Cub Cadet ZT-2 54" blade question.

[N80]

I have had this Z turn a little over a year. I think it has about 50 hours on it, not sure. It has been great but I looked at the blades this weekend and they are beat to heck. The cutting edges are intact but very dull. The tips are frayed and bent on all three blades. The blades feel cheap. They feel less hefty than the ones on my cheap-o push mowers. Maybe they're supposed to be on a Z turn? I have no idea.

I do not recall ever hitting anything hard like rocks or stumps with the mower. (My sister-in-law borrowed it a while back but her yard is smooth and nice. I have hit plenty of small sticks and lots of pine cones. I hit fire ant hills from time to time. I mow on rough terrain but do not remember hitting anything that would have bent and frayed the blades.

So I am gong to replace them and looking for advice. I don't mulch or bag so don't need blades specific to that. The soil is not sandy but when dry there is a lot of sandy dust. My question has more to do with brand selection. Are other brands, like Oregon, likely to be better? Also, should I consider sand blades? What would be the downsides to those?

Any help appreciated.

 

[Richard001]

Could you post a photo of the blades to give us an idea of the severity of the damage?

Richard

 

[N80]

Could you post a photo of the blades to give us an idea of the severity of the damage?

Richard

I will do that when I am down at my place next weekend and I'll post them here.

However, the question might be moot. It looks like the blades on the ZT-2 have an "S" type hole and it doesn't look like Oregon or anyone else makes replacement blades that have and "S" center hole. So the options are the standard high lift blade, their "Extreme 2 in 1 blade" that is a mulching blade and then their sand blade. The sand blade is low lift and I don't think that would be good but don't really know.

 

[5030]

ASC will have replacement blades and all blades wear over time, especially when running over fire ant hills. The sand 'scours' them away.

We have 2 CC zero turns and I replace the blades on both every spring.

You don't want a blade edge to be super sharp anyway. a nice 1/16" flat on the edge works just fine.

 

[tomplum]

If it is the new S type blades, there aren't aftermarkets for them at this point. Availability of the OEMs isn't the greatest either. I hear what you are saying though. Pre S type Cub blades may not be very robust, but these are extra thin and disappointing for really in other respects are nice machines. I thought originally that they only used them on the "quick change" spindles, but they used them on nutted spindles as well.

 

[5030]

Both of ours are older machines.

 

[LD1]

Still awaiting pics.....but in 50hrs for blades to be as bad as I am imagining you are describing, they are either junk or the mowing conditions are terrible.

 

[N80]

Still awaiting pics.....but in 50hrs for blades to be as bad as I am imagining you are describing, they are either junk or the mowing conditions are terrible.

I won't be down on my property where the mower is until this weekend. As mentioned, the cutting edges look fine. It is the tips that are buggered up. I'm suspecting the blades are junk. I don't baby the mower but at the same time I am way more careful with it than I am with my cheap-o push mower and the push mower blades look way better and are probably 10-12 years old.

 

[N80]

Looking around on the web these blades with the ‘s’ shaped hole are in short supply and I don’t need the ‘extreme’ mulching blades or the sand blades. If the standard high lift blades are as bad as the ones on there now then I don’t want them.

I wonder if the shaft end of the spindles can be changed out for a basic round or star shaped hole? It’s all MTD stuff. But if the shaft including the blade attachment end are all one piece it would require replacing the whole spindle.

 

[tomplum]

Snap a pic of the actual model tag. Along side the tag there may be a listing of common part numbers which may help. Spindles may very well be interchangeable, shafts I'm not sure. Does yours have the quick attach spindles? The thing with MTD spindle bodies is that at glance one they seem the same. But they have different offsets and shaft lengths. Some IPLs list the spindle parts in a separate spot than with the deck.