, there wouldnt be mulching BLADES.
> Oren <Or...@127.0.0.1> wrote
Jim Rusling
It also makes mowing a lot faster since you don't have to stop and
empty the bagger. Beside, my ZTR does not have a bagging attachment.
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org
Jules Richardson
> On Wed, 7 Jul 2010 14:15:46 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson wrote:
>
>> I really should have bought mulching blades, and I think those were $9
>> each.
>
> The prices you quote seem like Kansas prices ... not California prices
> (which are triple anything quoted so far) ...
I'm up in northern MN - cheap living up here!
> But, may I ask ... What is the difference between a MULCHING blade and a
> regular blade?
As others said, the blade shape's different, and designed to chop the
clippings up into little pieces. At the moment I end up with little rows
of clippings due to the regular blades I put on (no bagger on the mower,
and with a couple of acres of lawn it'd be a lot of clippings to deal
with anyway)
> Are they interchangeable?
The ones for my MTD mower are; there's a lot of clearance under the
mowing deck, and the mounting holes are exactly the same. I really don't
know why I just grabbed the regular ones off the shelf :-)
cheers
Jules
Roy
==
The mulching blades are "high lift" and often cost a bit more. They
are also made of high tensile steel. Buy the mulching blades even if
you never mulch.
==
willshak
> On Wed, 7 Jul 2010 15:37:24 -0700, "James H."
> <hall....@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>
>> But, may I ask ... What is the difference between a MULCHING blade and a
>> regular blade?
>>
>
> A mulching blade won't require you to bag the clippings and send then
> to the landfill.
>
I pile them up into a large compost pile. It may be 5 feet tall at the
end of summer, but by spring, it is down to about 3 feet tall. The
bottom of the pile has the blackest, richest soil that can be easily
shoveled out like it was the soil that Billy Mays used to tout the
Awesome Auger. :-)
> Also, saves on the cost of bags.
>
Tony Hwang
> Oren wrote the following:
>> On Wed, 7 Jul 2010 15:37:24 -0700, "James H."
>> <hall....@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>>> But, may I ask ... What is the difference between a MULCHING blade and a
>>> regular blade?
>>
>> A mulching blade won't require you to bag the clippings and send then
>> to the landfill.
>
> I pile them up into a large compost pile. It may be 5 feet tall at the
> end of summer, but by spring, it is down to about 3 feet tall. The
> bottom of the pile has the blackest, richest soil that can be easily
> shoveled out like it was the soil that Billy Mays used to tout the
> Awesome Auger. :-)
>
>
>> Also, saves on the cost of bags.
>
>
Mulching does not work in our climate. It'll never decompse. If one uses
mulching mower all the time on our lawn, soon s/he'll realize the grass
is being destroyed by extreme choking. We have to dethatch our lawn
every spring.
James H.
> Do you bother to sharpen your blade? Why?
To follow up on this thread, I learned a lot, summarized as:
- It cuts better when/if you sharpen the blade
- Sharpen the blade off the lawnmower; balance it before putting it back
In the end, I bought a new blade from Sears ($15) but only because I was
also ordering a new plastic intake manifold and screws which were snapped
in half by my idiotic attempt at prying up the flywheel while banging down
on the crankshaft. NEVER DO THAT!
Nothing is gonna happen except aluminum and plastic stuff under the engine
will break. The part that broke is #50 (intake manifold, Sears PN 497465)
and #54 (intake manifold screw) on page 36 of this 40-page pdf (half of
which is in Spanish).
http://www.managemylife.com/mmh/lis_pdf/OWNM/L0505023.pdf
http://www.hammerwall.com/Download_Manual/14875/
http://tinyurl.com/32mzm2n
If you ever have to remove a flywheel like the one in my Craftsman 21" push
mower 917.388853 with a Briggs and Stratton 6.5HP 123K02-0444-E1 engine,
simply tap the two holes in the flywheel with a 1/4 x 20 tap, and use a
harmonic balancer puller and voila, the flywheel will come off.
Resist the tempatation to pry (you'll only break stuff) and bang on the
crankshaft (what's that gonna do anyway; the crankshaft isn't going to move
down?????).
When I pick up a screw extractor set, I'll remove the broken bolt; and when
the new intake manifold arrives, it will come with a new blade which will
solve my dilemma once and for all!
Thanks for all your advice; you guys are wonderful!
Bob F
What is your climate? You don't have earthworms?
Bob F
> The mulching blades are "high lift" and often cost a bit more. They
> are also made of high tensile steel. Buy the mulching blades even if
> you never mulch.
> ==
The blades on my mulching Toro have almost no lift compared to my bagging
Snapper.
There are many kinds of "mulching blades. Some have 2 blades, one 1/2" higher
than the other. Some have a downward forcing "fan" blade in the center to kick
the grass around more under the mower, and maybe force it down into the grass.
My toro is just a flat blade with the back corner bent up a tiny bit. One Toro
I've used had plastic lumps under the deck like "waves" to force the cut grass
back down.