Mowing Blade usage

[Raul5452]

Need input , purchased M 7060 12 speed two years ago and a turbo 96 rhino shredder. I've got almost 1600 hours on tractor now. Everything is working good. I would estimate two thirds of those hours are mowing pastures and vacant lots for customers. However I'm going through 3 sets of blades per season. Before the Kubota I have a 970 John Deere 30 hp using a 5' 260 rhino shredder . I normally go thru 1 set of blades per season. Anyone out there running a turbo 96 rhino ? If so how many hours of mowing do you get before having to install new blades. I get blades thru rotary cutter supplies on line at $125 per pop.

 

[Fallon]

Probably more of a generic question that would get a better response in the attachments or Owning/operating forums than the Kubota specific ones.

I have over 200 hours on my flail hammers & they are a bit worn at this point, but not to bad. Ive hit a good amount of rocks & other trash too. Going to shell out the $700ish for a spare set shortly, but expect to get a couple hundred more hours before I have to swap them out.

I'd imagine rotary cutter blades would be equal or better for lifespan & a lot cheaper. Do you sharpen them? Rough cut blades typically dont need it & it will wear them out faster.

 

[oosik]

For what reason do you put on a new set of blades? I have a hard time imagining a rotary cutter blade completely worn out, so that nothing protrudes out beyond the blade carrier/pan.

 

[Recoveryhill]

I have a ten year old 60" Bush Hog brand cutter and it sees everything from heavy tropical grass to trash trees up to 2" in diameter and the odd rock, here and there. After the last hurricane in September of 2017 I got telephone wire wound up in the cutter and had to flip it to perform surgery. Blades had nicks but plenty of blade there. I don't understand you frequent blade replacement?

 

[Ken45101]

I do not have the hours that you do, but in 20 years I have only replaced one blade (I broke it, coming down too fast after lifting to go over a stump). I lightly sharpen every few years. Brush blades should not be super sharp..

 

[JWR]

I have a ten year old 60" Bush Hog brand cutter and it sees everything from heavy tropical grass to trash trees up to 2" in diameter and the odd rock, here and there. After the last hurricane in September of 2017 I got telephone wire wound up in the cutter and had to flip it to perform surgery. Blades had nicks but plenty of blade there. I don't understand you frequent blade replacement?

Me too. I do not have 2/3 of 1600 hrs on my cutters (well, maybe I do actually, but not on any single cutter.) My JD MX6 had the hardest steel blades I've ever seen. In 10 years' usage I never replaced a blade. I was really amazed how minor the nicks in the blades were, considering the rock-crusher sounds that happened at times when hitting unseen head sized rocks in the pasture field. The same or even more so with my current 7ft Bush Hog brand model 297. I have probably 250 or 300 hrs on it, have touched up the blades once and have accidentally hit some very bad things with it -- yet not a lot of blade damage and no big nicks out of them. I even hit a steel fence post once and the fence post lost that battle with only a minor nick to the blade.

I too do not understand Raul's Rhino blade replacement history.

 

[Raul5452]

Gentleman thank you all so much for your replies. I am really amazed at how long some of you are running your shredders without having to sharpen or replace your blades. So now I will try and answer some of your questions. Yes I do sharpen my blades. I leave about 1/16" to ⅛" edge using 4 1/2 " angle grinder.
I do not sharpen until I start seeing rough cutting and strips left where tires press vegetation down. Square tips are the first to go. Tip corners get round. I sharpen tips as much as possible and try and square off too. I normally sharpen 4 maybe 5 times before replacing. I use my blades until the ends aren't much more than 1ｽ" wide. They are 4" wide when new. By this time there is not much draft lift created to cut the vegetation properly. I am not looking for a finish mower result but I do want to give my customers good quality work.
Leaving rough cut or strips requires another pass. Like in most jobs time is money. I will keep better track of acreage cut per blade replacement. I work in an area where the soil is sand and we have many many gophers which equal gopher mounds . The mounds get leveled by the shredder. Blade speed on the turbo96 is alot faster then the rhino 260. Could that be the cause of excessive blade usage ? Thanks again for your help and input.

 

[diesel85]

You may want to switch to a flail mower with hammer blades.

 

[Fallon]

You may want to switch to a flail mower with hammer blades.

No way if your wallet is hurting. Flail hammers are way more expensive than rotary cutter blades. I'm guessing the hammers in my Peruzzo flail are going to last a similar ballpark to rotary cutter blades if ran under similar conditions.

Many factors make the flails superior to a rotary for many uses. Cost of the mower & consumables aren't 2 of them.